Joe Gracey wrote:
> One last thought. Even though tape trading may be harmless and not for
> profit, there is still something there that bugs me. All I have to sell
> is my music. If my music goes around endlessly for free, am I not being
> deprived of compensation for what I do? I am not angry or blustering
> about this, just slightly confused by it.
Given that radio is now a complete failure at exposing new or more
marginal artists, trading tapes around is one of the few ways people have
to share music with others. CD stores can also help in this and let
you listen to a CD before you decide to buy it. But most CD stores
won't let you sample things and a lot of CD buyers are squeamish about
buying a CD with an opened wrapper, as if you were sharing used needles
or something.
At one point I regularly compiled my latest favorites on tapes and sent
them to my friends. People got to hear a lot of music they wouldnt have
otherwise, and in the end bought a lot of CDs they never would have
bought. Unless a record is overhyped and sucks, I think sharing music
leads to more sales rather than fewer, because people will buy things
that they would probably not have risked forking over the money for.
While I can understand Joe's wanting to control what of his performances
get released, I think that tape trading (when it doesnt involve
bootlegging) is ultimately better for the music world.
I'm not quite sure what I think about distributing tapes of live shows.
Again, Joe's objections make sense. But on the other hand I think that
at the moment of performing, one is, in a sense, releasing the music.
One certainly does to all ears who are there listening. There's not a
whole lot of control you can exercise at that point if things are coming
out right. I'm not sure that taping makes that any worse. And if taping
has those side benefits that Bob mentioned -- that one might be able to
hear a performance by an artist who he has not been able to see -- then I
find it hard to blankly criticize it. (The gravity of this problem is
particularly acute now that I'm here in Denver, which most touring bands
seem to keep south of when they head out to the West Coast.)
Will Miner
Denver, CO
