Well, there is actually nothing standing in the way of artists recording their own work and hanging out a digital shingle (web site, free MP3s), as it were. There never has been. Of course, there's really not much cheese down that hole. P2P and cheap recording technology have been around for long enough to have produced a rash of tremendous, popular acts, if that was all it actually takes. Yet artists still struggle to secure a contract to record for the majors because they can spend the few million dollars it takes to break them. I hate to be a killjoy, but P2P probably won't do much to change that fact or those figures. After all, very few acts are discovered via P2P; the majority of songs downloaded are recent, popular works released by major labels. As for brainwashing by the cartel--there are no victims, only volunteers.
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Well, there is actually nothing standing in the way of artists recording their own work and hanging out a digital shingle (web site, free MP3s), as it were. There never has been. Of course, there's really not much cheese down that hole. P2P and cheap recording technology have been around for long enough to have produced a rash of tremendous, popular acts, if that was all it actually takes. Yet artists still struggle to secure a contract to record for the majors because they can spend the few million dollars it takes to break them. I hate to be a killjoy, but P2P probably won't do much to change that fact or those figures. After all, very few acts are discovered via P2P; the majority of songs downloaded are recent, popular works released by major labels. As for brainwashing by the cartel--there are no victims, only volunteers.