Gig Economy, Music Rights, and Xbox Subscription News

You are tuned in to Steve Megatron on Altered

Geek Hello and welcome to Altered Geek. I'm your

host Steve Megatron Phillips and in this episode

of the podcast I'll be covering some stuff that

I've seen in kind of the news lately and one

of them being the the gig market If you remember

a few episodes back Birdman and I were kind of

talking about that we think that the the gig

economy with with the whole jobs thing would

eventually be you know the bubble that bursts

and There seems to be truth to that California

is attacking the gig economy Which will end up

hurting, you know local businesses and everything

It's it's basically a state Supreme Court ruling

that jeopardizes the very idea of independent

contractors in several trades so Yeah, they're

they're saying so basically if you want this

is from reason calm Want a job where you you

determine your own hours set your own prices

and build your own personal brand stay away from

California So yeah, they're they're basically

redoing how the whole private contractor method

works of where you get to work not as an employee,

but You know as as an independent worker basically

so Certain work like hairstylist tattoo artists

taxi limo drivers are filled with people who

are contractors not workers paid by the hour

So they will set their own hours and determine

terms that they work within the business owners

which reduces overhead costs and the business

owner doesn't have to provide benefits, et cetera.

So yeah, there's a couple of type things like

that. So it only means that eventually we're

gonna see this time come where they're gonna

start coming after people that are doing Well,

just work for yourself type stuff like, you know,

like the Dodds wanting to do the DM Dungeon Master

for like D &D type stuff or my my doing graphic

design on the side or Consults on podcasting

or Web web design it's just eventually the the

ball is gonna come rolling where they come after

people like that, too But yeah, it's I don't

know. It's it's getting kind of a weird The whole

the whole like us is like really funky with like

everything with like our job market with How

volatile everybody is like it's just it's just

crazy as a whole which is like the last episode

I mentioned I love sarcasm because it's just

so much fun So in other words, you know, if I

were reading this with the sarcastic tone of

you know, California's attacks on you gig economy

end up hurting neighborhood independent contractors,

I would kind of say. So what they're telling

you is if you don't work for the man, you don't

count. You can't work. I don't know. I think

it's kind of stupid that they're dictating all

this crap and that they're coming after the whole

gig economy type stuff. But yeah, I don't know.

Prefer some of that to be honest, but at the

same time like I like the comfortability of working

for an employer. So it's It's kind of a double

-edged sword for me on that that boat Like I

get it like I like working stuff on the side

too, but I also like to know that I have steady

income Which I guess if you're all in it doesn't

you know, it doesn't matter but Yeah, I I think

that that's one big thing that's kind of happening

at the moment and Yeah, I I'm I'm a little a

little peeved with the whole situation on that

But again like what what can you really do? It's

not it's not like you can really do a whole lot

of anything on that that regard The other thing

that I noticed the other day and this was posted

by It is this one has to do with podcasting this

has this was posted by Pod Vader Which is Jay

Soderbergh? He used to work for a blog talk radio

and Spreaker is like head of content or head

of talent acquisition or something to that degree

and and he kind of Let everybody know that in

Europe They're they're going after podcasters

and It's a little disconcerting Just from you

know my perspective just because I'm a podcaster

but It has to do with like the muse the music

licensing and all that so Again, like you can

kind of see where that's going like they they

don't like they don't like people to have The

whole You know music and everything and I get

it like you shouldn't play full songs We used

to be guilty of this like back in the early GC

iron days like we were like, I love this song

I love this music. We make no money. Let's put

it in there. It's we put like a full song and

in some old content and we're like After a while.

I'm like that's kind of I don't know like dicey

while I enjoy the whole concept of doing it Just

because I I like the music It's not kosher It's

like it's no different than like pirating and

then you know because somebody can just extract

it from the original recording and so it's it's

not yeah, so I mean I kind of get it from their

perspective, but they're also coming after people

with like it not people individually, but the

companies that allow it to to proceed past the

the process and Into the distribution points

into the hosting so they're coming after the

big companies which are gonna come down, you

know, basically crack the hammer and everybody

else and Say, you know, yo, if you don't have

a license for this you're not gonna be able to

publish this episode That's that you know, and

they're gonna put this extra layer of of scanning

basically so What he said, and I'm quoting this

from him. I can't find the Facebook article and

the podcast movement group, but I luckily reposted

it on our GCR and staff forums because we're

having a conversation about this. He says, for

all of you who ask about using music in your

podcast, get ready for what's about to come.

