Re: Fripp news

[Douglas Baldwin <coyotelk@optonline.net>]

Knowing the Frippster just a teensy tiny bit (via Guitar Craft and a few 
other brief exchanges), I feel compelled to comment on the many comments 
given about his "retirement." First, note Robert's online diary: 
http://www.dgmlive.com/diaries.htm . Robert is a great writer, but he often 
uses his own code to express himself. Regular reading of his diary reveals 
this code rather clearly, and gives excellent insight to his day-to-day 
life: his struggles with the music business, pictures of his office and 
fellow workers, his lovely wife Toyah, and perhaps most relevantly, his 
thoughts about retirement.
   Philip wrote (and several other posters said or implied):

> "I understood that as he is becoming his own management to keep following 
> up legal rights to his music of the past. Reminds me of the tendency among 
> record labels to stop seeking out new great music in favor of focusing on 
> dealing with the legal rights to their back catalogue."
>
> Economists call this rent, or rentierism.  The extraction of value not by 
> producing anything new but by squeezing what has already been produced. 
> Actually creating new stuff entails risks and overheads; extracting rents 
> just requires a small army of lawyers and some posh offices.  That's 21st 
> Century capitalism for you - all gain, no risk!

Philip's comment implies a stinky heartless materialism. Robert doesn't seem 
to be very interested in making money through his back catalog per se. What 
he wants is proper control of the Crimson/Fripp catalog so it doesn't get 
abused by the fat grubs of 21st century music biz. He would also like to 
distribute income properly to his fellow musicians, many of whom do not have 
the background in real estate that he does, and so do not have much in the 
way of a cushioning income to soften the blows of the business. Robert 
certainly has no posh offices nor army of lawers; the DGM offices are on a 
rural side street adjacent to the village butcher, and Bobby often bunks 
down on the floor in a sleeping bag when work demands it. The staff consists 
of two or three people.

Almost everyone who commented on the DPRP article was blindsided by DPRP's 
stupidly misleading and sensationalistic headline: "Robert Fripp Quit 
Music." That's poor English, for starters. What Robert has given up on is 
his role as a front-line, headlining, touring-in-poor-conditions performer 
and recorder of music that demands tour support. Robert is so plugged into 
music that it drips in puddles around his feet. Music flits around his 
rounded head like moths 'round a light. Almost every day he does things with 
his fingers, heart, and ears (and what's between them) than most of us could 
wish for. He's just sick of the crappy business surrounding the public 
performance and distribution of music.