Oddly enough, the day after I posted the last entry about music, I got a big anniversary edition of Rolling Stone magazine in the mail. (for the record, the magazine annoys me and even though I got it free with credit card point and could again, I won’t be renewing)

And while I haven’t gotten through much of it yet, there is a section where they ask various artists about the future of music. I just wanted to quote on small piece from the interview with Tom Morello (guitarist for Rage Against The Machine) because this dude gets it. (and by gets it, I mean says what I’m trying to say – only much more eloquently):

In a way, music is much more disposable now – both the sound and the images are as available and as free as water. I think that certainly sucks a lot of the mystique out of it, but it’s much more democratic, in that everybody has access to the tap.

The democratization of the of the distribution of music is very healthy. There’s no longer the narrow gatekeepers of big labels to decide who hears about what music. At the same time, for new bands, it’s much more difficult to make a living, because when music is as cheap as water, only the department of water and power gets a check. The deals bands have to sign these days – we thought we got fucked, but our deals now look like gems. Now, whether it’s a major label or an indie labels, bands have to sign away a third of their publishing, a third of the money they make on tour, a third of their merchandise, just to get their toe in the door. So that is certainly unhealthy.

Yes!

It is exciting in that anybody can essentially get their music to anyone – thus leveling the playing field in a sense. But does it matter because the music has been so devalued that artists can’t realistically do that and feed themselves at the same time unless they’ve already been established by the very flawed system that we’re trying to buck here?

It just interests me. What can I say? As a lifelong ‘music guy’ who started playing bar gigs at 16 and came this close (holding fingers two inches apart) to signing papers with Sony’s label back in 2000 – I still feel for the musicians.

I’m such a softie.