This may be in Europe right now, but it will

come to the States. Here's the key paragraph,

Article 13 was one of the most contentious elements

of the overall placing. The responsibility on

digital platforms to ensure that user -generated

content complies with copyright laws and that

rights holders are correctly compensated. The

recorded music industry lobbied heavily for this

particular change, claiming it would help address

the value gap. YouTube has been the most visible

subject of critique in this area with artists

and labels arguing that video platforms should

be delivering more money to the music industry

given the size of its popularity and audience.

In other words, the music labels are going after

the people with the money now and notice it says

digital platforms so it won't just be Apple and

Google and Spotify, it's going to be the hosting

companies too. In other words, don't use unlicensed

music in your podcast. The whole thing like...

YouTube is notorious for it even if you're using

like even if you have somebody singing the song

and it's not like It can tell the tune and scan

it and it will automatically flag your item as

a copyright. So even if you're not Playing the

original music because it's a similar composition

and it's based off of the original song They

will still flag it point in case we've done live

streams of like our church service and we'll

sing some hymns or songs through church and They'll

flag it on the live stream when it goes to the

record end of YouTube and Say, you know this

this is copyrighted material and it will be monetized

by such and such a place granted like went after

the live stream I I condense and edit it down

to just the the the topic and so none of the

rest of its there but It's still like I don't

know. I think it's kind of annoying that they

do that because You're not intentionally like

stealing or putting the song out there. Like

it's not the actual song in that regard but Like

and I could think this kind of puts things in

a great area too for like shows like Mike's La

La Land Lounge because And I kind of addressed

that with him because he's like I don't know

if that means that I can still do the episode

with the audio because he did get permission

from La La Land records to do the 30 -second

clips for the stuff to kind of preview the material,

which is good that he's gotten written permission

from the company regarding that. However, they're

still not the original rights holders. They're

just the distribution platform that's printing

it. So it kind of begs to wonder if... places

like wonder brothers or sony uh music or or various

other platforms that that own the material and

let mawa land do it if that's still kosher uh

because they could still have a third party come

in and try and and say hey blah blah blah because

uh there have been instances where we were posting

the episodes on youtube for a little bit we kind

of stopped doing that because there really wasn't

much traction and mike uh would have episodes

with music in it, not to throw them under the

bus, but they were like episodes kind of like

La La Land Lounge or The Pull Bag or something

like that. And there would be some particular

sounds from a show or music from the show or

something to that degree. And it would flag it

as a copyright every single time, even if it

was a short juncture of it. So I don't know,

it kind of puts things in kind of a fishy territory.

where I kind of wonder where we're going from

here on out as far as the podcasting world and

music rights. I myself, I try not to use anything

anymore just to be on the safe side because I

don't want to be directly impacted, I don't want

to get sued, I don't have that kind of money,

I just... It's easier to not have that hassle

and sacrifice the audio from the podcast and

I would rather just link it in the post because

one it gives incentive to click and two it's

just it's a reason why I don't have to Edit it

in an extra clip But yeah, I don't know what

do you guys think I'm at that whole subject of

the copyright laws So I'm going through my my

my smartphone because I have like a plethora

of topics and Discussion points things that that

I've had in here. So this is kind of like a random

dump of everything from my phone Between different

topics so just stay tuned there. There's like

gaming there's there's Random all kinds of random

So this this next batch is pretty much gaming

influence. So polygon reported and this was like

a week or two ago that Xbox all access subscription

offers consoles Xbox live and game pass for a

monthly fee so you can start paying at like 22

bucks a month and They're gonna have new subscription

plans for the rest of the year. There's like

Xbox live gold and game pass as well as Xbox

one hardware for a discounted monthly fee so

You can essentially like if you don't own any

of it It's it's kind of an easy way to get you

in the market if you don't mind a subscription

fee because you've got up -to -date hardware

and You don't have to own it Which is kind of

nice because then if you don't own it then you

can kind of turn it in if there's a problem but

so right now there's two tiers of Of this so

like I can't physically pay like $600 for a console.

