Damn Downloaders! (Me Included)

[12:43] Cameron: You know R&B is in bad shape when Chaka Khan is still winning grammys

R&B is not the only thing in bad shape. The music industry is shit. The music industry is garbage. Ringtones in favor of real quality music? How did it amount to this? The answer lies in us, the people, and our nagging downloading habits.

Thank goodness for Apple for developing iTunes. While the RIAA were demonizing the likes of P2P downloaders, Apple found a way to make money off downloaders. While this is still changing the game with Microsoft following suit with their Zune service (as well as Napster going legit), people still download for the following reasons, people still don't want to pay 99cents per track, people cant find that specific track that like on the service, etc... Because downloading makes bootlegs and advance copies more accessible, the recording industry still loses. What is the solution to this problem? One hit wonders and ringtones. This is Why I'm Hot. Throw Some Ds On It. Party Like a Rockstar (Totally Dude!). These songs not only are devoid of quality (ie, other than Mims, has any of these other people come out with other hot followup singles?) Hells no! But they generate enough revenue off ringtones satsifying the record label. Will the record label invest that hard earned money to put out quality music? Hells no! They're going to make more one hit wonders and more ringtone music!

Record Labels, just like any other corporation exist to make money, not make people happy. It is not a public service after all, it is a private enterprise and there is no moral limit to what the Record Labels will cross to make that buck. Because of the constant downloading for free, labels have to scramble to make its money back seeing that they do fund the production for the music. In a business, your goal is not only to break even, but make profit and this is what the industry comes up as an answer to people downloading for free - mediocre junk food music that you'll buy today, and will be gone tomorrow.

I'm not the type to attempt to start a movement anymore, but unless we want to see quality music on the charts getting recognized again, we have to BUY the artist that we like and anticipate. A lot of good music fell under the radar. While there are numbers of us that appreciate the good music not blasted in Power 106, we ourselves hurt the Artists by downloading their music for free. If that artist does not make money for the label, that label will stop supporting and (s)he will be relegated to trying to make people listen to their music on myspace. You have a complaint about the industry? Fuck you, pay them.

So as we talk about this years Grammys in hindsight, at least there are artists out there who still put out quality music and still get nominations such as Common (speaking on personal bias) and in that same breath the Shop Boys are going up for the same. Get it right people. If you simply like the artist, then buy the fuckin album, otherwise stop complaining about the industry being trash!