| There are two truths that we have been faced | | | | needs the music industry? The average |
| within in the present day of digitalization. | | | | musician has to pay tons of money just to get |
| The first is that the love of music is a | | | | into a recording studio, and less than 5% of |
| life-long pursuit. The second is that the | | | | musicians tend to profit from their music |
| love of free music is not. | | | | anyhow. So who's making all the money? |
| | | | |
| With the age of Napster, the ability to | | | | The fact of the matter is that no matter how |
| download music, and to do this for free, was | | | | rich or poor people are, they are going to |
| like a godsend from heaven. Suddenly, we had | | | | continue making music, simply because they |
| all the music we could ever want at the touch | | | | love to make music - the first truth. One |
| of a button. The problem however was that the | | | | only needs to look at such examples as the |
| music industry started losing money (which no | | | | blues which came out of impoverished New |
| one really cares about), and then the bigger | | | | Orleans back in the 1940's following the |
| problem (which we all cared about), that | | | | Great Depression, or the newly 'discovered' |
| downloading music for free became illegal. | | | | music in Cuba, portrayed in the Buena Vista |
| | | | Social Club. Certainly those guys weren't |
| So Napster fell under, and the age of free | | | | expecting large royalties throughout their |
| music was lost forever. No big deal, although | | | | lives, nor could they have ever dreamed that |
| it was nice while it lasted. Still, the | | | | they would actually get the chance to play in |
| impact this change has left upon music and | | | | Carnegie Hall. Many of them died before the |
| moreover upon the music industry, it seems, | | | | money even came even, but that didn't stop |
| will have longstanding consequences. Formerly | | | | them from making music. |
| spoiled by the high prices for CDs, the music | | | | |
| industry is slowly being forced to offer | | | | So as both technology and the times change, |
| music at more competitive prices. Although | | | | the music industry needs to change with it, |
| you can't get free downloads anymore, at | | | | and as far as I'm concerned such a change |
| least not legally, you can get music at a | | | | would be for the better, even if it means |
| much cheaper price, and even make your own | | | | that musicians of the future will be limited |
| music with such new developments as free | | | | to home recording studios. Most musicians |
| music software, through the blessings of | | | | probably have some kind of computer driven |
| advertising. | | | | studio anyhow, and the fact that we're not |
| | | | hearing their music isn't a fault of bad |
| Most people dislike big business houses, at | | | | music, but of the obsessive manner in which |
| least, if they are not a part of it, and this | | | | the music industry still wields control over |
| definitely includes the music industry. So | | | | what we are able to listen to. So with the |
| when we now hear the industry complaining | | | | coming of the new age, hopefully we hear more |
| that it is losing money or in some instances | | | | music, less commercialized, and at prices |
| that it may be forced to change its methods | | | | that we're all happy with, including the lone |
| or shut down, we tend to face such comments | | | | musician. |
| either with apathy or antipathy. Who really | | | | |