War For A Song

Artists in the music industry have two primary goals: to be heard and to make money. If they want to be heard, the Internet is…

by j. brotherlove

Artists in the music industry have two primary goals: to be heard and to make money. If they want to be heard, the Internet is an excellent vehicle which helps to level the playing field. If they want to make money, sadly, they’re probably in the wrong business. While we debate the validity of that other war, a real battle is growing between online music downloaders and pissed-off artists and songwriters. There’s a slew of upcoming marketing aimed at deterring you (you know who you are) from “stealing” other people’s work. I could preach further about the rights and wrongs of downloading music but, I’m not sure myself.

What I do know is, I wasn’t a big user of Napster. I think I used it twice - just to see how it worked. I never felt quite right downloading mgs of music. It felt dirty (unlike downloading porn, ironically). I feel the same way about KaZaA, Morpheus and Gnutella - especially, since most of the music available for downloading, I already had or didn’t want. Audiogalaxy came the closest to sating my eclectic tastes. But, after a couple of weeks, I lost the enthusiasm for that, as well.

However, sharing music in a one-on-one situation, is different. To me. It’s similar to making a cassette (or CD) for a friend. Some of my fondest memories are of tapes made for, or by, me. Many years ago, my friend Klay loaned me a tape of Nick Drake. I didn’t like Nick. But, I fell in love with Minnie Ripperton’s Adventures In Paradise which was on the B side. I couldn’t wait for that album to be released on CD so I could buy it.

That’s the goal: to turn someone on to something new. And in a perfect world, that person will turn around and buy music from that artist.

But, back on Earth, people are downloading entire discographies without blinking an eye and I don’t agree with that. Get your cheap ass to a music store (virtual or otherwise) and buy something, especially, a new or independent artist. Increasingly, I encounter people who’s entire collection consists of downloaded or bootleg music. Now, that is sad. There’s nothing better that cracking open that case and popping the genuine disc in the machine. And really, if everybody is downloading, how will artists sell enough units to keep a record deal? This is a huge problem for r&b artists, who, overwhelmingly, have bootlegged versions of their work selling on the street and in subway stations hours after its release (sometimes before).

Still, I’m not anti-copy. At DIC, we rip and burn our asses off. We also buy a cornucopia of music (more dollars in a month than most spend on groceries, I presume) so, it more than balances out. We often buy two or three copies of the same CD because our house seems to eat them. Much of the music we buy is a result of hearing something online. So, my response to black-and-white statements from the industry which say all types of music sharing is wrong is, “Kiss my butt. You need me.”

This is why I periodically serve music files on thebrotherlove.com. Mostly, I offer songs which I believe most people have never heard in hopes that you may investigate that artist, further. Or just add the track to your rotation. If you do something nefarious with what I have shared, then be prepared for that loan to fall through or have coffee spilt on your favorite shirt. It’s your choice, sweetie. For now, anyway.

And on that note, see my next post.

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i’ve downloaded songs from friends turning me on to new stuff, or providing mp3s of songs no longer available for purchase. but i never visited the napster site, nor have i visited the “neo-napsters”. partly, it’s because the powerful computer i have is here at work, and with no cd burner, i can’t be filling up my harddrive with non-work stuff. but i’m not sure i’d download boatloads of music even if i did have a good computer and cd burner at home, anyway…for exactly the reasons you state. most true artists aren’t really trying to get rich…they’re just trying to make a living like the rest of us.

even just sharing new or otherwise unavailable music with friends can be dangerous, tho. matthew, who created and maintains freemyheart.com, just got served (by the attorneys for the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as you-know-who) with a $150,000 lawsuit for putting up songs for download. copyrightin’ is no joke.

You’re right, Lisa. But, what effect do you think this new “crackdown” will have on music sales? That’s the question.

Even if the music industry is successful in shuting down major sites, won’t that drive copying further underground? With broadband connections getting faster, email is becoming a viable option.

i certainly don’t think the crackdown will have a positive effect on sales, because you’re right, j…copying will just go deeper underground. i think it will always be a force; if you dismantle the means for someone to do something they want to do, they’ll simply find another way/place/means to do it. folks are stubborn like that.

btw, matthew’s problems are now public and in the news (links are at freemyheart.com, which is temporarily enabled). i know he brought it on himself (i don’t think he ever imagined it would get to this point, since he wasn’t profiting from it in any way), but damn….

I’m not an MP3’er. Maybe that’s cuz I’m on dial-up still. Maybe once I leap into the 80s and get DSL, maybe I will. But right now, dialup is free. I digress.

For me, the joy is in, like you said, tearing off the plastic wrap and listening to a cd all the way through for the first time. And also, I buy mainstream folks, sure…but I also buy a lot of non-mainstream music and I think it’s important to support those underrepresented artists.

Im not much for the mp3s. I have used such “NEO-NAPSTERS” like Imesh, Kazza, Etc. I only used those so i could get music I couldn’t find anywhere else such as, Slipknot’s first album (Mate, feed, kill, repeat). I dont think its wronge to download but do it respectively.