I'd rather buy a PC So this would be like the

boat I would be in if I was going to do this

again. And it's not too badly priced. For the

two tiers you get all access for $21 .99 per

month. You get subscribers get an Xbox One S

in addition to Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass.

And for $34 .99 a month, you get the Xbox One

X in addition to Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass.

There's no upfront cost. Microsoft said at the

end of the 24 -month subscription period, Xbox

All Access members keep the Xbox One hardware

they've paid for. So that's actually kind of

cool because you're paying it in the subscription

model. So it's kind of interesting. They're going

the way of the cell phone with the consoles,

but they're going the opposite direction. So

they're getting you in the subscription fee instead

of just getting you to outright buy the hardware

cell phone manufacturers are doing at this point.

So I think it's really kind of interesting and

I think it's actually innovative in a way to

get people into it that can't necessarily afford

the console itself. But it says the cost for

a two -year subscription to the Xbox All Access

comes out to $528 for the Xbox One S and $840

for the Xbox One X. So obviously they make their

money back. more than over on the subscription,

but it gives you an incentive to sign up. So

it's current prices of services and hardware

purchased separately would cost about $660 and

$860 respectively. So you're saving a decent

chunk on this. So I think that that's kind of

nice if you're paying for the annual subscription.

But it's only for customers in the US that this

offers a limited time qualified customers can

can take this and sign up so it's obviously like

credit check kind of like cell phones and payment

providers and so It's only also only available

at the Microsoft Store Interested parties have

to walk into a retail location in order to sign

up for the program Which is only from August

27 through December 31st while supplies last

So the console comes with a one terabyte hard

drive And yeah, I mean that's that's pretty freaking

good if like you're You're looking to get into

the gaming market and and you want an Xbox. It's

probably the best way to go Something else I

saw like in the gaming world streets of rage

for That's right. They dropped a they've got

a website streets for rage calm And they've got

a YouTube video. They've got a press kit. It's

made by like lizard cube dot emu guard rush and

Sega and Yeah, they're they've got Blaze and

I think Johnny or whatever his name is But they've

got they've got the the male and the female characters

from Streets of Rage 1 and 2 and 3 in 4 and It's

very similar very I'm looking forward to it because

I love the streets of rage series. I played the

first three I actually loved the second one the

best the third one I was I liked the visuals,

but it was a terrible game There was a lot of

stuff that got in the way when you were trying

to fight So it wasn't a lot of fun to go through

But it's it's still it's it's still interesting

how bad The game is coming back and and I hope

it's successful because I like I said I enjoyed

it but it's it's kind of One of those things

I I think nostalgia sells really well, and if

it's at the right price point I think you're

gonna see people pick it up I'm not quite sure

what it's coming out for At this point. There's

it's it's kind of just like a teaser at this

point and So we'll see where it goes from here

As I mentioned before later this week I will

be at the Detroit Michigan Science Center to

do the Star Trek Event for their after dark times

and I'm looking forward to this Don't get me

wrong. I'm terrified of it Because I don't I

don't do very well with standing in front of

people so it's Kind of freaking me out a little

bit to be perfectly honest with you Because I'm

an introvert I don't like Confrontation I don't

like being in front of large groups of people

and I don't like speaking in front of groups

of people so this is gonna be highly out of my

comfort zone here and I I just I Really don't

know where to go with it But I'm gonna be recording

the podcast. I'm gonna be I'm doing Future Imperfect.

I'm going to have the commander of Starfleet

International on the podcast, I believe, during

that time. I'm also going to be doing Trek Trivia.

I'm going to be the co -host for Trek Trivia.

It's going to be a lot of fun. If you're in the

Detroit, Michigan area, come to the event. It's

September 20th, 6 to 9 p .m. Eastern Standard

Time. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. I have

a feeling and I've seen some of the pictures

from past events. So I only wish I had my Starfleet

uniform to kind of complete the the aesthetic

but It's it's still I I'm still super excited

for it. I've got my com badges. I've got My current

communicator, which doesn't work because the

battery thing destroyed itself It more so eroded

But yeah, I mean, like I said, I'm looking forward

to the event. I'm a little terrified, but I think

I'll be fine. I think I'll be fine. That was

another funny thing I saw online the other day.

