Insanitus en Musica

Now the PTB are trying to sue Canadian dentists for playing music while they drill. This constitues a comercial use of the music product for their own gain. Technically correct. Practically stupid.
Ok, here's the deal, I call up 1-800-DENTIST, and I ask the following questions...
1. Does he even LOOK like Steve Martin?
2. Has he ever expressed an opinion on The Little Shop of Horrors
3. Will He Gas Me? Please?
Notice how I never asked what kind of music he played at the office? In fact, recalling my last few trips to the torture chair, I don't even know if there WAS music.

Ok, here is where I break form the pack. Kind of. Does the artist deserve to be compensated for their work? Of course! Now, does the Recording Industry deserve to make a return on their investment of millions into a major artist? Read carefully... Of course they do. Yep, I think they do. An if an artist is getting screwed on a record deal, they didn't read the contract, or they needed to be famous too much to care. Now, does the Industry have the right to charge for every public broadcast of a song? Damn skippy. They own it. They can do what they will. But here's the rub.

Will the record buying public put up with the RIAA and it's world wide equivalents strong-arming their way into every revenue stream with gestappo like fervor? Not on your damn life!

The 70's and 80's were a unique time in Music History. Ask any AR guy if Led Zepplin could get signed today, he'll tell you no, or he'll lie. Hendrix? Probably not. Pink Floyd? Jethro Tull? Yes? This is all indie lable stuff today, at best. Sure, the industry made a bundle on these guys, but they were risky investments! An keep in mind, none of this happens without the Beatles, who began life as the original boy band, and only got into Sargent Pepper's like experimentation after they had made the industry a bundle. No, today it's better to spend the dollars on hot chicks who are passable vocalists, groups of boys that look good in Tiger Beat, and anyone who qualifies as truly "Bootylicious". So anyway, there was a real harmony between art and money (and a LOT of money) in music in the 70's and in to the 80's already when the deal sealer arrived. A thin small plastic disc that was just cool enough, just clean enough, and barely durable enough to put audiophile quality sound in the hands of the masses. The CD, baby. When the price point was set at 18 dollars, this was a steal of a deal. Cutting edge technology, audiophile quality. We HAD to have them!

Those days are over for the CD. Cutting edge technology? You can get a CD player in many stores for less than 14 bucks. Audiophile quality. No way! Audiophile are pretty much split into 2 groups these days. Those who think we NEVER matched the warmth of analog vinyl and play their music on thousand dollar turn tables, and those who say digital is the way, but 16 bit digital is just too low-fi and are clamoring for 5.1, or even 7.1, 28 bit surround audio. The CD is the cassette of 20 years ago. But it's still 18 freaking dollars!!!!!!!!!

As for the qulity of product, we do not get NEAR the creativity we did in the 70s and early 80s. True, there was always crap, but nowadays crossing genre lines is pretty prohibited, and record contracts keep artists from recording with others in great, cross-pollenation, Derek and The Dominos, sort of ways. Could the Back Street Boys and N'SYNC collaborate with Boys II Men and Take 6 on a choral project? HA! Dream on. Heck.... I'd actually BUY that CD just on PRINCIPAL.
So, we as audio consumers are already feeling like we're getting the screw, when the RIAA Mafia starts head hunting for every little dime it can dig up. The RIAA and it's sister organizations think they have us up against a wall with nowhere to go. They cry about piracy and sue 12 year olds and grannies when we all know perfectly well that you can go to nearly any swap meet and buy bootlegged music. Lots of it. Peer 2 Peer networks are more than stealing. They show that along with the pirates and theives, there is a growing mass of pissed off music buying public, that is tired of the way things are. And everyone everywhere seems to bee overlooking this fact. There was Music, before there was The Music Industry. And if the RIAA goes belly up tomorrow, you can still get my CD, and all my Buddies CDs for 5 to 10 bucks anywhere we play. To The RIAA, it is by our consent that you rule. You would do well to keep your customers happy. There ARE alternatives. It's up to you to keep them from being "viable" alternatives to the general public.

------

And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Design