A good guideline is, never assume the other person is an idiot if you're the one who fails to understand them.
I did happen to understand what he was talking about as being a direct reply to what he was asked, and on a personal note, thought he was making some excellent points. I still think the whole affair was a bad move on their part, although I'm not so certain they lack justification in what they have done anymore.
After almost a year of using MP3s, I can safely claim that MP3s are the best thing that happened to my musical tastes and one of the worst things that happened to my bank account aside from Starbucks. Why? I don't go for the usual rubbery chow that the mass media is feeding me. When MTV plays a song over and over again, they need to know they're not taking a risk. It mustn't be something that's radically different than anything else the audience has been fed before. And so, prior to finding out about MP3s, finding music that's truly worth my time would be a true rarity.
Enter MP3 -- I get to discover the truly innovative and individual is nothing as uncommon as I thought it to be. Artists like B.T., Nine Inch Nails, Orbital or Peanut Butter Wolf, all pioneers in their respective genres -- won't get any play time on your favorite music channel or radio station. Not because their genius is not recognized but rather for fear of alienating the casual listener.
But MP3 changes all that. Of the hundreds of thousands of users that downloaded Metallica MP3s, doubtlessly many were just going on their usual experimentational binges -- the same ones that all too often end up with very expensive trips to the local record store. Honesty plays a part in this, but not as big a part as we'd like to think. Most people just like having the real thing. I know I do.
Raging MP3 trade is not going to put an end to making money off MP3. MP3 trade is going to expedite the evolution of music many times over, it is going to bring to the foreground otherwise largely unheard-of artists, it is going to make music a much more diverse and interesting experience. MP3 trade is going to win you new fans, regardless of how big you already are. Seeing things as they are now, Metallica is going to have to work very hard to be as accessible to the public as Britney Spears is. And somehow I can't imagine Lars in a Leotard being anything as appealing.
Can you not see the incredible potential in all this?
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I did happen to understand what he was talking about as being a direct reply to what he was asked, and on a personal note, thought he was making some excellent points. I still think the whole affair was a bad move on their part, although I'm not so certain they lack justification in what they have done anymore.
After almost a year of using MP3s, I can safely claim that MP3s are the best thing that happened to my musical tastes and one of the worst things that happened to my bank account aside from Starbucks. Why? I don't go for the usual rubbery chow that the mass media is feeding me. When MTV plays a song over and over again, they need to know they're not taking a risk. It mustn't be something that's radically different than anything else the audience has been fed before. And so, prior to finding out about MP3s, finding music that's truly worth my time would be a true rarity.
Enter MP3 -- I get to discover the truly innovative and individual is nothing as uncommon as I thought it to be. Artists like B.T., Nine Inch Nails, Orbital or Peanut Butter Wolf, all pioneers in their respective genres -- won't get any play time on your favorite music channel or radio station. Not because their genius is not recognized but rather for fear of alienating the casual listener.
But MP3 changes all that. Of the hundreds of thousands of users that downloaded Metallica MP3s, doubtlessly many were just going on their usual experimentational binges -- the same ones that all too often end up with very expensive trips to the local record store. Honesty plays a part in this, but not as big a part as we'd like to think. Most people just like having the real thing. I know I do.
Raging MP3 trade is not going to put an end to making money off MP3. MP3 trade is going to expedite the evolution of music many times over, it is going to bring to the foreground otherwise largely unheard-of artists, it is going to make music a much more diverse and interesting experience. MP3 trade is going to win you new fans, regardless of how big you already are. Seeing things as they are now, Metallica is going to have to work very hard to be as accessible to the public as Britney Spears is. And somehow I can't imagine Lars in a Leotard being anything as appealing.
Can you not see the incredible potential in all this?