| Forward: I did this in disgust
over the "MP3" / Napster debate in RL, though I usually hold Braarwood "Beyond
the Fields we Know" and such. My complaints were about how record companies rob BOTH the music listening public AND their 'artists' then claim file sharing actually effects sales. It does, though. During Napster's height, record companies had record profits. After they axed Napster, they fell immediately. So what, right? Napster was about theft, right? WRONG. Aside from the independent musicians, it kept largely unkown music styles (thanks to the companies) alive. Here's an example, my family had at a wilderness cabin a collection of ORIGINAL wax records and an antique player for them. No, we didn't record and Napster them, though we wished we did. You see, the cabin BURNED DOWN in a forest fire. Fortunately, the cabin was insured and so could be re-built. Finding the records was a herculean feat of expense and searching, NOT. That's because Napster still was running. We were able to find ALL of the lost music. Yes, we had a list. These were all antique records, stuff Disney would have listened to as a kid. They were ALL royalty free. Don't worry, RIAA, I won't advocate illegal copying. Not out of fear of the law, but fear of BRAIN DAMAGE. Maybe if you made a good product, I'd buy a CD every once in a while. However, outside of some pop from the 80's, there is nothing I can listen to on the radio these days without PAIN. Why don't you just conceal a drill on a spring inside the jewel cases? I have eclectic tastes in music, but by far I like 70's Progressive Rock and Folk tunes. I mean like the great works of YES and the largely unkown Phil Ochs. Music compositions formed by masters and songs with social meaning. I've discovered some new stuff, but by FAR I have already bought every CD I wanted before the broadband made it possible to download a ton of CD's. Were it not for archiving my own artwork, I would not need a CDRW drive. INSTEAD, we get mindless, numbing BLAND TEDIUM. Nothing but mellow stones cast at target audiences. A dozen of Tori Amos Wanna Be's, a thousand violent blackfellas, a couple hundered Grunge Mutants. Would that any of these people were able to even write their own songs or play their own instruments. Then again, if they were, they would be SUPRESSED. Don't want someone who can actually make a good jingle to compete with the latest assembled, pre-packaged, disposable, targeted BLAND. I only hope that music copying DOES have the "doomsday" effect the RIAA screeches about. IF ONLY radio would be scrubbed of the companies that own it and push "Paylists" of the next top 40 that WILL be there no matter what. You know what will happen? The world won't end. What we will do is start hearing people who like singing not have to "Get a life" but can actually make a small amount of money at it. Not enough for a mansion full of cocaine and barely legal groupies, but enough to maybe make a living at it so they can follow their true calling. Music will have then come full circle, back to the individual and the song within. Well, readers, sorry for this bitter essay. I got so depressed, I stopped the story at a point, and I plan to continue it again, hopefully within 2003. Click on the right link below to start reading. |
