Should music be free? About that opinion...

Top 2. Oct 30, 2000 7:52 AM

» bryan - Re: About that opinion of mine...

In response to message posted by puppyo:

Hello
I wanted to express an interest in hearing your opinions on Napster. As far as MP3 dotcom Im not as interested. I dont like the centralized aspects and feel that these sights can not be continued. However, Napster and the soon to be neoNapster sites seem resistant to regulation. With technologies coming, individuals will be able to share with individuals. Napster, in my opinion, is a new form of distribution that, if universalized, will undermine the music industrys distribution side.

I must admit that when I heard what was happening with napster, I felt that it was a welcomed form of retrobution, for all the oppurtunists in the music business. I feel that there are too many people in the distrubition side of things. I would like to see this changed.
I dont want to start this debate from the start of napster. Id like to start this debate from the recent emergence of ...recorded music. Without this technology we wouldnt have had the popstar and all the financial momentum and opportunitism that a hit gernerated and still generates. I still find it odd to think that someone could perform something once and then sell that same performance, over and over again, to the public, as music. I dont want to get into semantics. Its just that I find it strange that this huge oppurtunity, that technology (recordings) brought forward, is assumed as some sort of God given right. It wasnt a song writers ability to compose that created the Beattles phenomenon, it was technology. It seems ironic, to me, that when a new technology comes along and undermines this previous, perversely huge, oppurtunity that it is rejected as unfair. What it is going to do is temper a situation that was far to infavour of the Madonnas, Bruce Springsteens etc. There is simply no Musical reason that these acts are so much greater than the local talent. It was a manufactured phenomenon and like all manufactured phenomenon, its time has come and gone. There may not be the Beattles again but we ll get more local oppurtunities.
As a musician I would like to make my living performing and teaching with a minor outlet for recording. However, with all the ... recorded music around this oppurtunity is difficult. Napster may lead people into a bigger record collection, ...a more diverse record collection. With this comes a more sophisticated awareness of music and performance...possibly the return of live music.
Anyways, Im not arguing in favour of Anarchy or an outright blackmarket. Im merely stating that there was a world before recorded music and that with Napster s taming of the distribution side of things it may emerge once again.

-- posted by bryan

Top 3. Nov 1, 2000 8:33 PM

» puppyo - Re: Re: About that opinion of mine...

In response to message posted by BryB:

you make some interesting points. as passionately as i have been against napster and the like, and with all the research i have done, you have me re-thinking my position. more later. --janie

-- posted by puppyo

Top 4. Feb 7, 2001 7:13 AM

» curtbaild - napster

i love to use napster to find music i have never heard of from other countries. i also use it to listen to new artists so that i can judge whether or not i want to buy the cd. i am so sick of buying cds that SUCK and napster lets me find out whether or not i buy it. i am upset on both sides. its sucks that some musicians arent getting their money, but see how really is it the fault of napster? i think its a great way to learn about new artists, and because of napster, i have bought a whole bunch of new cds like coco lee and jinusean, which i probably would never have had the pleasure of knowing had it not been for napster. on the other hand, i am bitter. how much money do musicians make? and how much do they charge for their cds? the only way i ever buy damn 20 dollar cds is if their are worth my hard earned cash. I dont know how many times i have wasted money on cds that use as frisbees now. if anything, i think the artists and napster should solve this by letting it be used as a means of testing music and or putting up music that is not sold in stores.

-- posted by curtbaild

Top 5. Feb 13, 2001 8:32 AM

» puppyo - Re: napster

In response to message posted by curtbaild:

in light of your comments, i think you might find this article interesting.

-- posted by puppyo

Top 6. Jun 21, 2004 1:43 PM

» cpklapper - Role of Record Companies

is not a separate issue from the whole copyright infringement issue. The original and clear intent of the framers of the Constitution was to protect the authors and inventors FROM POSSIBLE MASTERS/EXPLOITERS. Thus, record companies should have no standing in a copyright suit.

As a songwriter myself, this is a particularly sore point in that I have deliberately NOT published any of my works through the record companies because of their exploitative practices and generally atrocious taste. Because my other career as a programmer has been fairly lucrative to date, I have felt no need to publish my work at all, reserving it for private performance, a la Schubert. Thus, in my case, the abuse of the Patents and Copyrights clause of the U.S. Constitution that has allowed authors and inventors to be subjugated rather than freed, has produced the exact opposite of the intended effect. I suspect that I am not alone and the body of un-Constitutional patent and copyright law has assured that the best works of art and science have been hidden in obscurity by monopolistic oppressors who offer nothing but robbery (through the pernicious work-for-hire provisions) or poverty (through these companies restricting access to the market.

My thoughts on MPO3.com Napsterster are that they are thieves robbing thieves. What would be a constructive change would beinternetrnet PUBLISHING service where songwriters could cut out the record company middlemen altogether and have direct access to their market. I am inclined to think that the music public would respect a system where their pennies directly benefit songwriters and performers when they have not respected a system where their dollars line the pockets of talentless and uncouth record company executives.

Carl Peter Klapper

-- posted by cpklapper