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Grammys
Feb 27, 2002 21:19:10 GMT -5
Post by Bret Walker on Feb 27, 2002 21:19:10 GMT -5
The Grammys are on tonight. I feel a little slighted. Not because I wasn't nominated. I realize my album came out very late in the year. But I feel a bit slighted due to the fact that I never got my invitation. I blame my local post office. They lose my mail all the time. I kinda wish I was there. But there's always next year. ;D
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Grammys
Feb 28, 2002 1:39:46 GMT -5
Post by The Vonz on Feb 28, 2002 1:39:46 GMT -5
I can't beleive I actually watched that tripe. I like when the guy came out and bitched about how gnutella programs such as Audio Galaxy were so horrible and illegal, and refered to it as a "life and death" situation. PUHLEAZE! I think in this guy's honor, I'm going to upload 20 or so MP3s, that people can download. For free.
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Grammys
Feb 28, 2002 9:01:26 GMT -5
Post by Bret Walker on Feb 28, 2002 9:01:26 GMT -5
You know, I'm sorta intrigued by this whole MP3 thing these days. On the one hand, I would hate it if my music were flying around the Internet, since I've put so much into it and gotten so little back... On the other hand, I'd love it if my music were flying around the internet, since that would mean people are listening to my music. I can understand where the struggling artist like myself is concerned that it would be a major concern to have one's music pirated. However, the people who are bitching the most are the multi-million dollar bands like Metallica, and the fat and bloated billion dollar music industry in general. You know, if they're so concerned with people stealing music, they'd better take it off the radio, where it's very easy to record songs and replay them over and over. I was beside myself when this guy was on the stage talking about the crusade of the RIAA. Fuck the RIAA. They don't represent me or anyone like me, only the ones who are so fucking rich that they don't know what to do with their earnings.
This is why I offer free MP3s on my website, to try and keep people from illegally pirating my music. I know some people are going to do it, and I accept that. I've even downloaded my own MP3s. However, I try to make sure that the MP3s I download are songs I already have purchased on cassette in the past, or are songs by artists I want to sample before buying their albums. Girlband is an excellent example. I went on MP3.com, where artists themselves put their music up to be downloaded for free, or sampled in streaming audio, in the hopes that their newly gained fan base may purchase their CDs. Since discovering Girlband on MP3, which I couldn't have done through commercial means such as radio or MTV, I've purchased both their CDs. It was that exposure that led me to wanting to buy their stuff.
So here I am in the middle of the whole MP3 uproar, and not knowing on which side of the fence I belong. As an artist, I kinda side with the RIAA, but not entirely. As a consumer, I don't side with the RIAA, but I see their point of view. Regardless, I only get my MP3s through legal means; from MP3.com where artists put their songs up to be downloaded. And if I like their stuff I'll buy it. It's like a shareware mentallity, try before you buy. And as they say in a local furniture store's commercials, "An educated consumer is our best customer."
Look for Max the Dork wares on MP3.com soon, by the way.
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Grammys
Feb 28, 2002 12:55:16 GMT -5
Post by The Vonz on Feb 28, 2002 12:55:16 GMT -5
The thing that I love the most, is how everyone calls it illegal, when it's NOT. It's all perfectly legal.
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Grammys
Feb 28, 2002 14:36:57 GMT -5
Post by Bret Walker on Feb 28, 2002 14:36:57 GMT -5
Well, I own a copyright to my own music. That gives me the right to copy my own music and distribute it how I see fit. When someone purchases the distributed music from me, I distribute it to them in a legal fashion. The legality is determined by me, the copyright holder. If I say, here's the CD, copy it and sell it as you will, rip MP3s off of it, whatever you want to do, then go right ahead; then copying the music is legal because I am giving you the right to do so, but only I can do that because I am the copyright holder. If, however, I sell you the CD, and say "Do not make copies of this in any way shape or form," and you do, then that is illegal infringement of MY copyright. As the composer of the song, I hold the copyright by law, but I also hold the paper from the Library of Congress that says that my CD is copyrighted material and cannot be copied except by my express consent. So, unless you obtain written consent from the holder of the copyright, copying and distributing material that you don't have a copyright to is in fact illegal. That is the meat of the copyright laws in a nutshell. If you want more information, check out the RIAA's page at www.riaa.org. I don't make the laws, I only abide by them.
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