What does the transfer of operations to ArtisTech Media (ATM) mean to you?

ccMixter will continue to operate exactly as it has: a couple new features throughout the year, a skin change here, a bug fix there.

From Emily:

“We love ccMixter as it is and we really can’t emphasize that enough. We feel it should remain an open, closely cooperative community, just like it is now. ATM is open, transparent, cooperative, collaborative….and we are honored to have this opportunity to support each of you and the site. Our philosophies are in alignment with those of the CC and we are here to answer your questions, conduct open discussion, etc.”

More from Emily is here.

In addition:

- ccM is moving to another web server with 10 times the throughput, gobs more memory, tons more space, etc.
- We’re adding more admins
- A deeper focus on artist relations, helping you with the site and in your on-line career; promoting you and your work

There are also several “itch scratching” improvements (like larger file size upload support (30MB), previews within ZIP files and better international support) that should be popping up.

ATM will be offering some “pro” services but those will NOT happen directly on ccMixter (more below).

Please read this entire FAQ to see what else might affect your personal experience at the site.

What the heck is a “transfer of operations”? Does ATM own ccMIxter?

The brand “ccMixter” will continue to be owned by Creative Commons. They have conditionally licensed the brand to ATM.

The license allows ATM to use the name to run a site called, you guessed it: “ccmixter.org” which ATM will pay for and operate on a day to day basis. The license stipulates that ATM must follow certain conditions in order to continue to use the ccMixter brand. The stipulations can be summed up this way: keep it free, in all sense of the word.

Does ATM plan to make money from ccMixter? If so, how?

The answer to the first question is “no” which makes the second question moot.

OK, so then, how does ATM propose to support ccMixter?

ATM was established in January 2009 as a “next generation label for next generation artists.” TuneTrack.net is one of ArtisTech’s flagship projects, promoting quality music releases, collaboration, Creative Commons and Open Source technology.

From Emily:

“We’re continuing to shape ATM’s business plan that offers revenue streams outside ccMixter.org (to be split with participating artists), part of which will go to operational costs of both ATM and ccMixter. These revenues generated (via compilations, artist websites, fanclubs, licensing, along with other optional opportunities) will help us keep ccMixter.org free of ads and at no cost to users. We’re going to need your help in figuring out the best, most fair way to support these services. We are counting on community participation as we move forward into this next phase.”

Does this mean I can make money from music I upload to ccMixter?

That’s the idea, but NOT on ccMixter.org. We don’t know how it will work exactly, but the general idea is that all “business” functions like (commercial licenses and fan patronage) will be happening on OTHER ATM websites. Those other sites are where ATM will offer “pro” services to musicians and
licensees for commercial purposes. In the tradition of ccMixter, you, the community, will be involved in how this stuff happens so stay tuned for discussion threads as we all move forward.

From Emily:

“The opportunities we hope to bring artists on ccMixter will be optional and separate from the function of ccMixter. For example, we will work to facilitate compilation albums and releases, where all submitting and contributing artists opt-in to a broader license that allows ATM to promote and distribute their tracks, with the idea of generating exposure and yes, royalties for those artists. We hope ccMixter artists will participate — but these opportunities are completely optional and have no bearing on how ccMixter functions. Other examples of opportunities include your own artist website, fanclub and other unique licensing opportunities (like video games, films, commercials, etc.) - again, totally optional.”


What if I don’t want ATM to have access to my e-mail address or other personal data in my account?

First off, Creative Commons doesn’t have any personal data on you except your e-mail (unless you signed up using OpenID in which case, they don’t even have your e-mail address). Everything else in your account here (if you think about it) is public. By default, all accounts will be moved to ATM servers, but without e-mail addresses. The first time you log in to ccMixter on the ATM server you will have a chance to either leave your e-mail address blank, or “opt-in” and supply an email account.

What if I don’t want anything to do with ATM?

As part of the “opt-in” process, you can remove your account from the server completely. This will destroy all traces of your ccMixter account, including remove any uploads - BUT, you should remember that CC licenses are non-revokable, which means anyone that downloaded your music while it was on
the Web under CC, still has those rights available for the copies they downloaded. (From the CC FAQ: What if I change my mind? )

Is Victor going to stay on and continue to work on ccMixter?

From Victor:

“ATM has, very generously, offered me the role of Chief Creative Officer and they’ve been pretty adamant about wanting me to remain on as the Director of ccMixter. I have made a commitment to remain in my current role during the transition from CC to ATM, to make sure, despite all the shenanigans that have to happen behind the scenes, that the transition is as seamless to the community as humanly possible. This will probably last through December.

After that, I will be involved in ccMixter for as long as ATM and you, the community, will have me. The exact nature of that involvement, however, can not possibly require that I keep the high pace that I’ve been doing the last few years.

I’m looking forward to finding the right role that keeps me involved with ccM and ATM, but allows me to handle the variables in my personal life right now. I will keep everyone posted.”

More from Victor is here.

When does this all happen?

The legalities of the transfer are done. We are in the process of moving all the data from Creative Commons’ web servers to ATM’s. That process should be finished around the second week of November.

What does this all mean to ccHost?

ccHost is the open source project that ccMixter runs on. Creative Commons will retain ownership of ccHost and ATM has agreed to maintain that code which means: fix bugs that its users encounter and continue the current release schedule of roughly once a year.

All code has a purpose. For ccHost, that is to be a general purpose, all-media, content management system focused on non-profit uses that promotes the spread of CC licenses.

Meanwhile, ccMixter is now, officially, a music-only site that is being taken over by a decidedly for-profit company. Therefore, ATM is going to fork ccHost so that the operations of the site are not encumbered by the historical goals of ccHost. This ccMixter fork will continue to be completely open
source under GPL 2.0 and all changes in the fork that make sense for the main code tree will be ported back.

Terrific.

I realize I have a different perspective than some of the people who have been around since the start of ccm, but based on this and Victor’s note I can just say that I am thrilled.

Thanks for the very detailed note. I’m very glad to see such a full disclosure, and am very excited to see where ccM will go next.

Looks like an exciting future ahead. Glad for the detail on this as well.

Thank you for the clear FAQ. I look forward to future collaborative works.

thanks victor! this looks great…..

~snowflake

Semi off-topic so I apologise in advance…

Maybe this would be a good time to add a URL shortener into the system that will parse links out in short form?

The domain mixter.cc is available very cheap and using your own code would allow quick inclusion of links into content without having to worry about injection of adverts, tracking and super-cookies. And also, perhaps, a QR code generator which would be great for a wide range of publishing methods.