On 21 Feb 2002 at 18:36, Kakki wrote: In fact, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 > gave entities such as Clear Channel the green light to barrel on full steam > ahead. Here is the link: > > http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html >
That is absolutely right. And the same thing is about to happen with television and cable if Michael Powell has his way. I do think, however, that the problem with the major labels stems as much from the fact that they are run by accountants instead of music people. Making quarterly results in order to meet analyst expectations has taken precedence over making great records. > > I still can't agree with the legitimacy of Napster just because it gives > people something they want. Myself and a lot of people want a million bucks > too but that doesn't mean I have the right to go take it from someone. The overarching problem I have with this argument is that the RIAA strongarmed instead of entering into serious licensing discussions with Napster and other companies like them. Napster could have and should have been legal. Many companies with innovative technologies tried to get licensed and the labels refused to play ball because they didn't control the companies. Musicnet and Pressplay both limped to market early because the RIAA was getting pressure from Congress that perhaps they were indeed engaging in anti-competitive behavior. (Even the judge in the Napster case said as much.) And a lot of the people who are hurt by the major label posturing are independent artists and labels who were fine with sharing music via Napster (many of them now do via Audio Galaxy). They were not given a choice when the service shut down. It's funny because when Napster use was at its height, CD sales were at an all-time high. Napster was nothing more than a sampling service (not unlike radio and tape trading) and instead of harnessing its power, the majors chose to keep their heads in the sand in the name of protecting their CD manufacturing plants and their stranglehold on physical distribution. So now there are many times as many services offering what Napster offered and some doing it better. > 30-35 years ago people did go out and start their own thing. Where are the > people with that same initiative now? They are running labels like Six Degrees, Enjoy, Emperor Norton, Merge, Om and Ubiquity. Their companies are selling records despite the general downturn of the business. And most of them allow their music to be traded because they understand that real music fans are still going to buy records and that trading is great promotion. They allow their music to be streamed. They embrace the new technology because they understand that the next generation of music lovers are all over it and the next great movement in music will come from them. Brenda n.p.: Chill Out (a great downtempo station on Live365.com)
