Who Gives a .... Anyway

Having grown up with a musician that made very little money from his albums, and had to keep his day job, I am very anti piracy. I was excited to finally have iTunes available in South Africa, only to be told that the artists get a fraction of the money that we spend on the music and videos we download. Apparently artists submit their creation to so large body that then makes it available to all services and they take a large cut. Only if the artists hit certain targets do they make any money back. This is a little like piracy as far as I am concerned. I know there are many cogs in the machine, but surely with digital distribution there should be more reward to the artists. Site to get music direct Anyway an artist told me about a site they use. Bandcamp . This site lets artists upload and share their creations and charge what they like . Then you as a lover of music or anyone can download the music and pay the artist direct. And best of all you can listen to it online....

This site claims that they are legal, and what better way to catch up you collection. After going to the Rewind tour realized I have never got round to buying some of the CD versions of the vinyls I bought in the 80s MP3 Obsession Personally I like mp3caprice.com and they do seem to be legal. Also check out http://legalmusiconline.info/allservices/

I am a big believer that you should support the people responsible for art and music by buying their product. I believe without support artists are not rewarded for their work. The problem I have is with the distributors, and why I believe that electronic distribution is the only way forward. In South Africa it is unfortunate that this option is not really available, but the methodology I have adopted is to get items electronically then order the hard copy via an on-line shop or similar sometimes not even opening the package, when delivered, although normally I like to read the printed material out of interest. Why do I prefer this. Well after I have purchased a product, I have to be subjected to the distributors advertising. I did not ask for it and why do I have to have it thrust upon me. Recently I order a few CD's I had downloaded and inside there was a advertising glossy, that is pretty easy to dispose of. But this is not the case with DVD's. Why do I have to be forced to ...