before the music dies

I am watching a music documentary that seemed really smart and incisive when I first saw it a few years ago, but now seems very dated.

It features a bunch of musicians and music industry people complaining about the major labels and music industry practices. Their complaint is that music is all about the money anymore and artists like Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles would never have been given a shot in today’s climate.

Well, that’s true. Okay, so we can agree that it should be about the music and not about the money. Got it.

But the musicians are also bitching about their MP3s being downloaded. And they’re pissed because new music is “harder to find” because it’s not on the radio.

Well, times have changed, musicians. You can’t sell music anymore. The good news is that this fact and the emergence of the internet means everyone is on a level playing field.

So, it’s really about the music again. So go make some.