What was it they were lobbying for? Somebody

was lobbying for the removal, as funny as this

is. for the removal of standardized, or no, it

wasn't standardized testing. It was for getting

people off of, stopping people from doing the

standing up in front of class thing, where you

have to present. To which I I kind of Part of

me sympathizes with it But part of me is just

like okay people grow up stop being a whiny baby

about it Because we've all had to do it. It's

not ideal Nobody enjoys. I mean most people don't

enjoy Standing in front of a class and in presenting

when you're in school like it's just not fun

having bunch of people stare at you I don't particularly

enjoy it being singled out the nice thing about

the event will be that nobody will be really

paying all that much attention as far as I can

tell but that remains to be seen but yeah they

said something about to the effect of that they

have anxiety and which I can relate to. I'm not

diagnosed with anxiety, but I suffer from it.

I get little panic attacks and super shaky when

I have to deal with a situation that's not in

my comfort zone. My hands shake a lot. It's not

ideal. Somebody posted, basically, stop forcing

students to present in front of the class and

give them a choice not to. They were saying,

I just wanted to come on here and say that if

you know nothing about anxiety, don't reply with

ignorant BS. Someone is too anxious to present

in front of the class, they should be given a

choice not to. Mental health is important, it

isn't cured by facing your fear. Which, I agree

and disagree with that statement. It says, you

know, they continue with, if you're someone who's

comfortable enough with public speaking, good

for you, go right ahead. But if someone was severe

anxiety, would rather not to, they shouldn't

feel obligated to or obliged to step out of their

comfort zone. For me, it makes my anxiety worse.

I start shaking and panicking. And it says, I,

you know, And they said that, you know, it's

perfect, completely normal for someone who's

anxious. Students should be able to have the

option to present in front of just the teacher,

not the class. I agree with that, but I don't.

And I'll say this for two reasons. I did this

through high school. I hated standing in front

of people. My parents used to give me that whole...

