Wow, I'll just start by saying I am so glad I never thought about playing guitar for a profit, assuming I ever got good enough at playing guitar to have a shot. After reading the two articles on the way the industry works, I think I'll stick to playing for fun and having a career that doesn't involve contracts with record labels. It brings to mind the old DIY (do it yourself)worth ethic that used to be prevalent in small rock, punk, and other alternative styled bands. Better to use your own equipment, than be tethered to a contract to a company who by definition will not have your best interest at heart but their own.
I'm guessing the hinted topic of this post is supposed to be pirated music so here goes. It is illegal to download free music. It is also illegal to go one mile over the speed limit, drink a single drop of alcohol under the age of 21 in Alabama, and go fishing without a license from the state. I view downloading mp3's illegally as basically the same thing as what our parents did when they used a cassette tape to record off the radio, or a vhs to save the Saturday night movie for a later date. Overall, there is a great opportunity for bands to skip the middleman with digital tools and produce their own quality-sounding recordings outside the confines of a record label. I believe music lovers will be much less likely to pirate mp3's from self-produced band than a multi-million dollar artist on a major label. All that said, stealing is stealing is stealing and its wrong no matter circumstances. But the best way for the music industry to deal with the issue is to give consumers better prices and incentives for going legit. They will never be able to lockdown anything that goes on the internet without the government seriously damaging our personal freedoms as citizens; best to adapt to the circumstances presented.
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I totally agree with you on just about everything you said. It sucks for artists that they barely make any money after all the hard work that they put into it. And that downloading music off the internet is stealing (and illegal) but people are still going to do it unless they lower prices of albums or "damage our personal freedoms". Maybe they should just do away with charging people for music, but that would mean that artists would have to quit their day jobs...
ReplyDeletei think that there is going to be issues regarding fairness in the distribution and compensation of music regardless of the way it is handled. Which is unfortunate. I can see so many different view and possibilities is this subject none of which comes close to making things "fair". I do think that if nothing else, people should own up and admit that it isnt right.
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