damn it.. now I'm on a soapbox!

I'm on this creative tangent thing... I'm all into writing and rambling. I think it's summer that's causing it. Now, okay, the big news this week has been Napster. If you haven't heard about it, I'm not going to explain it to you, you're just a little slow or something.

Now, with Napster you can download music. The way it works is someone uploads a song. Then other people go, "Hey, I want this song." They search for it, and download it from the guy who uploaded it. Then they have it, and other people can get it from them. With me? Anyway, this process is free. All you need is a computer and internet access, download the Napster software and then start downloading.

Now, some people don't like this process. Since the service is free, the musicians who put the music out don't get any money for the use of their music. Right now some courts are deciding if it's even legal to use the copyrighted material. This is the current battle: free music against people's living.

(Note: Tabitha's not usually like, "Hey, listen to my opinions." So excuse the crapiness of this page. :)

I personally think Napster is great. I'm all for music being free. All my life I've listened to the radio. I didn't get my first CD until my fifteeth birthday. I know that the radio's music is not free, for listening to the music, I'm supposed to listen to commercials, and the radio stations pay for the ability to play the songs. But, of course, I switch to another station, or record onto tape the songs I like, without commercials.

The main people in the spotlight against Napster are quite popular like Metallica, Eminem, and Dr. Dre. They don't like the idea that they aren't getting their hard-earned money. Sixteen bucks for a CD? They cost less than a dollar to produce. And what about all the products they put out, tee shirts and such? You don't get enough money from your $25 shirts?

And copyright infringment. I don't know too much about law, or specifically copyrighting laws, but from the press I have learned that in the 80s there was a case against VCR manufacturers. The movie industry was concerned that VCRs would make bootlegging movies incredibly easy and profitable, endangering the movie industry's profits. The VCR manufacturers won. It rings kind of familiar, doesn't it? This case may have set the precedent that will keep Napster open.

The big record companies are all about money. They are the same people who put out all the teen pop acts. They have for years! I do not believe that anybody will listen to those as a style of music. Sure, they can sing (somewhat), but they have no other talents, besides dancing. They cannot play instruments, they have no life skills... At that age (late teens), kids should be getting a dose of the real world, getting an education, working. Instead, these acts are being worshipped, emulated, flown around the world. There is no struggle there! Evil, I tells ya, evil!

I think that new technology should be embraced. If you need to make money, just pump out more paraphenalia, some concerts. Many people will still go out and buy CDs anyway, if just to have something physical to hold on to, to have the liner notes.

Now, nearly everyone has an opinion on this... my mother, brother, and best friend all think that musicians should be compensated. And now that they are losing fans, the anti-Napster people are all like, "Oh, well, we never meant to shut it down, we just wanted our money." Teresa's got a rant on her page about Napster, and Ilike her suggestion about going to Best Buy, and making it known that you're passing over the greedy people and buying the supportive acts' CDs because of Napster. She's at:
http://www.angelfire.com/md/frick2NS

So there you go. I took my side. Yet represented the other... Oh, Tabitha, you can't win.

Soapboxes make me think of Safeguard... is that what it's called?... soap in my shower.