Great Salon article about Napster and artists

[ruebarb]

I hope everyone gets a chance to read this (In fact I'm thinking of crossposting it) - Salon has written a really good article on Napster and the ARTIST!! (who the hell are they? Aren't they those guys caught in the pissing contest between the public and record companies?)

This has been something that concerns me. I worry about my favorite mid-level (100000 copies or lest) artists who lose their label because of so many sales that could be lost to Napster.

Check it out here http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/200...sts/index.html

[dobro]

Ruebarb, great link - thanks. I think the article raises all aspects of the issue pretty clearly. I like what Jonatha Brooke says - clear and articulate. I don't like Chuck D's oversimplification of the issue.

I don't think Napster's going away, because it's just too convenient and useful.

Perhaps a technical solution: how about transforming the internet with labelling technology, so that every file that was transferred over the net was tagged and billed? A long time ago, Dragon (remember Dragon?) talked about a simple way to 'autograph' a digital file, so that it could always be traced. As I recall, it was a small digital code, like a bar code on a supermarket package, that was worked into the fabric of the track. If, every time a file with a digital tag like this went through a server, the sender was billed, then artists (and especially artists like you and me ) could get paid for internet sharing. This tightens up internet use a lot, and I don't like that, but artists and the people who help the artists get the art out need to be supported for what they do. I think I'll invoke the Dragon - stay tuned.

[dobro]

Hmm... sleeping dragon. Won't be invoked. Phooey.