Lexx Music!!!
quote:
Originally posted by Rust:
[b] [img]http://www.sadgeezer.com/ubb/cool.gif[/img] As a musician, my thoughts on the matter might seem unorthodox.
I … think the artists should be paid a fee from Napster for the rights. Can’t say what that’d be… but Napster would be forced into the main marketplace, thus having to carry adverstisements and do market research. It’d still be “free” to the listener.Individuals should be barred from posting unless rights to do so were granted by the artist or his/her living relatives.
What do you think? [img]http://www.sadgeezer.com/ubb/confused.gif[/img] [img]http://www.sadgeezer.com/ubb/redface.gif[/img]
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The problem with this is that Napster, in and of itself, doesn’t post any files whatsoever. The only files that are posted, are done by individuals, and even then, they aren’t posting anything, but opening up a folder/folders on their hard drive and sharing the contents. Napster isn’t being targeted because they have a site that contains MP3 files, or even posts links to other sites containing MP3 files, but because they have an established network that individuals can log into and share these files. While I am of the belief that artists should be paid for the art that they produce (unless they desire to do this kind of thing free of charge), I don’t have nearly the trouble with Napster that others may have. Personally, I have no trouble going down to my local shop and picking up some used promo CD that some record store clerk sold for a quick buck. The RIAA makes no money off of it, and neither does the artist, but if it’s a promising work, I’ll shell out cash for “new” CDs by that artist. When I worked at Tower, I’d get my hands on as many promo CDs as I could, and if I liked the artist, the same scenario would play out. I’d buy the next album they put out (if I didn’t buy a “real” copy of the album I’d gotten a promo of). And the same goes for Napster. I just downloaded a bunch of tracks by Italian horror-film-score/prog-rock band Goblin that I can’t get my hands on here in the states, even though I know full well that when I get the cash together, I’m gonna order the CDs that these songs came from. No artist has suffered because of my actions, and my actions have made me even more determined to buy the albums themselves.
But that’s just me. The same arguments against Napster were floated around when home taping came into play, and everyone in the music business was convinced that it spelled the end of the industry as we knew it. Napster isn’t ever going to kill the beast known as the RIAA, but the industry will have to adapt to its (or its clones’) existence.
–Aleck