Slashdot Mirror
Don't Sever A High-Tech Lifeline for Musicians
Licensed2Hack writes "Janis Ian, who provided this slashdot interview last September, has written this editorial in the Los Angeles Times. Janis says, "After I first posted downloadable music, my merchandise sales went up 300%. They're still double what they were before the MP3s went online." And the RIAA's stated goal in preventing this type of activity with their lawsuit against Verizon is to increase sales..."
"First off, nobody's listening to you because you're posting AC. Anyway..."
At least he's putting his statements out on a utterly fair basis, where the value of what he says, not who is saying it, is being judged.
You're not.
That's why we are in this political fistfight. RIAA versus tech listener. Who has whose ear. Not who has the best business model. Not who has the best economic idea or pushes the most competitive environment.
Likewise, not whose music is the best sells the most. RIAA isn't about music. It's about selling entertainment with the media as the basis of financial gain. People buy Britney Spears's music not just because they like the music alone, (heck maybe even in spite of) but on the visual, gyrating, pole flirting young thing as well. Some young girl has her album because Spears is like a real person Barbie. Some guy probably has her album on some whacked belief he wants a girl like her (to put it politely).
I post AC on slashdot all the time. I frequently get 2s and 3s, one 5, a couple of 4s. The rest, roughly half, are 0s and 1s (mostly because no one reads them, because I typically post only on weekends so some articles are 5 days old).
But at least I know what I'm saying is being judged, not my previous karma bitch points.