I thought you might be interested in some of the comments made by the folks who wrote these letters.

awesome. Since I am one of the people who defended Napster on the grounds that ethical it isn't different compared to recording from the radio, it is good to see that there are people out there who are not blind to the hypocracy that is going on in Hollywood. If some of these producers had their choice, they would charge for cds without paying musicians or in fact have us pay for the musician and charge for a cd with one cue on it. I am not a fan of these spoiled individuals who think even God has to stop doing what He is doing just to serve there purpose.

Now, the whole reason all of this craziness (Napster, work leaving LA, etc.) is happening now (as opposed to 20 years ago) is because it is becoming far cheaper to produce and distribute a product. Call it the internet, digital media, or whatever. When the machine, which had a stronghold on production and distribution in the past, is suddenly threatened by cheaper alternatives that don't exist within itself, it must either rework its gears and adapt to the changes, or, in RMA's case, face the silence.

People aren't blind. It's a system that is finally breaking down on two major fronts: music distribution and movie production/distribution. This is just a phase that has to play itself out. Industry watchers have seen this coming for a decade already - change doesn't happen as fast as we think it does or should.

When a mainstream newspaper like the LA Times reports on something like this, it's not a revelation, it's just a report on what's happening in business.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

PeterK

Scott, the EXACT same thing could be said of the users of NAPSTER who brag about not having PAID for any music since they started using it.

And before you start bitching about those "Evil Record Companies", just remember that the real folks being hurt are the one who wrote the music, because they depend on their royalties in order to live, just like you and me.

And many times they aren't the artists who record it, this is their sole income from a record, which is based on sales.

I do agree with Peter,times are changing and in the end something will be worked out.

However, everytime I see someone bragging about using napster (or soemthing like it) and not having the pay for the music they enjoy it makes me sick.

That's being very selfish IMHO.

good thoughts indeed. Can't gripe with what you said.

Mr. Thaxton,

I do not know many people who use Napster religiously and I certainly don't know anyone who brags about getting the music for free. Those who do are brats. Again, personally I wouldn't mind paying for services like Napster. On a different front, it seems there are as many artist supporting Napster as there are opposing it. The majority of naysayers seem to be the record executives.

When I talk about record executives I do not include those who genuinly care about the artists, the music and the consumer.

Hope I made sense.