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Idols of Greed

Not to turn my poor blog into the anti-music-industry soapbox, but I have to make another comment on the horrid state of affairs that is the music industry. And in this one I get to nail another bird with this stone: my absolute disdain for "reality" television programs.

American Idol. I look at this program, and the premise behind it, and it almost perfectly sums up everything that's wrong with the music industry today.

Let's totally ignore the thousands of struggling musicians out there who have the creativity and talent to write their own music and perform their own material, because hey, we want to give crap to the masses, not good music with a good message. Then, let's get some people whose sole aim in persuing a "career" in music is to make a lot of money for doing what they're told do by self-important suits. Let's throw a bunch of canned pre-fab songs written by driveling idiots, and have them sing 'em. The public will love it.

People, as consumers, we dictate the rise and fall of industry. This industry has made it extremely difficult to succeed financially as a musican without becoming a part of their machine. But now, with the Internet, there is a way to reach mass appeal without being a part of this machine. I know there are many struggling artists who want to make good music and make good money from their talents, but they don't want to sell out to the industry. And for their efforts, I applaud them. If we as consumers reward these musicians for their talents as well as their strength of character in resisting a tyrannical industry, we send a clear message to other artists to follow in their footsteps.

So instead of spending $15 on your next major-record-label CD, cruise over to mp3.com and check out some of the new artists. Send them that money via PayPal or in the mail instead of giving it to the RIAA to fund their efforts to stay relevant. Let's kill them off.

Oh, and turn off American Idol. Watch something useful, say, The Learning Channel...

PGP Signed Entry