The Interwebs killed music?

Again the accusation arises...the interwebs killed the music industry. Really?

Look douchebag, it killed the industry as we've known it for the last 50 years, sure. But the recording industry is MUCH older than that and pre-bribing DJ's and radio stations to play your abortion of a song...the music industry was enormous and made next to no money in record sales. Bands are having to revert to actually touring....gasp. Getting in touch with their fans, or at least more so than back in a studio with heavily edited lyrics.

The fact is that CD prices are still higher than they should be, you have to pay hundreds of dollars for 'box sets' that include nothing you didn't already have on vinyl and $50 T-shirts that some third world 8 year old made for pennies on the dollar.

A lot of artists go into the industry looking to 'live like a rockstar'. I'm sure there are some that sing and play out of sheer love for it and money is just a way to track their success...but let's be honest here, those people are few and far between. When you've got Metallica doing interviews from their 20 bedroom mansion in front of an Olympic sized swimming pool....it's a little hard to swallow that they're suffering in any TRUE meaning of the word. Try and sell that sad song and dance to the woman who works in the fucking record store and is raising a kid on her own. Assholes.

Either evolve or fucking die. There's no middle ground here. Every time some over the hill has been goes off at the mouth about how the internet is the great evil that will destroy the world...I often have the urge to beat them senseless with their own 40 page income statement.

Now this same horrific trend is starting to spread into the movie industry. People are now complaining that studio's are thinking about releasing movies to PPV as well as Theatres so that consumers have the choice. Frankly, the only people really complaining about this are the movie theatre owners...and rightly so. (sarcasm)They've been jacking up ticket prices over the last three years, they charge $6 for something you can get for $.99 at 7-11 and then they make you sit through 10-15 minutes of commercials. At least sitting at home and watching a new movie on PPV you could save a couple bucks.

People. It's called the future. Adapt or just fucking go away. No one wants to hear you complaining about making millions instead of billions. No one gives a fuck that you're driving a Lexus instead of a Lambo. The music industry isn't going anywhere. There will always be a demand for great music. Check out Unsigned.com for thousands of artists who have no label and yet somehow seem to be putting together studio quality work. A lot of these folks have taken on their own marketing and their own production and sales by offering their music on their websites as MP3 downloads for less than a buck a song. In fact, check out Xerosun who are an unsigned band out of Dublin, Ireland who have an incredible web presence, great marketing and play tons of gigs all over Europe. Maybe a few more go-getter bands like this on our side of the pond and Lars will finally be forced to stop fucking whining already.

The movie industry isn't going anywhere either. The theatres are. Good. Fuck em. Either provide a cost effective service to customers more demanding than ever....or fucking close up shop. Period.