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Originally Posted by ubertuber
Kutulu - I agree with you 100%. And by the way, I think there is a reason that the labels can't distribute directly - maybe something to do with anti-trust. I know that Loews theaters (exhibitor) used to be one with one of the distribution companies but court action forced a split of production/distribution and exhibition. I'd imagine it is a similar thing.
Everyone should remember that the music industry doesn't only pay artists and themselves big$$. There are people at all levels of the process making decent money - even down to some gopher at the studio that gets $15 an hour - a bit more than minimum wage, by the way - to fetch water for the band. These are the guys that will get hurt first in your boycott, not the executives or artists. Not to mention that every copy sold gets royalties for each artists involved, including the back-up band/orchestra and composers. Face it, music is expensive to buy because it is expensive to make - there is a lot of capitol and risk involved in signing, recording, promoting, and selling an artist. There are only a few people with the means to even get into that process, and they want to be rewarded for assuming that risk. There are lots of artists that have that money sunk into them that never make a dime for the label - they just lose money.
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I understand what you are saying, but is it really our job to pay some shlub $15 an hour to get Madonna Kaballa water? Certainly studio mixers and other technical people are useful for album production (although some artists have been able to get by with a skeleton staff), but wouldn't it make more sense to cut out the fat. Frankly it doesn't seem to me as though they're contributing anything productive and they should be "hurt" by a boycott. Everyone has a right to work, but how many people who do important jobs have ended up on the street because their jobs could get by without them.
As for the promotion, i wholeheartedly agree with Seaver, it only takes one or two Ashley Simpsons to realize that most of these record companies are not making the music available to us as much as shoving it down our throat. It's too bad that there's not a more democratic process for selecting which artists are produced; I'm sure each of us knows a half dozen bands or artists who are amazingly talented and just need "that big break."