Kentucky Kernel
Guest Column
LEXINGTON, Ken.
So, we're all guilty. For the record though I don't think anyone thought what they were doing was legal.
Yep, Napster is soon to be a thing of the past. Sad, I know. I too will miss being able to get practically any song that I wanted at any given time.
But let's be honest, kids. Did anyone really think this was legal? Did anyone really think that stealing the creative works of thousands of artists wouldn't be, I don't know, a slight bit unethical at least?
For those of you who bust out with the "hey-music-should-be-free-to-everyone-dude" side, sit down a minute and listen to yourself. Unless you practice the musical equivalent of communism or even heavy-grade socialism you can't go out and purchase anything from a store and then ask a hard-working (or hardly working) artist to just give you his music, his "wares" if you will.
Our society (however screwed up you might think it is) just doesn't work that way. For better or for worse we go to jobs to get money and we sell ourselves each day to make money.
These guys — the guys out there who aren't on MTV and aren't selling millions of albums — those are the guys that are really getting ripped off. The guys like Metallica and Dr. Dre that get millions upon millions of dollars anyway really don't need the half million they lose to Napster.
While they still deserve the money (they did unfortunately earn it) it's the guys like Cracker, Burlap to Cashmere and Guster that are taking the hits to album sales.
As much as we don't like them; one-hit wonder bands like Aha and Men Without Hats are suffering even more. Not only do they have the stigma attached to them that they were "one-hit-wonders" but now their album sales on compilations and singles are down the tubes because you can easily get it off of Napster.
Band members in the public eye (as cushy as their jobs look now) really do have to work. Yes, even Fred Durst has to sit down and write lyrics to his songs, spend countless hours in the studio and travel away from his family.
Then there were the times before bands were big when they had to open for first-tier acts, play small clubs or even play out of their basement. They deal with the inability to work with their group, legal contracts, bloodthirsty and money-hungry promoters and deal completely with life as you and I see it.
They are not exempt from everyday life even though it might seem so among the pyrotechnics and screaming groupies. They work hard for their money and they deserve the paychecks that are supported by the money that you the consumer throw at them.
Think they shouldn't make the money they do? Don't pay the prices.
Oh, and I'll let you in on a little secret: the producers and record companies make more money than the performers do at almost a 5-to-1 ratio.
Even with this said, the idea of music trade isn't going anywhere in the near future. Even though people might be taking down places like Napster and Scour music services the MP3 age is upon us and it's not going away. MP3 players are selling well and the actual technology of trading, sharing and encoding is just shy of sheer brilliance.
Hopefully the old ways of the music industry will embrace this new technology. I don't think they can survive without it — no matter how many lawsuits they win.
So what is the common college student to do?
I'd say this: if you like your music, do as you would have normally. I plan on getting while the getting is good. But when all is said and done I won't complain when it's gone.
Hopefully you won't either.
This column first appeared in the Feb. 19, 2001 issue of the University of Kentucky's newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, and is reprinted here courtesy of U-WIRE.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 21, 2001
