By Mandy Jenkins
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Memo

TO: Music Industry Executives
RE: The truth

I've heard the music industry is upset. You say a bunch of downloading kids are stealing your money and you're gonna take their shoplifting butts to court. Record sales are down and have been for a few years. You blame this on music pirates; I think you're missing the point.

This is all your fault.

People aren't buying because the music industry itself is faulted. First of all, CDs are too expensive for Gen X-ers and teens to buy. They will buy only the music of artists they really have loyalty to - otherwise, it's easier to download a single hit than slap down $20 for a whole CD of crap.

That's right, I said it. The music industry sucks right now and your audience knows it. You aren't putting out music that is worth the cost of a CD.

Your problem is that as soon as one band or singer gets big, you go right out and find 10 more who sound exactly like them and slap together a CD with one or two good songs in the bunch. The result? Low-quality music that all sounds alike and tons of one-hit wonders on the airwaves.

Who can tell the difference between Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch or Vanessa Carlton? They were created to imitate each other. Why would I buy each of their CDs, when I could download "Sk8r Boi" and "Game of Love" and be done with it?

Same thing goes for Nickelback, Staind, Puddle of Mudd and all of those bands that were created to be the "new" Creed (a rip-off of Pearl Jam, anyway). And the emo/wannabe punk bands like All-American Rejects, Simple Plan and Good Charlotte? They all sound the same.

The first bit of evidence: the album sales top 10. The long-lasting sales on the charts go to groundbreaking new artists (Norah Jones, 50 Cent) or perennial favorites with proven talent (Metallica, Steely Dan, Radiohead). Those one-hit wonder bands don't stick around for long and it isn't because of downloaders - it's because they aren't that good.

The second bit of evidence: I'll bet almost all online file-traders are between 15 and 30; however, they are not the only people who listen to music. What about everyone else; why aren't they buying music?

My mom couldn't download a music file if her life depended on it, but you aren't going to catch her at a record store, either. Music isn't good enough to get her to pay that much for anything less than a "greatest hits" CD - and most of today's artists will never see one of those.

Get my point? As long as the music industry continues to charge more for putting out garbage, your sales will decline. It doesn't matter how many college kids with T1 lines you find to sue - you will still lose in the end.

This isn't a question of ethics and it isn't a statement of legality; it is a measure of quality - and you aren't delivering anymore.


URL
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articl...o/07022003h.php

Too True.....

and LOL @ the Pic of your sig....

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I clicked the link and the posts by users down teh bottom are very interesting,

quote:

I did a radio show in college playing metal, and decided against a career in radio after interning at a radio station, seeing how much corporte bullshit it is. You think radio stations take requests, think again. Radio stations DJs (I use the term loosely) are bound by a playlist the recieve at the begging of their shift (though most are automated now). Should you call in with a request and should the DJ feel particually nice he'll mark your name down next to the song on the playlist and mention it went out to you by request when it gets to that spot in the rotation. The music you hear on FM is dictated by advertisers, plain and simple. they want their ads to run after the most popular songs. Not to mention that radio stations are all owned by one of a handful of corporate giants, you'll NEVER hear anything on FM radio that the advertisers don;t want you to hear.

Just one of the interesting facts about radio.

Link

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Mandy, werd to your mudda, now lets get outta here

Lone wolf: as if we didnt know that already!!!

Luckily here in aus (the articles american) we do have a few "independent" radio stations - Triple J, FBi, etc... bring on independent radio!!

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Never hold your farts in!!!
They travel up your spine into your brain
and that where you get shit ideas from!!!

Is this true Cam & Mehran? Rush like this?

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quote:

Originally posted by lethal Lone wolf: as if we didnt know that already!!! Luckily here in aus (the articles american) we do have a few "independent" radio stations - Triple J, FBi, etc... bring on independent radio!!

I didn't Lol :P

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quote:

Originally posted by matt_a Is this true Cam & Mehran? Rush like this?

You mean about the request thing? Nope it's false about Rush. we play whatever we want, even if anyone of you people told me to play a trance song (any song you want), then i will play it for you on my next mix for Rush...

Some radio stations could be like that but Rush in my opinion is still growing and doesn't want to take chances in disappointing the audience.

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Dunno why the music industry would want to fix the problems when they can just as easily bury their heads in the sand....

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^^^ And still get paid millions

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Greedy corporate pig bastardos

Q: What was the last CD I bought?
A: PVD/DVD-CD GLOBAL

Q: Why did I buy it?
A: Cuz it offers much more than your normal CD compilation along with the 5.1 Digital audio etc at a very atractive price $25

Q: Would I still buy it if the DVD wasn't included?
A: Yes, if it was a 2CD compilation...

Q: Would I ever buy a TOP10 kind of CD?
A: No fucken way. I'd rather download the few that I liked and after a while I'd forget about them!!!

Q: If mp3 and file sharing wasn't around what would I do?
A: Probably borrow the CD's from my mates and copy them to cassettes or CD's. If worse comes to worst I'd record radio broadcasts to tapes....
Q: Do I think mp3 made it worse for the artists?
A: Read the previous answer!

quote:

Originally posted by Tranceilvania The long-lasting sales on the charts go to groundbreaking new artists (Norah Jones, 50 Cent)

50 cent

groundbreaking

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My Records