Don't Sever A High-Tech Lifeline for Musicians

Licensed2Hack writes "Janis Ian, who provided this slashdot interview last September, has written this editorial in the Los Angeles Times. Janis says, "After I first posted downloadable music, my merchandise sales went up 300%. They're still double what they were before the MP3s went online." And the RIAA's stated goal in preventing this type of activity with their lawsuit against Verizon is to increase sales..."

so wait... You're telling me that all I have to do

[einer]

Is accuse someone of pirating music, and the "machinery is set in motion."?

Well, I have a short list of people who I believe have been pirating music:

Hillary Rosen
George W. Bush
William Jefferson Clinton
Gandhi
Carrot Top
Ann Coulter
Jesse Jackson
The Dell Dude
mathew lesko (The question mark guy selling the book on how to get free government money)
Rick Fox (from the Lakers...)

the difference is WHO is posting the music

[George Walker Bush]

If the musician posts, he/she has control over what songs, and the distribution. If the users post the music, the control is lost.

My fellow Americans, we must not let the soverignity of hard-working American musicians be blatantly and wantonly violated by hooligans and rebellious thieves who commit theft in the name of technology.

Thank you and God bless America.

Sabrina

[MrWa]

Janis's stance on MP3's is admirable, but it was probably the reference on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" that had the largest impact on sales...

Re:I agree completely.

[yuckf00]

Nice plug.

Re:so wait... You're telling me that all I have to

[jdkincad]

What did Gandhi ever do to you?

i got a better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

i have a feeling posting porno and offering free beer will increase your sales by 400%

Profit lost...

[BytePusher]

I'm not quite sure it's so difficult for the folks on /. to see why the RIAA is against MP3s, file sharing, etc... The whole reason record companies exist is to burn CDs and advertise. It's actually quite easy and inexpensive(Meaning not M$, but K$) to setup a nice recording studio and then burn A CD. File sharing takes care of distribution and the relitively cheap cost of advertising on a website takes care of well.. advertisement.
The problem is that the recording companies can see a "free market" in the future, which means their relitive profit will probably come close to zero.
In Ellen Fiess-ese here's the senario:
"So the RIAA guy was like, 'Ah, like, I was doing my homework, and like,,, if these, like people start using mp3s, they will, like, stop buying CDs from us
So I was like Nooo Waaay!, so I made the switch from opressing music artists to suing and getting court orders to ransack small buisinesses trying to establish file-sharing on the internet.
I'm so totally pleased in my desision to broaden my circle oppression, cause, like, I feel so much more totally secure.'"

-- All your sig. are belong to us

Re:so wait... You're telling me that all I have to

[fobbman]

There's a running list of probable music pirates being created here. Each person listed has admitted to music piracy, and is offering themself to be taken to Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. [slashdot.org]

Re:so wait... You're telling me that all I have to

[einer]

Oh dear. :) Gandhi wasn't actually sposed to be in that list. I stole that list from my a thread on my website [einer.org] (it's a list of the top five people you'd like to punch in the face if you saw them on the street. Gandhi doesn't actually belong in THAT list either...)

Am I the only one ...

[DogIsMyCoprocessor]

who thinks the Janis Ian quote sounds like the body of a spam?

To: [e-mail]
Subject: MAKE EASY MONEY AT HOME

After I first posted downloadable music, my merchandise sales went up 300%. They're still double what they were before the MP3s went online.

Re:Well, obviously...

[wadetemp]

I have 60 GB or so of MP3s [dhs.org] that you need.

Ballsy. Stupid, but ballsy.

Re:Legacy of Greed

[CrazyDuke]

The problem is, do you really want them shooting themselves in the foot while they are busy stomping on you?

Re:Legacy of Greed

[anubi]

Maybe they should outlaw amplifiers too.

Without use of amplifiers, if they want to make the noise of 10,000 musicians, they would have to hire 10,000 musicians. Amplifiers put musicians out of work!

Re:On the mark...

[Skiboo]

Bands like Pearl Jam, Phish and P.E., and performers like Prince, have the balls and knowledge to flip off the suits and build long, profitable careers. It seems these days that such things happen despite of, and not because of, the management of the major record labels.

Nice alliteration, but I have a better one:

Performances purveyors Pearl Jam, Phish, P.E., and players like Prince, possess perspicacity, preventing pandering to profiteers, preferring portraying poetry prolifically. Presently, performers procure popularity from performances; pessimistic pilferers perish.

Re:To be fair

[Golias]

"regression" is probably a good word for a Janis Ian fan who starts listening to Britney Spears. :)

Re:Is Janis the only one who knows how to rip MP3s

[Anonymous Coward]

Rubbish

I'm reading a book right now
while driving my car and writ