Way back in 2001 I produced a documentary about the drug Ecstasy. “e: How Much do You Really Know?” was intended to be an exploration of the many facets of the drug, from the political, scientific, spiritual and recreational points of view.

At the time, Ecstasy was a controversial and heated subject. Kids were dying from bad Ecstasy while scientist were trying to preserve it for therapeutic use, claiming it could relieve people of life long battles with PTSD and other traumas. Oprah featured a guest that said it put holes in her brain and groups like dance safe were promoting safe drug use. The government(NIDA) was trying to scare us away from it by giving bad information while Disney made a Mickey Mouse DJ doll that played house music. It was a hot topic and nothing had really scratched the surface yet, what was really going on with this drug and why did it have such devotees that spanned the world? Then came George W. and 9/11. We turned our attention elsewhere, away from home, and the topic was no longer relevant. It all just seemed to fade away, go back underground.

We made this teaser as a last ditch effort to raise some cash.

Ecstasy

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Three years later, Peter Jennings released “Ecstasy Rising” - look familiar?

Scott Perry of New Music Tip Sheet sent out an email this morning about the future of music. Not how it will be produced or sold, but how we gain access to the music we choose to listen to. Verizon, Time Warner and AT&T control the pipelines that deliver our musical choices, but with their already slow as molasses Internet and crappy customer service, will that limit our incentive to buy and share in the future? Scott makes some great points, it’s a long read, but worth it. Thanks Scott!

“So, this morning’s email was going to be about pipelines. How we need a steady flow of product to keep our industry blossoming. How it’s really nice that we have weeks where Vampire Weekend and Cat Power reign supreme on the charts, but how it’s also important that we not cluster three superstar artists on the same release date in a time where hit releases are few and far between. But I don’t need to harp; no releases in the pipeline = no trip to St. Barths (or St. Quiznos for most folks), we all know that.

Instead, I want to talk about different pipelines. My concern today is not about today, nor tomorrow – I’m worried about what’s gonna happen ten years from now. Because I’m looking in the tea leaves, and I do not like what I see. At all. I don’t care where people find out about music or how they pay for it in the year 2018 – my main concern is that ultimately, access to such music will be controlled by a handful of crappy service providers.

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