RED ALERT to Avian

[dinosaur]

It is perhaps unfair to put AM in the same category as Napster. Any offense was completely unintentional. My apologies.

The point I should be making is this: artists and labels are afraid of the technology advancing to the point that electronic duplication will severely cut into sales, i.e., broadband broadcast (or webcast if you prefer) quality may rival that of CD's. I realize that mp3 files are not for audiophiles, (BTW, I've never been fully satisfied with the 96dB dynamic range of CD's, either) but many potential buyers are not nearly as discriminating as I am.

While it is not quite so easy to duplicate web streaming as it is (was) to download from a Napster-like site, I can tell you it is not difficult to come up with the tools to do it. Increased development of broadband duplication technology and its widespread application is inevitable - and will become as ubiquitous as cassette recorders and cd-burners. To combat this, encryption methods to thwart duplication is one of the hottest topics in many university Math departments, spurred by large grants from computer companies, electronics companies, and government.

Speaking of which, the question of Big Business/White House control is another issue entirely. I agree with Toby. Fees higher than 'broadcast' simply don't make sense. More important, there should be some assurance that the artists benefit, not just the labels (who, BTW will just return some of the money to the government in the form of political contributions in an effort to keep their monopoly, so they can afford pass it on to the next candidate, who...). As I said, that's another issue.

Eventually, I suspect that artists will make only a small percentage of their income from 'record sales' and will instead rely on live performances, pay-per-view, or Pepsi ads. Of course, this may well spell doom for the less-commercial artist that I prefer (and currently support by attending concerts and buying cd's). At the risk of repeating myself, I repeat: I sincerely hope there is room in the regulations for artists and labels to offer permission to sites like AM to continue to provide the service of introducing their work to potential customers.