RE: [microsound] napster was a promotional service

[Christopher Sorg <csorg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I definitely used it for the same reasons.  Most of the time I find the
artifacting in MP3s a little irritating, especially when listening on a good
system.  But they are great for exploring where you really want to invest
your listening time/money.  Since the Napster "fall", I have been using
Audiogalaxy with great success.  Every time someone on the list mentions
something they like, I try it out.  I've really enjoyed Ulrich Schnauss (as
it seems, does everyone else :) as well as the Prefuse stuff, Aardvark,
Nautilis, Jan Jelinek, the list goes on and on.  I've spent more money on
MP3 playback hardware and CDs in the last two years than I spent on music
five years hence.  These companies have nothing to complain about as long as
they can offer superior-quality formats (look at the new DVD-audio and
SuperCD formats for starters!)

I do feel sorry for many of the artists, though.  They are being taken
advantage of by the record companies and caught in a war between this huge
media corporations and the consumers.  I think that many of these artists
need to become enlightened about what it *actually* means to sign a record
contract with WEA or Sony, etc.  I've seen friends sign contracts only to
watch their groups torn apart, repacked, rearranged and buried.  Companies
focus their marketing pretty carefully, and many musicians get washed over
because of this.  If the musicians cannot recoup their studio expenses from
album earnings, they need to go on tour just to pay their studio bills (the
studio does *not* typically just give you free studio time in the contract).
Many musicians end up with nothing, and the rights to their music only
revert to them after a certain length of time.  This, to me, is completely
reprehensible, and it is why I appreciate the small labels, groups like
Fugazi and people like Henry Rollins.

File sharing, mp3.com, mail lists and individual sites can only help the
artist self-promote and control his/her own work.  Just remember to
copyright your work!!  I just hope that the internet can maintain sources of
information and resources separate from corporate control.  I could be
totally wrong about all this, so, just my .02 cents worth :)
__________________________________________
Christopher Sorg
Multimedia Artist and Instructor
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
http://csorg.cjb.net
csorg@xxxxxxxxx
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