Music and Copyright in the Digital Era: David Byrne in Conversation with Chris Ruen

Back in the early aughts, CD-burning software had the music industry up in arms like a mob of pitchfork-wielding villagers. While services like Spotify and Rdio have rendered pirated discs all but worthless, copyright issues in the recording industry seem to be here to stay, and there’s no one better equipped to tackle the topic than Renaissance man David Byrne. On Wednesday, music lovers can expect an earful when the former Talking Head converses with Chris Ruen, a journalist and the author of Freeloading: How Our Insatiable Hunger for Free Content Starves Creativity. Expect to hear Byrne drop pearls of wisdom from his recently released book, How Music Works, which explores the art form as a pattern of adaptations and responses to a changing world.