>I always thought napster really came into its own with difficult to find >underground stuff. I have found mp3's of tracks I sure as hell wouldnt >be able to find on record... Guess I downloaded a copy of french kiss >just in time. Artists dont get royalties from second hand sales, so if a >track is way out of print it might as well be available in some way. Any >serious music lover dislikes the quality of mp3's anyway - so its not >like they wouldnt buy it if they could.
The second hand issue is a good (and oft forgotten) point but at least the artist has (in theory) recouped a little off that same product. Then of course there are CD burners. All my friends like Napster - DJs love them - but I am old skool and enjoy having a disk/record in my hands with the artwork and credits, etc. I think Napster is the way of the future, but it has to be more equitable - not so much for the corporates but the smaller independent artists, like techno producers. I think Chuck D's arguments are fairly sound - he is on the money that guy.
