inasmuch as there isn't evidence to suggest anyone's losing money because of file sharing, that to the contrary profits are up at 3 of the 5 major music conglomerates, i find it hard to support a business model that exists on handouts as there are plenty of ways for artists to make money besides selling cds from stores, even if that aspect of the industry ever fades. i can’t support a so called “net tax” for musicians.
regardless whether artists are paid directly for their recorded songs or if those songs become mostly promotional devices for the other aspects of the music business like cabaret acts and stadium shows, there will always be excellent artists making music for appreciative listeners. if it's in you and it has to find expression, it will. recorded music won’t disappear because home taping keeps improving, there may even be more of it – and you’ll certainly hear more of it.
p2p isn't killing the music business and it's definitely not killing the music. it is changing the business, one that’s been long overdue for change, so that’s a positive thing. it's removing several parasitical layers from an ugly and ossified bureaucracy that's all too often damaging to the artists and the listeners. if the government doesn’t get in the way (an increasingly unlikely scenario) the ability for artists of every stripe to contact their audience directly using peer-to-peer clients will revolutionize the creation of culture. as the tribe “talks to itself”, there will be no one moderating the discussion save each ones own heart and mind.
while the old record company guys find themselves new fields of endeavor, those artists whose work resonates most deeply within the community will find their compensation better than ever.
- js.
|