"Music is meant to be shared. It is its nature. The high that you get from playing is amplified enormously when playing for and (more so) with others."
Having said that,as civilizations have grown and changed,so has the sharing end of this whole thing.Long ago,musicians used to do their thing in fairs,palaces,courts,things like that.The art was always thriving(is and forever shall).But the way music was shared wasn't very advanced.But with communications and technology,this has changed.
What record companies do(I know you know,I'm saying it for the purposes of this "conversation")is make a business out of the sharing end of music.And at this point,I should say that I think lal has his notions on the industry wrong.I say record companies cheat musicians.He says he didn't say that.But he did."...put power where it belongs..rec companies should work for the artists interests,not the other way round..."That sounds like exploitation to me.And he doesnt have any love for them,otherwise he wouldnt be waiting for them to go bankrupt!
So labels are in the sharing end of music.And the way businesses are run pretty much depends on whos running them,which is how come doing the same job in different companies could pay very variedly,depending.Even the business models used depend on those who created them.lal seems to be having another one,which btw looks very good.But whether or not this helps artists is a different story altogether:you could still give artists lousy deals and tell them to take them or go to hell,if say you had monopoly power,the artist was helpless against you....stuff like that.Like they mostly are with the present setup.It all boils down to what drives you,why you do what you do,how much you care for people,etc,etc.
And another thing:we may want to think otherwise,but whatever ideas go throuhg our minds go through other peoples' minds as well.Record companies are now offering download services,but if critics are to be believed,these services suck.And lal,dont imagine what you're thinking hasnt occured to them.It probably has,but they realised it wouldnt serve their interests.And believe me,you and I arent part of their interests.
Think of this:how would YOU run a regular record company if you were the main man there.And if how you would isnt how those who do it do it,how come?You'd have to deal with all the things they deal with.Financiers,ROE's,logistics,show promoters,your secretary,artists' egos(now,do we have those!).What comes out at the end depends on who you are.What drives you.Why you do what you do.
