I know you got soul

Soul Sides

thanks to Dj Scenius for passing on that great link. You can find him at Search and Delete

This is a cracking mp3 blog of soul tunes. This to me typifies one of the great things about music on the internet. I am being given the opportunity to hear new music, to broaden my musical horizons and explore different styles, genres and artists than those I would buy or hear on mainstream radio.

Surely fostering such an interest in musical consumers is a good thing for the record industry, but it would seem once again that it is not seen that way. People who download music from the internet are now seen to be responsible for pirating car parts, which can obviously lead to road accidents and death. This strikes me as propaganda of an Orwellian proportion. If I could afford on my student loan to purchase all the music I love, I would. No question. But when CDs are anything from £11 to £18, I cannot justify such an expense. That money would put petrol in my car or food in my belly. Would it be purile here to accuse the record companies and distributers of being the real criminals? Probably. The artists get screwed, the listeners get screwed, and talents get smothered or ignored in favour of the blandness that sells. And the prices are jacked up on music that appeals to niche markets in order to generate a sizeable return.

This would be the point in a manifesto where I would suggest a solution. "Boycott the Music Industry!" I think we would all just be cutting our noses off to spite our faces.