Leo Laporte writes a great piece about how to change the music industry. Its the first piece I’ve come across that echo’s my own feelings about P2P Music trading. Sounds like if you want to get better music, it’ll be some work on your part to find and support artists you like instead of passively accepting the ones the record labels market.
The solution is simple. If you want to own a hit you heard on the radio, you should buy it from the record company that produced it. That’s not only the law, it’s the right thing to do. But if you want to support a future where every musician has an equal chance to find an audience, dig deeper. Look for unsigned and independent artists. Buy their music online; attend their concerts. Support Internet radio stations that play independent artists. We have an opportunity to remake the music business in a way that best serves artists and music lovers. The only casualty will be a business that has made a fortune stealing from both. The solution is not to steal from the record companies, but to eliminate them entirely.
Updated: Thanks Sandy for letting me know the link was missing, I’ve fixed. I don’t think this piece was meant to imply that independents==quality, just that more competition for the record labels might help overall quality, force them to improve their quality, or maybe convince artists that they don’t need to cut a deal with the Industry to make it. Not sure which one of those scenarios, if any, I think are plausible.