Just to clarify one or two things..

> It's only whining if you're not the one being affected by it. For the rest
> of us it's panic in the streets. Michael Carpenter's last post showed his
> true fear of having his music silenced. It was palpable. And not a whining
> sentence amongst the backdrop of anguish.

Thank you Jaimie for noticing. For the record, for those that didn't know, 
many of the artists and labels we know and love are on the verge of 
disappearing. I know this, being one, and knowing others. And i know we'll 
be replaced to the consumer by whoever fills the gap. But the human in me is 
just sad and mystified at trying to understand how so many talented talented 
people have no choice but to give up. And you as the consumers don't need to 
give a crap or care of feel any sense of responsibility. Just don't complain 
about missing the glory days either...

Also... i know there are many reading this stuff on this list who ARE just 
consumers. I apologise if i've made you feel bad about anything.. there's a 
difference between us artists and labels telling our story honestly, and 
making people feel bad about the way they consume music. We're all grown ups 
and as Rob Splitsville intimated, we all know the rules and see how it 
works, and if we can't handle it we're are free to leave any time we want.

There was one other thing Jeff T said.. about how the consumers dictate the 
value of things. He's right.. it's only worth what people will pay. But i'm 
tired of devaluing what i do in a desperate bid to get people to hear me, 
and having that fail and have me feel worthless as an artist. I'm drawing my 
line in the sand right here. I'm going to make the best record i possibly 
can, throw as many extras as i can in with it and charge $2 a song and have 
every cent of it go into my pocket. People will complain about it being too 
expensive and not buy it, and that's fine... it's their choice. But i 
guarantee those who do buy will not be disappointed. I'm tired of the whole 
discounting thing, and being made to feel like the consumer is doing me a 
favour by considering paying $3 on Emusic for my record. If me making 
records matters that little, then this stance of mine won't make one little 
bit of a difference to anyone's life except mine. But at least i'll believe 
what i do has some worth.

Again.. i'm not judging or blaming or whining. The whole business is going 
through a massive revolution now that's killing the old ways, for better and 
for worse, and there's just about no aspect of that i can control. Except 
for my part of it.

MC
www.mcarp.com
www.lovehzstudios.com
www.myspace.com/michaelcarpenter