Thursday, July 20, 2006

All Your Dollars Are Belong To Us


Well, now I've seen everything. Music executives were sitting around wondering how they could get even more money from us ... and they've come up with an answer.

Lyrics

That's right, folks. They're going to start CHARGING for lyrics. Don't believe me? Here's your cite.

"When we first approached the publishers with this, they were excited. They thought lyrics had been an untapped resource for them and there's quite a bit of lyrics being taken for free on the Web," Ross Blanchard, Gracenote's vice president of business development, told Reuters in an interview.

So, there's a good chance that in the near future, I won't be posting lyrics to songs anymore because a) I'm a cheap bastard and b) I refuse to support this kind of greed.

I understand the music industry's issues with Napster et al ... because if I'm downloading a song, I'm not paying the artist for their product. But how can they justify this steaming pile of horse manure? Finish this sentence for me ... "If I'm copying lyrics off a website, I'm not buying them from ... ... ..."

Who? Who am I cheating? Is there a "Big Book of Lyrics" somewhere that I should have bought? Is there a database on CD I should've ordered? Are pop artists all over the world starving because I quote songs at the end of my posts?

I'm just wondering ... if I grab a pen and paper right now ... and write down the lyrics to a song, is that copyright infringement? The water's getting pretty murky around here ...

And it's a heave (ho!) hi (ho!) coming down the plains
Stealing wheat and barley and all the other grains
And it's a ho (hey!) hi (hey!) farmers bar yer doors
When you see the Jolly Roger on Regina's mighty shores

The Arrogant Worms - The Last Saskatchewan Pirate

6 comments:

  1. What a crock! I hate record companies.

    What's next? Charging people to think about the meaning of a song. (Not that most songs have much meaning. I know, I sound like a crotchety old man.)

    The next time you get caught up thinkin' 'bout Springsteen's "Glory Days," you better be ready to pay up. You can't be thinking for free, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I meant to say most new songs don't have much meaning. I think a lot of songs have meaning, just not much of the drivel on radio today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Next? Even referencing a song by name.

    Dave
    The Eleventh Hour

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know, John ...

    I don't think you're ready for this jelly
    I don't think you're ready for this jelly
    I don't think you ready for this
    Cause my body's too bootylicious for ya babe


    I mean, that's got a lot of meaning ... can't you hear the inner turmoil? The angst ... as she sings of her bootylicious-ness? I, for one, know that I'm not ready for that jelly ...

    Listen close ... can you hear it? That's John Lennon spinning in his grave ...

    And to top it off, I probably owe Beyonce a nickle for being snarky and using her lyrics up there ... sheesh ... it never ends.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2:29 PM

    If my brain were not absolutely dead today I would have something to say about this, but for now I am just going to go with...ITS AN OUTRAGE!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't see how they can manage this. I wonder what they will try next....maybe making it illegal to sing the song outloud??

    Man, what a load of crap. They need to spend more time making albums that are WORTH the money they charge. I haven't bought a cd that was good enough to listen to from beginning to end since Los Lonely Boys the one that has the song "Heaven" on it.

    ReplyDelete