Journal: News & Comment

Downloads ahoy!

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I'm a musician, and I profoundly disagree with the attitude the major record labels are taking against music sharing and downloading on the Internet. That's not just because I like to download music -- I do -- but also because I know that the music establishment (whether a recording cartel or a musicians' union) has opposed every innovation in our field, from printed sheet music, to phonographs, to radio, to television, to synthesizers, to cassette tapes, to VCRs, saying that they would "kill the industry" and hurt musicians and other performers.

They've been wrong every time. Every time. This one is no different, as Dan Bricklin (who invented the first computer spreadsheet program) shows, and Janis Ian articulates well.

P.S. Ms. Ian also wrote a great memorial piece for Chet Atkins last year. Read it too. Maybe download some of his songs.

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