Rock On

The music industry is a very frustrating to me. There seems to be little to no correlation between good music and good money for artists. To a point one can earn a living on talent, but it seems to me that blockbuster dollars are distributed more or less randomly. The problem is this irrationality permeates almost all genres (even to a degree the sacred region of classical music). The costs are in the breadth and depth as well as the quality of music you run into with normal exposure. Why is this relevant? It speaks to the importance of the debate on DRM (Digital Right Management) Technologies. Steve Jobs has recently switched his views on the technology labels require him to package itunes mp3s with. He now supports selling music without the safeguards. This would make the flow of music and information on music much more liquid. In addition, the consolidation of music reviews on websites like allmusic as well as the expansion of music blogs like this also would help liberalize the music industry. This flow would mean better music for customers, and better money for better artists (much fairer then the lottery like wealth distribution of the industry presently).
A semi-unrelated frustration I have with music is people irrationally decide what they do and don't like. The two most common victims of unjustified ill will are country and techno. Country contains a lot of the feel good melodies and engaging lyrics (albeit sang with a twang) that people claim to like. But people let biases they have towards what they stereotype as country listeners prevent them from giving the genre a shot. Techno suffers from the same discrimination, and in some ways even more so. Electronically created music is largely the future of music. Sampling and Computer Editing of sound have become the driving forces for not only techno, but also pop (from rock to rap). Techno is also more than thumping bass, and ranges from heavy dance music to mellow chillout music. My point is that prejudicing your choices of music based on the scene you fancy your self part of cost you in terms of finding music you really like. Finding good music is not about sticking it to the labels, or fulfilling some requirement of your scene. It's about improving your car rides, the concerts you attend, and in some small way your life. The fight against DRM technology should not be seen as a crusade against evil corporations. It's about moving an industry forward. A lot of people are doing a lot of interesting things and the easier it is to connect future fans to current artists the better off everyone is.