Afternoon Napster

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

> My main thought on it is that protesting is almost certainly useless. 
Cut
> down Napster and a hundred more will suddenly appear.

>From what I understand, there are already more efficient and far-reaching 
> search engines for mp3s than Napster.

Brian and Keets:

There are, but there IS a difference between one single location and a
thousand different ones. If any become "central" locations, they will be
targeted as well. Searching the Web for music comes to a point when the
search is more trouble than just buying it. Napster has changed that, for
the moment.

> has positioned themselves as "subversives" by marketing on the Internet.

That in itself is a marketing strategy.

> Not yet.  It's just the first indication of their business plan--that
they 
> intend to replace the music labels.  The best defense is always a good 
> offense, you know.  ;)

Some things can't be changed, like needing to be publicized beyond what a
band can afford.

> All MP3 has to do is sign a couple or three disgruntled major artists and

> they're in business.

Not really. The bands will want more money than a $10 per person fee will
get them.

> are caused by the old system.  Radio/TV and music labels haven't been 
> especially open to older artists now for a while, and the new system is.

This isn't true. Look at VH1 and there are also labels like Rhino which
specialize in older bands.

> Napster is just a technology. Every time technology advances, the
> dinosaurs try to stop it.

Kevin:

Wanting to get paid for your work is not being a dinosaur.

> DAT they pretty much stopped,

It stopped itself. The market wouldn't support it. It was an inferior
format anyway.

> members of the group. But we cannot make digital tapes because the
> RIAA pretty much made it impossible for anyone to buy a digital tape
> deck without paying protection money to them first, and that puts it
> out of my reach.

I don't know what you mean here. You can get a DAT fairly cheap now, and
then there's the very inexpensive MD recorders. MP3 recorders can be gotten
for about $100 now. For that matter, buy a big hard drive and record it
directly to that. From there you can edit it and make a WAV file, suitable
to be burned by a $150 CD burner to a $1 or less blank CD.

> Secondly, why should I give a damn about big bands

Why do you give a damn about The Who? How much of their music would you
have heard had they not become "big?" It doesn't matter how GOOD a band is,
as I'm sure you already know, it's how they are presented. A lot of great
music has fallen by the wayside, unheard by people who would love it.

> in, it is whether they make good music. Get rid of the record
> companies, and a lot of artists can actually do better.

Probably, but a lot of great artists will never be heard as well.
TANSTAAFL, you know. With a slogan like that, I'm surprised you have this
position.

> Aimee Mann,
> for instance, started her own company and sells through her Web

Yeah...would anyone know who she is had she not made it big with Til
Tuesday?

> both critically and commercially. And I note that neither The Who
> nor Pete are under contract, and are selling their latest release on
> the Web. Hmmm....I wonder that is all about? 

Again, you're speaking only of the big bands you say you don't care about.
Tell me about some unknown who made it this way, and you'll have a good
point.

> The record companies, MTV, and the radio stations are primarily
> filters that keep you from hearing anything they don't want you to
> hear.

That's true. But they also allow you to hear things you otherwise wouldn't.
Like the Townshend Lifehouse show. Like The Who live at Largo Maryland
1973. Or Pinball Wizard, for that matter, the song which got them out of
their tremendous debt.

> I say screw them all.

You have that right. But it sure is inconsistent with some of the stuff
you've written before, or appears to be at least.

> I don't remember the *exact* words at this moment

Kathy:

Thanks. Great story.

> I don't know about disgruntled, but I hold in my possesion, one of
MP3.com's
> 103 of the best songs you never heard.  On it, is a 60's icon by the name
of
> Roger McGuinn.

Greg:

I love his stuff, and even have a poster here on my store's wall, but let's
face it...his last album (live) didn't sell. He has no career, unless he
wants to do a Donovan and play small clubs with just an acoustic guitar
(which he did for years).

> string-slide blues number on it.  Don't know if he has more out there,
but I
> suspect that if Byrds fans don't know, they might like to see what he is
up

He's recording old folk songs.

> 	[O'Neal, Kevin W.]  Baaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! Stop it, Stop it!!!
> You're killing me!!!  :-D

(the other) Kevin:

It's not ME who's killing anyone. I'm just trying to save the country,
that's all.



"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
                         George W. Bush, Presidential Candidate

      
                    Cheers                  ML