Picture them in their underwear blah blah blah

like and I you know, I did the spelling bee I

did, you know for multiple years and so I was

in that so I had to be in front of people I Would

get awards periodically I was on You know, it's

just I Had to be in front of people. I didn't

want to be in front of people, but I had to be

in front of people and Then when when I got to

be in college, well even before that Had to be

in front of people when I worked my job so like

really all it's doing is prepping you for your

employment because you have to deal with people

even if you don't want to and It's it's just

I think it's just like prep like even if you're

an Anxious person like I'm an anxious person

things agitate me like I shake I get frustrated

they get my heartbeat going I start having like

like overthinking, over analyzing things, my

brain's racing, I get sick. Like my stomach will

turn just from having the anticipation of an

event where I have to do something that's out

of my comfort zone, which gives me anxiety. And

yes, like some people are medicated for it, and

I don't have any problem with that, but like

I'm one of those weird people that I believe

that I can kind of take it. I just... I believe

it's all in my head and so Which is true, but

some people can't cope with that and I get it

like you need additional help and there's nothing

wrong with asking for help it's better than you

know, the alternative of of causing yourself

personal harm but I I recognize I can handle

and I'm strong enough to take care of my own

issues I don't I talk it out in the podcast and

I guess that's kind of where I get my my let

out uh in in relation to other people and I hope

you guys kind of feel the same way uh that it's

kind of a you know you get to kind of see how

I feel on it how you feel on it like I like this

to be a conversation so it's that's why I kind

of bring it up too um I have people that I know

that are super depressed I get through depressed

points but I don't ever think of harming myself

like I just I have to tune out for a while and

just play games or or watch tv or do something

that's different uh to kind of break you out

of my my mold but uh no i mean like i i agree

with being able to present in front of the teacher

like i think that's the best ideal way of doing

it but the same time you're going to have an

audience whether it's at a job whether it's you

know i see it as like prep for like taking interviews

because you're you're still in an audience of

one which is actually just as intimidating as

Having an audience of like 20 30 people I had

an acting class in college late and even before

that I I would I'm one of those people that I

can speak my mind or speak out when I'm sitting

in my chair if I'm isolated in front of everybody

and it's dead quiet it throws me but if I'm sitting

in amongst them and I can rattle off my pot shots

it doesn't faze me in the slightest which Think

kind of speaks volumes that I could kind of tune

it on and turn it off but I had this this element

of Acting class and I was terrified Now granted

it was this or like I had acting and music appreciation

and you had to take it like two out of the four

one of them was like I can't remember what they

were but one of them was a photography class

which I didn't want and the times weren't gonna

work for me And then another one was like graphic

design and I'm like, well, I don't need that

Even though I probably could use that I just

didn't want to do it so I opted for the other

two music was because it was online and acting

was because I was always curious about the art

and the craft of it, so I took the acting class

and I was terrified like they you know, you had

to You had to memorize the monologue. You had

to do exercises in front of people. You had to

lead. You had to do improv. I hated improv. Although

it's a good art to have, which I'm starting to

get with my sarcasm online. I can think of something

and put something together, but it's thinking

on your feet, and I'm terrible at it. But I say

all this to say that... I think that it's good

that you get out of your comfort zone, because

if you're in your comfort zone, you're not growing.

You're just complacent. You're just living. And

I think that that's really nowhere for anybody

to be at. I think that you should be growing

constantly, because if you're not, what's the

point? We're not designed here just to function

and to skate through life and work to death.

It just doesn't make any sense. Of the mindset

that if you're not bettering yourself, you're

just wasting away. Like it's just it's kind of

I don't know III so I'm kind of Glad I took those

classes it took me out of my comfort zone. I

did I hate it. I did my first assignment I had

to do a monologue they gave and I did it as Casey

Kasem And I sat in front of the class on a desk

to pretend I was at a newscast on the radio I

looked at this blank piece of paper, showed them

that it was blank because you couldn't read off

anything and memorize it. So I did this to get

my eyes off of the audience and I was like...

And I talked like this while I was doing the

entire read. Can't remember any of the words

for it right now, but it was it was interesting

anyway. And they all got it. They loved it. And

then so that boosted my confidence when I succeeded.

And yeah, it's it's a downer if you don't succeed

but like if you succeed at it like and truthfully

Nobody wants to go up and present. So like it's

just it's just kind of a fact of life But Then

the next one we had to physically act out scenery

like we had to represent a or recreate a scene

from the odd couple and I was the the chauvinistic

male character of the show and then they had

the other guy put the a thumb in it male character

and It was fun. I mean it didn't you had to come

up with your own movements you had to set decorate

and everything else to do your presentation and

If you forgot your lines like the teacher would

help you periodically, but you were still you

you just have to yell a line But you had to stay

in character and you had to stay in the moment

Which was difficult and I did forget certain

lines, but I still memorized most of it Can't

remember any of it now And then for our final

presentation we had to do we got to choose our

own monologue act and We we did What was it or

I did I did the Joker I did Mark Hamill's Today's

the day the clown cried and he cries not for

the passing of one man but for the death of a

dream the dream that he'd one day taste ultimate

victory over his hated enemy for you see it was

the black man who made me the happy soul i am

today and so like i can't remember most the rest

of it uh but yeah it's just i i had fun with

it and i did it um You know and the best part

was is because I drink pop I would choke out

so teacher made me do this scene six times in

front of everybody as a practice round and everybody

was just like It's awesome. You can do the Joker

and so like I was just boosted from that, but

he had us all go separately individually Which

we all opted for the individual one -on -one

with the teacher for the final exam Just because

it was just easier just to remember it not have

the anxiety of the everything else, but he just

stares at you It was just it was just building

more anxiety than having the rest of class look

at you too because you had at least different

faces to look at But it's still you know, it's

it's it's different and so I think that people

need to just kind of experience anxiety like

it's It can be a good thing and it can be a bad

thing but it could be a motivator like even if

you're diagnosed you're not diagnosed, you know,

I I Think that people just like to make excuses

I'm not saying that lightly. I really do think

that people like to make excuses and Somebody

else made a comment of like I had a ton of anxiety

about taking standardized tests surely you should

agree that it's only right meaning being sent

from them to this is some BS like and you know,

I I you know, I commented to like I mean, it's

I Hate to do it in front of class, but you know,

you just you got to do what you got to do, you

know Facing fears and challenges of what life's

about, you know, you hate it, you know, you hate

it But would you take it back? No, it makes you

grow as a person So, I don't know. What do you

guys think? Thank you for listening to my soapbox

Be sure to interact with the show. You can do

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