The cry is heard: "Information should be FREE! Music wants to be FREE!" And there has been much discussion, both pro and con, in various media. The digital age has transformed our world.
However, even this discussion is specious, because music was, is and will be made by human beings. And we have to eat, and etc.and etc. Always have and always will. (Or are robots the answer...?) At every step of the creative and reproduction processes, people are right in there. Among many truly intelligent men and women, art in all its forms is imagined to be the greatest achievement of the human mind. And, throughout history, the creative people were obligated to provide for themselves and their loved ones. This effort was not "free". Someone paid the bill, even if the bill was absorbed by inherited means. So...how can music now be "free"?
In this morning's ( August 1) Times, an article by Charles Blow explains what's happened to the recording industry. Some purists may disagree, but that industry has carried music (pop, jazz, classical serious, whatever) to more people than at any time in history, and in so doing has carried musicians. But the record business is dying. Why?... because the "Free" crowd is having its way.
This is serious.
Comments welcome don@trillmusic.com
This page was last updated on 08/01/2009
