Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisso  No you don't. I'm aware of that, and I'm aware of your background and beliefs as stated in previous threads.
I gotta say a couple of things infuriate me though (whoever posts them), a notion of entitlement with regards to musicians, some implication that musicians are asking too much or are outright greedy and any suggestion musicians are somehow to blame for piracy.
On the first two points, as has been stated by me and others on this forum, if a musician ascribes a fee to their output, they are entitled to be paid the fee when someone consumes the work. This is a basic in our society, and musicians shouldn't be treated differently to doctors, dancers, bakers and candlestick makers. Wanna find your music elsewhere at no cost, or cheaper.... fine, just don't take my work without paying for it. I can live with the consequences.
As you know from your own experience and that of your wife, the artists income earning capability is extremely fragile. Musicians are fully aware of that, and have always dealt with it however well they could. The new paradigm seems to be musicians not getting paid on the occasions they are in work. That's not only illegal, its a big fat double whammy.
On the last point, it's another myth put around by the piracy lobby. Musicians have it too easy, they sit around not doing anything while their song writing royalties roll in. They're behind the times and don't understand the worldwide web. Therefore illegal downloading is the reality and musicians should get over it and get on with their lives. If musicians are hurting, it is therefore their own faults, because they can't get off their backside and find other revenue.
Well, in my experience, musicians are pretty hard working. The business covers an enormous breadth of artist, not just the Lars Ulrich and Bono. Most musicians I know have seen their income dropping like a stone for years and are already diversifying like crazy, and actively exploring alternative revenues.
The piracy that's going on is just another cross to bear, by legal and ethical standards an unfair cross to bear. |
Good post.
I'm not into the "musicians don't work hard" argument either. It really just shows ignorance.
I knew a bass player working on ships and a housekeeper was giving him shit because he made a better salary and only worked a couple hours a day, just for "playing music". The bass player says, "well, I tell you what, I've trained for half of my life, unpaid most of the time for "training" to do this job, and I could learn your job in a couple hours"..............
Who knows if the housekeeper
got it or not, but it's telling about how some people truly don't get how much work goes into this stuff.
And you're right about the entitlement statement, it was the wrong way to make my point. I probably didn't mean it how you took it, so I'll leave it be.