> Yeah, damn shame how advances in recording technology have made
> it possible
> for people to make records without the financing -- or blessing -- of some
> media conglomerate more concerned with cash than quality or a group of
> gatekeepers who get to decide what's "professional" or not. This quote is
> so ludicrous it would be laughable, if it weren't for the fact that the
> opinions expressed are apparently shared by others.
Well, considering that Emerson's talking about bluegrass, I've got to take
that "media conglomerate" thing with a grain of salt. There are a lot of
gatekeepers in the music bidness, and not all - not even most - of them are
Big Bad Guys. Do you know any DJs who air all the cuts on everything they
get in the mail? The ones who don't - which is all of them, I do believe -
are gatekeepers. Clubs who book everyone who wants to play for as long as
they want to? The ones who don't are gatekeepers. Record labels that put
out everything sent in to them? The ones who don't are...you guessed it.
The list of gatekeepers is a pretty long one, and while some of them do a
bad job, and some use what I think are pretty bad criteria, I don't see
anything wrong with the idea per se. I've heard enough crappy stuff to last
a lifetime already.
Jon Weisberger, Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger
