all languages all genres and all free!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I remember when a musician was called a musician and they played instruments and knew how to play with feeling and the music had balls. When is the last time that anyone heard anything in mainstream music like Double Trouble, Bob Marley, John Lee Hooker, Led Zeppelin or Iron Maiden? There are many other great bands and musicians, but those are just a few examples of some of the greats.

This is why I hate the term artist in the context of music: because Britney can’t play shit. Can you honestly picture all the molded pop-princesses playing a bass, a guitar solo or a drum solo? I can’t. The funny thing is: Milli Vanilli ended up being the butt of jokes for what they pulled. However, in retroapect; they were pioneers. There are some really great bands out there: playing the clubs and the bars, but they will never get signed because they may not fit the mold of the product the music industry wants. There are also bands like: Velvet Revolver, the white stripes and evanessence, which in my opion: are pretty damn good.

I’m just one guy with an opinion and you don’t have to agree with me; but in this era of blogs, reality tv and shitty pop music-The state of things reminds me a lot of fast food: We know it’s not good for us, we know it’s full of garbage and can make us sick, we know it’s processed and fake: but we go for it anyway.

The corporate music industry is based on the fact that producing and distributing records is a very expensive proposition, beyond the reach of small companies and individual bands. I am taling about pressed vinyl records. And only pressed vinyl records.

Time and technology march on. The corporate music industry is dead. Nothing can revive it, short of killing the public Internet and disabling the public’s general purpose computers. Microsoft Vista, and related “TPM” and “DRM” technology, are an attempt to do just that, save the corporate music industry by thoroughly crippling both the public internet and all privately owned computers. It won’t work. People will refuse to cooperate.

You can’t stop the tide with a broom.

All debates about the propriety and legality of distributing music the modern way, are nothing but turbulence raised by the slow motion collapse of the old monolithic music industry. A few hundred record company executives will not be able to double or triple their money before they die. Boo hoo. They want to smash our computers and rip up our Internet to “correct” that? Fuck them. The quality of American music, and the real income potential of the vast majority of working musicians, is already rising and will continue to do so, BECAUSE od the death of the American Music Industry. The sooner the better, I say…

I’d love to see your comments and suggestions. Support local music!

I found your entry interesting so I have added a TrackBack to it on my weblog

The musicians and the folks whose work actively supports the making of music deserve some moolah for their efforts (if you’re consuming their product, that is) the same way that you expect to be paid when someone is enjoying the fruits of *your* labor. However, we all know the RIAA isn’t passing on much of what they’re raking in.

Vote with your pocketbook and support independent record labels, independent musicians, independent radio, and independent distribution networks.

Supporting your local musicians and businesses that are in touch with the community and have a sustainable ethical approach enriches your neighborhood by keeping your money in your community and keeping local culture thriving.