Hawk’s Babble-Log

Many people have been writing lots of words on why they think the music industry is not doing so well this year. So this seems like a good time to throw in my two cents. It’s my blog, after all.

The reasons I’ve seen lately are: 1) “online piracy”, 2) “CD burning”, 3) “high prices”, and 4) “competition from other entertainment sources such as video games and movies (DVDs)”.

Reasons 1 through 3: Horseshit. That’s a technical term: horse-shit. That means no friggin’ way. Back in the hayday of MP3s and CD-ripping, I noticed an INCREASE in CD sales. I believe this due to people listening to MP3s, thinking, “Hey, that’s not bad. I gotta get that CD!” And then buying that CD. At least, that’s what I did. I can name the last 8 or 10 CDs that I’ve bought, and I bought them *BECAUSE* I listened to the MP3 *FIRST*. I believe in rewarding the artist, and I will buy their CD if I like it. If I hear an MP3 that I don’t like, it goes into the bit bucket (meaning I delete it).

Reason 4: This is very plausable. However, if you look at past trends, the music industry has not been affected much in the past by virtually any other product, including general economy trends.

However, recently, my own music buying has gone way down. This is not due to new products of other kinds such as video games and cell phones. I’ve always bought video games and I’ve had a cell phone even before all this MP3 stuff.

I have not purchased many CDs lately because of one thing: The RIAA is sueing so many people.

This puts them on my bad side. And to top it off, it’s a war they’ll never win.

If they would like to get on my good side, they’ll stop with the senceless sueing, and make their products available for download online, along with an “Add-To-Cart” button. I would buy the stuff I like.