Music has been called the universal language. I love all types of music. I am most likely one of the few people you could find that likes Willie Nelson, Eminem, Norah Jones, and Ozzy Osbourne. I consider my taste in music very eclectic. I have a several attempts to learn to play the guitar, but all have failed. It seems that if I practiced enough, I could be okay at it, but I have no natural talent.
I enjoy going to concerts. My favorite so far has been the Matchbox 20/Train concert I went to with Donna Jo. Matchbox 20 is great live. I have trouble deciding if they are a full blown "sell out pop" band or not, but I like their music anyway. Even though there is some good music out there today, the music industry is in very sad shape. The members of RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) which includes the five major labels, is ruining the recording industry. With the invention of Napster, people could easily get the music they wanted when they wanted it. Instead of embracing the new technology, or at least trying to make money off of it, the RIAA got Napster shut down. They blame lower CD sales on current file trading programs like KaZaa. They do not bother to look at the lack of true talent or the grass-roots movements such as DontBuyCDs.com. They continue to put out mass produced generic pop bands like N'Sync or Britney Spears, but fail to produce true music. RIAA has attempted to begin a campaign to encourage people to not "pirate" music by saying that it hurts the artist. This is a lie. Most artists make little to no money off of their CD sales. Frequently, the money made from CD sales is used by the artist to pay the record label back for money borrowed to produce the album.
Did you know that it costs less than a $1 per CD to mass produce a CD. Most artists never get more than $1 per CD sold and then have to have a platinum album to make any money. The would make it seem that CD's should cost about $5 or so if you take into account shipping and overhead. Instead CD's are usually at least $13 and often close to $20. Why is that? CD's are so expensive because the RIAA wants it that way. They have already been convicted of price fixing, that is setting an amount beneath which no label would sell their CD's. Apple has recently started a new music service which offers songs at $1 a piece.
Music should be heading to a system where you pay for and download only the songs you want. That way if you only want the big hit that is on the radio, you don't have to pay for all of the other junk on the band's album. This would also encourage bands to put forth their best effort on all of their songs, instead of writing one hit and 11 more "album filler" songs.
I am still torn as to whether we should by CD's or not. I am afraid that the people in charge of the companies of the RIAA are too dense to realize that it is a boycott, and not "file stealing." On the other hand, in no way do I think I am helping an artist when I buy their CD if it is put out by a major label. I would be very interested to hear anyone else's thoughts on today's current state of music. Just Email me.
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