I think in some respects Napster and Mp3s could be greatest things that ever happened to the world of music. I'm sure with the new pay-for-play system major labels will have a much stronger presence, but essentially ANYONE can be on there and have their music heard by people outside their everyday lives. Where is the problem? Music is not just for the privliged and if a person is upset because someone deemed "not cool" is listening to "cool" music, then I think its this person's thinking that needs changing and not the system . I'm very sorry, but you'll have to share; this world would be infinitely easier to survive in if people didn't make such arbitrary distinctions and did a little more sharing instead. As for artists not recieving monetary compensation for their efforts, when in the hell was this guaranteed to begin with? I've played in bands since high school, everyone of which made a self-released album and not one of which recieved a damn cent. Its a fringe benefit of being in a band, not a guarantee or a birth right. As several people have pointed out, ask most artists and they'll tell you that reaching new people is far more rewarding than worrying about how their album is selling. The fact of the matter is that albums are selling at a record pace and people are hearing about bands they never would have been exposed to otherwise, yet somehow people are still decrying the whole program in the name of "fairness." In a message dated 1/30/01 9:44:27 AM Eastern Standard Time, IsabelLark@aol.com writes: << where i come from we have to trek twenty-one miles into town...sometimes in the rain and mud...get to the record store...buy something...we don't get to hear it first. and there are no refunds...we trek it back twenty-one miles (again, in the rain and mud) and run straight to the cd player while mom yells about tracking mud...put a cd in and dance like mad. or curse with tourettes...whichever the case may be. >> While this ritual may be forced upon you, let's not spoil it for those of us who can avoid being shafted to the tune of $15. This is sounding oddly like my ancient grandfather, always lambasting the latest things to make us kids "soft." Its getting rid of the voodoo of the marketplace. I've known countless people who have bought a CD by a totally obscure band because of tracks they heard on the internet. If no one could hear a record before they bought it, they would most likely be buying based on image rather than actual quality, would they not? That doesn't sound like a very "indie-friendly" concept to me. How this is supposed to be more advantageous to anyone is beyond comprehension. It sounds more like a case of "I did it the hard way and so should everyone of you." Thanks, but no thanks... The Ravens won the Super Bowl on Sunday...believe it or not, I'm still glowing. Steve C. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "peculiarly deranged fanbase" "frighteningly named +-+ +-+ Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+