Issue 1, March 7, 2016 JOURNAL OF MUSIC AND AUDIO Copper Copper Magazine © 2016 PS Audio Inc. www.psaudio.com email [email protected] Page 2 Credits Issue 1, March 7, 2016 JOURNAL OF MUSIC AND AUDIO Publisher Paul McGowan Editor Bill Leebens Copper Columnists Seth Godin Richard Murison Dan Schwartz Bill Leebens Lawrence Schenbeck Duncan Taylor Scott McGowan Inquiries Writers [email protected] Elizabeth Newton 720 406 8946 Bill Low Boulder, Colorado Ken Micaleff USA Copyright © 2016 PS Audio International Copper magazine is a free publication made possible by its publisher, PS Audio. We make every effort to uphold our editorial integrity and strive to offer honest content for your enjoyment. Copper Magazine © 2016 PS Audio Inc. www.psaudio.com email [email protected] Page 3 Copper JOURNAL OF MUSIC AND AUDIO Issue 1 - March 7, 2016 Birth of a Child Letter from the Publisher Paul McGowan The birth of a child is always a cause for celebration. For the new parent, it's also a time of uncer- tainty and anxiety: Am I doing this right? Is THAT normal?? Creating Copper has been pretty much the same for us. There is exhilaration, the excitement of starting something completely new, of charting the course as we go. And of course, there is the desire to do everything perfectly. The first issue of Copper, now before you, requires a little by way of introduction. Copper is dedi- cated to furthering the art of home audio reproduction, and growing the community that supports it. Whether you call it Hi-Fi, hi-res, or High-End doesn't matter; such labels tend to separate and isolate people, which is exactly what we don't want to do. We'll do our best not to be audio snobs. Any system, technology, or category of product that faithfully reproduces music, honoring its source and intent, qualifies as fair game to us. Vinyl, digital, portable, expensive, inexpensive, new or old: if it makes music, it's of interest to our readers. Copper is not a traditional audio magazine. It is published by a well-established audio manufacturer, and we hope you do buy our products... but that's not the point of this magazine. Copper won't sell or promote products, services, or advertising. Instead, Copper aims to inform, entertain, inspire, motivate and build community. We believe that a diverse, strong, well informed community of like-minded people, sharing ideas, news, and knowledge benefits all. We don't believe in trickle-down economics, but we do believe that a rising tide floats all boats. Copper will not focus or feature equipment or reviews; there are plenty of great print and online resources that cover this. Copper will bring to its readers the most interesting voices of the audio and music industries. Interviews, thought-provoking articles, opinions–--sometimes strong ones, that we may disagree with--- technology, knowledge, music, humor, advice, perhaps an occasional piece of fiction. I like to think of Copper as the New Yorker of audio and music. I say that not to sound unbearably pretentious, but to indicate the high standards to which we aspire: well-written prose that stimulates, informs, encourages and moves its readers. Copper welcomes your voice too. If you have a comment, positive or negative, we want to hear from you. Each issue will feature the best of those comments. You're encouraged to contribute in other Copper Magazine © 2016 PS Audio Inc. www.psaudio.com email [email protected] Page 4 ways too. We intend to feature systems that our readers are proud of, from the smallest desktop to the biggest ass-kicking zillion dollar rig. If you're making good music at home, share it with others. We'll handle writing the article for you---just supply us with photos, notes and a few paragraphs about the system, and we'll take care of the rest. Copper is free. If you enjoy its contents, and we hope you will, help us build community by subscrib- ing and spreading the word. Servers willing and Boulder Creek don't rise, we'll publish each and every week. It's always a nail-biter to launch any new project, and Copper is no different. From the beginning, we've been met with skepticism about our ability to launch a magazine without benefit of advertising, or hope for financial reward. We believe down to our bones in supporting the community that we are a part of, and have faith in our goal of helping more people enjoy music in their homes. We hope you will join us. Copper Magazine © 2016 PS Audio Inc. www.psaudio.com email [email protected] Page 5 Write us: [email protected] Letters Is There an Absolute Sound? When I was living in community housing at the university, I would sometimes catch a bus that made the 10km trip between the city centre and the university. After several stops in the CBD, it would travel express to the university - in heavy traffic this would be about 25 minutes. On one occassion there were only 2 passengers on the bus: my 40 year old self and a 10 year old I discovered was called Tom. After Tom had introduced himself, for the entire journey he retold stories that had been on the T.V.series: Dr Who. He was an excellent and enthusiastic story-teller and did a great job of explain- ing about half a dozen plot-lines. When the bus arrived at the university, I asked Tom the question: “Tom, do you think Dr Who is true?” Without a pause, Tom replied: “The important thing is that it could be true”. As plenty of people will say, there are lots of different sounds in different concert-hall seats. And there may also be philosophical arguments about the very existence of an “absolute" sound. All good arguments - - but only very rarely do I hear reproduced music sounding as though it could have an accurate (absolute) relation to the original musical event - and when I do, I am overawed. Ian Lobb Video Killed the Radio Star …Cultural Appropriation in the Age of Corporate Music. First thanks to all the Folks at PS Audio who are working very hard to produce a new online audio magazine. Good luck to all. Where I am coming from: Like many audiophiles, I am an aging product of the Baby Boom, edu- Copper Magazine © 2016 PS Audio Inc. www.psaudio.com email [email protected] Page 6 Write us: [email protected] Letters cated to believe in an America that vanquished evil and offered endless opportunity and, at least, in my home state of California endless sunshine. My musical awakening came with Elvis, The Beatles and the Stones. The emotional impact on this "new" music was profound, indeed, I still enjoy the music of the British Invasion. We boomers are not unique, each generation has a musical awakening. My mother, born in 1911, remembers her brother rolling in the floor whist listening to Bing Crosby, and my grandson is quite a fan of rap music. Cultural appropriation has always been with us, (Nan Wynn as Princess Luana in Abbott and Costel- lo's " Pardon My Sarong", or Bob Hope in the "Road to Bali" (et al) comes to mind) it is only in the last few years that the "Rote Cappella", which makes up a good portion of social media, has been stalking various artists complaining of music videos or performances where a cultural transgression has occurred. My guess is some of the appropriation outrage is spawned at our universities where political correct- ness among the over privileged has overcome intellectual development and free speech. The fact of the matter is that Cultural Appropriation provided a great many people of my generation the gift of an expansion in music appreciation. Using Blues Music, as an example, In 1964, I can tell you that there was no way anyone in a small radio market in Santa Barbara County could hear blues music. I doubt that I would have been exposed to the great artists of the blues without the Rolling Stones and other British bands to spark my interest. So, in conclusion, I am a big fan of music and a big fan of the appropriation of musical styles by any and all artists. If you hear something new in this corporate age of auto-tune and Nordic tune smiths with their advanced algorithms you indeed may be tempted to explore the more authentic source of the music. A win for all. Thank You. Louis Fashion Copper Magazine © 2016 PS Audio Inc. www.psaudio.com email [email protected] Page 7 Write us: [email protected] Letters The World has Changed …and the audio magazines are standing on the sidelines. In the modern world we can losslessly stream just about any performance using Tidal or Deezer. Better yet we can stream playlists and we can share playlists between anyone using the service. What this means is that a magazine can now have a shared playlist filed with the streaming service accompanying every edition. For example, the July 2016 issue of Copper can have a quickly cu- rated list on Tidal of some or even most of the specific songs/performances alluded to in the edition. Now everybody subscribed to the streaming service can play along during or after reading. The best things about this are that it establishes a frame of reference on audio, and it takes us back to the music instead of just the equipment. My guess is Deezer and Tidal would both be interested in the synergy as well.