Slashdot | Mediasentry Violates Cease & Desist Order
Slashdot | Mediasentry Violates Cease & Desist Order
Opps! Guess the RIAA and it’s thugs doesn’t have to worry about little things like abiding by the law. Till they get caught (again) with their pants down. Arsehats!
Themocracy
Hubris has brought down many, many people/organizations, and one hopes it does so in this case SOON. I do NOT advocate copying/distributing copyrighting material without renumeration to the artist, however, I don’t really advocate paying the distributor a ton more than the artist either. These folks haven’t just missed the boat, as far as digital music goes, they have jumped into the harbor while carrying the anchor. Treating the customers as criminals, unsurprisingly enough, causes them to act like criminals. Now they will have to dig themselves out of the “all music is FREE!” hole that they have virtually pushed the youngsters into. I mean, if you grow up “stealing” music (I put that in quotes because you haven’t “stolen” anything–the original is still right there, you just haven’t paid the musician for his work again–therein lies a real moral discussion–but I digress…) and you are hurting “the man” (big record companies), why should you ever go back to paying? Unless, of course, you can SEE that the money is mostly going to the artists (which it surely isn’t NOW, even/especially from the record companies) and you want them to be able to support themselves and produce more in the future. It would work for me. The record industry is a 19th century economic model tottering along in the 21st century. It’s dead, and isn’t smart enough to know it yet. The artists are figuring it out pretty quickly, though….
On further review of my words above–we are both old enough to remember when a record album–real vinyl, I mean–not only had music on it, but was big enough to have artwork on it (some of it absolutely STUNNING) and text. Text that might (or might not–some album covers sucked worse than the music within them..) tell you something about the group that brought you the music. Or the story behind the songs. Or at least pictures of the drunk/stoned musicians having a BLAST in the studio/on stage, which made you at least say “Party on, dudes! Just make more music!”
Nowdays, what do you get? In many cases, a 5 3/4″ or so plastic case, often with little more than the titles, date, and legal notices. And we’re supposed to spend $18 for this kaka? No thanks, if I’m not getting any extras, I’ll just download the album from iTunes or somewhere, or just the tracks I want, and not have to lug around a piece of easily marred plastic. I can remember when $3.50 an hour was a usual wage for a teenager, and an album could be had for $5-$10. 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours work, for something you could hold and read/groove on while you listened to it. Now, minimum wage is $5.75, and for 2 1/2 hours of work you get, well, a lot less, often physically and musically. And the artists are often getting close to the same amount they used to. Something is broken here….
It’ll all shake out in the future….