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1.  

   

   dorpus, Jun 2nd, 2004 @ 8:22pm

   
   

   The audience hasn't changed

   Techies like to make a lot of noise about how the music industry is behind the times. However, the techies themselves are still obedient servants of a music industry that tells them they have to listen to music to be considered socially acceptable. We do not see masses of young people setting bonfires to musical recordings; they have not yet freed themselves from the notion that they have to listen to such-and-such to be considered "normal" or "cool". People are still the same conformist herd animals, and the music industry plays on this insecurity. So long as people fail to realize this, there will always exist a music industry to define what is "normal" and "cool" to the herd.
   

    

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2.  

   

   Sam Nobody, Jun 2nd, 2004 @ 9:39pm

   
   

   No Subject Given

   Do you not remember Metallica vs. Napster, and the angry fans burning mountains of Metallica CD's in San Francisco and New York?

    

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3.  

   

   dorpus, Jun 2nd, 2004 @ 11:35pm

   
   

   Re: No Subject Given

   It still misses the point. The fans still want their music, because the music industry told them that music is cool. It amounts to slaves demanding a pay hike, not questioning the institution of slavery.
   
   

    

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4.  

   

   PPPpop Culture, Jun 3rd, 2004 @ 7:35am

   
   

   Re: No Subject Given

   Who's responsible for deepthroating Western civilization with the likes of Britney & her knock-offs, the BoyBand clones, & the phenomena everybody knows as "American Idol?"
   
   Could those fumbling idiots in the music biz have achieved such feats alone?

    

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5.  

   

   Jeremiah, Jun 3rd, 2004 @ 3:14pm

   
   

   No Subject Given

   Incidentally, as a producer, I constantly advise my artists to stay away from records labels, and to seek individual investors (basically a VC function) to gain access to working capital. i"m currently building relationships with VC folks to get my production company/studio off the ground. VC's ask much better questions and tend to put smarter (and MUCH more reasonable) deals on the table, versus record companies, which, well....we know.

    

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6.  

   

   thecaptain, Jun 4th, 2004 @ 5:21am

   
   

   Re: No Subject Given

   Wow...I actually agree with you here to some degree.
   
   I don't think we as people want music because the music industry told us its cool. I think music is a part of the human condition that, while we could live without it, does add value to our standard of living.
   
   That said, I do believe that 99% of the population ARE sheep who buy the commercial crap that's out there because its marketted to them by the music industry.

    

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7.  

   

   Permanent4, Jun 4th, 2004 @ 8:01am

   
   

   Perils of the Five Percent

   That said, I do believe that 99% of the population ARE sheep who buy the commercial crap that's out there because its marketted to them by the music industry.

   Take a look at the top 40 or so downloads on any of the major music services -- iTunes, Napster, Musicmatch, Rhapsody, etc. What do you see?

   I'm starting to think we're fighting a losing battle by fighting the RIAA directly. Perhaps what we really need to do is find a way to appeal directly to the people -- a way to get our signal past the noise of the mass media and find a way for our message to be heard. It's kind of like the Five Percent Nation allegory -- 10% of the population (the RIAA) control the world and all but hypnotizing the 85% (the masses), who are just following along and not really thinking for themselves. It's up to the remaining 5%, the ones who have knowledge and truth on their side, to teach the 85% how to look past the tricks of the 10%.

   How do we do that? Well, that's the $64,000 question, isn't it?

    

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