[Dixielandjazz] Music Tyrants Lose One

[Stephen Barbone]

Sent to the DJML and to Bill Haesler and Len Nielsen because my posts to
the list are not getting through these days, which is why they got them
in a lump the last time. Messages to the list mavens go unanswered so I
have no idea what is wrong. (I am receiving the List OK)

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Len Nielsen wrote that the "little guys" may have won a battle versus
the law suits against them for file sharing music. I hope it goes a lot
further than that.

There is an interesting column in PC Magazine, (PC = Personal Computer)
March 16, by John C. Dvorak called "Ode to Napster, Music's Last Hope."
You can view it in its entirety at:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1537393,00.asp

Basically, if I may paraphrase and shorten it, he opines that the
decline in CD sales is in large measure due to the shutting down of
Napster and others. Reasoning goes like this.

Listen before you bought was common in the 1960s through in store
listening booths.

It slowly died off when AM radio and singles business flourished. The
stations competed with each other for the teenage dollar, playing
singles, then extended plays, then albums and then CDs.

But talk radio took over and AM radio mutated into talk.

And when the singles died off, people were left without a music sampling
source.

And FM went to "safe" soft rock programming. No spotlight on new
artists.

Result? There was no way to discover new music except as a fluke or by
word of mouth. So bands self marketed and went to crummy little
magazines to promote. Then Napster appeared and the business was about
to be saved. Folks could sample each others files discover a host of
music to buy on CD (Which they apparently did) and everybody profited.
Both Napster and the record industry enjoyed rising sales. RIAA then got
greedy and thought, get rid of Napster and sales will rise even faster.
WRONG.

So instead of using Napster as a marketing tool, RIAA and the greed
machines shut down the only way we have of checking out what is
available in new, or never heard before music. Now that they've killed
off the "listening booth", nobody knows what's available. Sales have
plummeted since the shut down.

Now we know that story with OKOM. We did the same thing by removing the
music from the clubs and putting it into Old Folks Venues. Nobody hears
us either.

Anyway, the article is available at
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1537393,00.asp

Cheers,
Steve Barbone