Experts Agree...
July 24, 2003
Downloading Subpoenas...
by mike <mike@pfft.net>
I hate music. Actually, that's not true at all - I grew up playing the clarinet and alto saxophone, listening to the radio and musical soundtracks everywhere we went. I love music; I sing in the car [to the eternal irritation of my occupants] and anywhere else I won't make a total ass of myself.
But thanks to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), my appreciation of music is in rapid decline. Music was an artform; it was a means of expressing what no words could convey. Now it's just a way to rake in money and spend it on ridiculous houses and such. Music should be free, period. It's free to listen to on the radio and on television; they don't charge us extra at the movies to have the musical soundtrack added, so why bitch about downloading mp3's? I understand the argument, that it hurts the livelihood of the artists performing said music, it violates copyright laws, blah blah blah.
Let's examine the problem with the way the RIAA wants us to live. They want us to buy a CD and never copy or share it. When CD's first came out, they said, "Oh, in a few years the price will go down, don't worry." It hasn't. It's still a ridiculous $16 for a CD that contains at most about 15 tracks (I can burn my own with 22 tracks!). What if you purchase a CD and find out that it sucks, you're screwed! You can't return it; the vast majority of places only accept returns on open music if it's defective, in which case you get a new copy of "Suck: The Album".
The RIAA can issue as many subpoenas as they want, but music downloading is still going to go on. They shut down Napster, and all of the sudden, MyNapster, Grokster, Kazaa and eDonkey showed up. Shut them down and there will still be others. Music is going to be free. Deal with it. I have yet to see a single recording artist go bankrupt and destitute because of mp3's. If anything, it increases their popularity. PFFT to people who bitch about money all the time.
I've written songs; I don't expect money for them. I share the music I'm responsible for because I want others' opinions. Music is great, the RIAA is not. It's like a gestapo of lawyers. Get a life.
Published: July 24, 2003
Editor: stacy
Comments: 0
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