Being a creative business advocate takes on many forms and today I’m here to talk music. Being creative in business has become harder than ever for musicians. It used to be that as tricky as it was to “make it” in the music business, musicians felt like they had a fighting chance, and could have alternate sources of income, like record/CD sales. That is, till now, when the culture of “free” has created a sad state of affairs. It seems ironic that the very people who probably consciously don’t want to hurt the lives of musicians and other creatives are the ones spreading the problem, by acquiring massive music libraries and not paying for it. There is a climate of smoke and mirrors that it’s “ok” to acquire (a.k.a. steal) music and not pay for it.
To me, it seems that it’s too darned EASY to access free music and art these days, and until that changes, the culture of acquiring the content will continue to run amok. People need to understand the RAMIFICATIONS of their actions. In this case, they’re hurting the very musicians they so dearly love. Ironic, isn’t it. There is already an ongoing debate about sites like Spotify (see my previous article about that), and whether they are good or bad for musicians. That will continue, but there is WAY more to it than that. Yes, I’ve written about this before, and yes, I will write about it again. And again. I felt compelled to bring it up today after reading this letter, written by musician David Lowery of the bands CRACKER, and CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN, as well as his solo endeavors. It is so to the point, so well written, and is evoking very emotional and well spoken responses on a viral level. Thank you David Lowery. The conversation continues. My optimistic side hopes that it will lead to more protections for artists and that the tides will turn back around, but it may get worse before it gets better. In the meantime, please read, share, post, tweet, etc. so word can spread and people can understand just exactly what is happening.
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