Dec

10

Music VS. The People

By Tom Whiting 0 views

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Well, ok, old news, and they’ve even gone to say they’ve stopped shipping and making those CDs, and offer purchasers of those CDs a NON hacked copy. The catch ? You’ve got to mail it in to Sony. Yeah, and wait about 2-3 months for them to send you a “legal” version. Come on now, get real!!!

The purpose of the “rootkit”? To limit what you, the end consumer can do with their “cd”. Yes, folks, the RIAA / MPAA / Labels have decided that you can no longer back up your cds. What a load of horseshit. There are PLENTY of reasons to back CDs up, and PLENTY of reasons to use mp3s, all 1000% legal.

Firstly, let’s take the case of myself, the user who travels 1-2 times a year. Taking my entire (legal) cd collection with me is not only cumbersome, but impractical. So, what have I done? I picked up a cd player that handles mp3s . Now, I can fit about 10-20x the amount of data onto a mp3 cd than I can on a CD itself. This could be expanded to the ipod phenomonon , and to the iRiver, and all that junk. Same scenario, just more can be copied (usually).

Secondly, let’s take (again) the case of myself, who, over the years has lost at least 2x the cds he currently has. Whether that was through roomates (thanks Bud) stealing them, or just trashing them to hell, friends borrowing them and returning them in shit condition, or people in general just stealing them, it’s going to happen. Having a backup of a cd is my legal right, and the labels such as Sony, and the RIAA/MPAA are trying very hard to ensure that this does not happen.

Thirdly, let’s not forget that CDs don’t last forever. Come on now, get real, they’re made of silicon (plastic), they scratch like nothing, they skip, they are poorly designed. Putting a CD onto a hard drive (in mp3 format) is the best way to ensure that you will ALWAYS have this cd for your own use.

Yes, I see the point very well that “sharing” of mp3s is just out of hand, but let’s take a look at that for a moment, shall we?

When one pays money for something, such as a CD, they should always have the opportunity to get a refund if they are not pleased with the work. Is this the case? Umm, no. In fact, I had to threaten to contact my Credit Card company (ie: my bank) just to get a refund on a malfunctioning DVD the other day from our friends @ Wal-Mart. The dvd wasn’t working, it had numerous scratches, hey, it was clearly defected from the time it got off the line. I was happy to take an exchange for the same dvd, but they didn’t have it. So, I wanted my money back. Logical scenario, right? Not to them.

Why would people want their money back? Have you HEARD half the crap that’s coming out from the “labels” these days? Elvis would be embarassed to be a part of the industry, as would numerous other legends. This is pretty much cookie cutter bullshit that is just ridiculous. A perfect example of this would be Limp Bizkit and ANYTHING new on their last 2 albums (hitz included). Hint: Drop Wes again, or maybe just realize that your time is over boyz!

But I digress, not to point fingers or accuse anyone of putting out shit (Ashley Simpson, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, SHIT, sorry I just can’t stop!). The point is that the “talent” scouts for these labels clearly have their heads up their asses. I mean, they let kick ass bands like RCPM (the refreshments) go, yet hire total cookie cutter bullshit like Ashley Simpson, NKOTB, Boyz II Shit, N-Suckmyass, etc. Why? They’re all about the allmighty fucking dollar. They don’t give a shit about reality, or even music in general. If they did, they would have dropped *censored* Simpson as soon as they hired her and realized the woman couldn’t sing for shit.

You see, the problem is with the industry, not the public that refuses to buy their shit. If I hear a decent song, hey, I might check MusicMatch to see if they have anything out. If they don’t, I’ll definitely download (gasp) something from them and go from there. IF (biiiiiiiig chance there) I like ‘em, I’ll go out and buy a cd from them.

With the price of CDs any more ($10-$25), and the absolute SHIT coming from the mainstream industry these days, there is no excuse for the RIAA/MPAA kicking ass like they are, harassing innocent people, elderly and more. Yes, folks, that’s ALL . They don’t dare take on those that have a voice and don’t want to give in to them.

Speaking of the RIAA / MPAA , please, tell how much of this money that they “sue” for they give to the artists affected? Not one damn penny. Yep, you got it, NOTHING!!! Oh, sure, they collect money, by threatening people with huge lawsuits (and usually settling for 1% of those), but NOTHING goes to the artist/label/actor EVER. This is just fucking insane!.

Bands I will always support by purchasing cds from:
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers
Black Label Society
Brand New Sin(still need to pick up their newest, but they kick ass).
Metallica … Yeah, they were mentioned in the “shit” category, but hopefully their next cd won’t be as lousy as St. Anger was.

Anyone else has just got to prove themselves to me. I love the fact that bands scream “You need to buy this”, but put out the same shit every album. Different lyrics, same shitty music (Disturbed). Maybe, eventually some music exec will wake the *censored* up and something will change here. Until then, prepare for the onslaught of shitty music downloads, powered by the labels!