I'm pleased to welcome Samantha Murphy, founder of The Highway Girl, as the first guest post here on Barking Robot. If you have an idea for a guest post, send me an email.
My name is Samantha Murphy and I'm a singer songwriter and Founder of The Highway Girl. I've been quoted widely in the press as being the voice for independent artists. I've participated in many academic and professional conferences, including a symposium at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University. In addition, I went to Capitol Hill to speak on the issues surrounding digital music and copyright.
My show, The Highway Girl, is a traveling music show that's been running for over three years. Past guests have included Cary Brothers, Elvis Perkins, Inara George of Bird & the Bee, Mike Schmid, Teitur and Harvey Danger.
The Highway Girl has over a million subscribers. The show explores the convergence of music and technology, as well as the life of the artist. Samples of the show may be found on TheHighwayGirl.com artist page.
Students, Digital Downloads & Copyright
In the digital age, we're both hopeful and uncertain about how we will transform the music industry. How can we evolve as artists and become more open with what we create? I believe we can do that as we begin to trust that it's you, the people, who will support us not the industry.
It is the people, like your students, who buy our albums (and downloads) that keep us going. It is you, the person who has taken the time to find this great music, who matters most. You are the one who will keep great music alive by deciding who you will support. You have an opportunity to use your voice when you find music you love enough to pay for it.
As an artist who has spent a lot of time speaking at universities and conferences, it's clear to me that students need to be informed on the critical issues facing artists in today's ever changing climate. They also need a trusted source where they can discover great artists and music they will gladly support.
I believe that students want to support the artists and music they love. In the digital age, how do students find those artists when there are no trusted filters in place yet? The logical answer is to sample an artist's music before you dive in. The Highway Girl not only welcomes, but encourages students to sample the music of the artists we feature, while supporting their work in a variety of other ways.
The Highway Girl: 2009 College Tour
In an effort to help educate students, The Highway Girl is organizing a special college tour this spring and would love to include your college or university on our tour. We envision scheduling a 60-90 minute session for music, media and technology students.
The sessions will encompass a one on one artist interview between myself and a local singer songwriter, a short acoustic performance followed by a Q & A on digital music and copyright with the students. We're aiming to have an audience of 150-200 students in university auditoriums.
The Highway Girl Tour is supported by organizations like Digital Freedom, Creative Commons and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. To include your university on our itinerary, send us an email at sm (at) thehighwaygirl (dot) com and we will gladly respond with further information.
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