Craig's Back and Responding to Your Hate Mail
I am back from my relaxing and ass opening couple of weeks in South America. You will see the site start to update more now that I am back and I fill myself in on the music news.
I was checking out the comments and our hate mail, something we love to do. We get a lot of hate mail and hate comments, but it is hard to respond to every one of my ex girlfriends comments and emails. But I had to respond to this one.
The comment was made on a post I made about Metallica being without a label. You can read the article and comment here. It comes from a person who uses the name "Your Boss." It can't be my boss because I started this website with friends so as not to have a boss. So this must be your boss. When you see him, direct him to this post for me.
His comment was:
"It serves Lars right for being a douche about Napster and refusing to move into the 21st Century." - Craig are you fucking stupid? Lars doesn't want to give his music away for free. Who does? Nobody. Why does wanting to protect your artwork make you a douche? Downloading studio albums for free is illegal. Surely you aren't that ignorant. Why do pieces of shit like you want music for free, JUST because its on the internet?
"Your Boss" must be an RIAA dinosaur. Sadly, he will be out of work in about 15 years.
To answer your question, "Your Boss", real musicians give away their music for free. Musicians who are not lap dogs for the RIAA. That is who gives music away for free.
Go to your local saloon and see a local band that has a cd or album for sale. I bet if you ask for it, they will give it to you for free. They will encourage you to duplicate it and give it to your friends. Why? Because they make more money if you attend the show, bring your friends, and buy a t-shirt.
The artists money comes from touring and merchandise sales not CD sales. Depending on the deal, the artist might only make $1.00 on at $16.00 CD. They make even less through iTunes.
Yes, I will agree that downloading studio albums is illegal, but it shouldn't be an issue. Give the music away for free! More artists should follow Radiohead's, Nine Inch Nails', and Prince's current philosophy. They gave their new albums away for free for a limited time. More people downloaded the album and heard their art. Artists/musicians would rather you hear their "art" than have it sit on the shelf at Best Buy.
I suggest you take a look at David Byrne's article on Wired. You can find it here: David Byrne's Survival Guide for Emerging Artists. It explains everything I listed in full detail, in only a way that David Byrne can. By the way "Your Boss," David Byrne is from The Talking Heads.
I may be a piece of shit, but I know what I am talking about. Take a look at our interviews, specifically Bang Camaro and Jealousy Curve, we have found many artists that believe in a similar philosophy. A hundred artists and a billion downloaders can't be wrong "Your Boss."
I was checking out the comments and our hate mail, something we love to do. We get a lot of hate mail and hate comments, but it is hard to respond to every one of my ex girlfriends comments and emails. But I had to respond to this one.
The comment was made on a post I made about Metallica being without a label. You can read the article and comment here. It comes from a person who uses the name "Your Boss." It can't be my boss because I started this website with friends so as not to have a boss. So this must be your boss. When you see him, direct him to this post for me.
His comment was:
"It serves Lars right for being a douche about Napster and refusing to move into the 21st Century." - Craig are you fucking stupid? Lars doesn't want to give his music away for free. Who does? Nobody. Why does wanting to protect your artwork make you a douche? Downloading studio albums for free is illegal. Surely you aren't that ignorant. Why do pieces of shit like you want music for free, JUST because its on the internet?
"Your Boss" must be an RIAA dinosaur. Sadly, he will be out of work in about 15 years.
To answer your question, "Your Boss", real musicians give away their music for free. Musicians who are not lap dogs for the RIAA. That is who gives music away for free.
Go to your local saloon and see a local band that has a cd or album for sale. I bet if you ask for it, they will give it to you for free. They will encourage you to duplicate it and give it to your friends. Why? Because they make more money if you attend the show, bring your friends, and buy a t-shirt.
The artists money comes from touring and merchandise sales not CD sales. Depending on the deal, the artist might only make $1.00 on at $16.00 CD. They make even less through iTunes.
Yes, I will agree that downloading studio albums is illegal, but it shouldn't be an issue. Give the music away for free! More artists should follow Radiohead's, Nine Inch Nails', and Prince's current philosophy. They gave their new albums away for free for a limited time. More people downloaded the album and heard their art. Artists/musicians would rather you hear their "art" than have it sit on the shelf at Best Buy.
I suggest you take a look at David Byrne's article on Wired. You can find it here: David Byrne's Survival Guide for Emerging Artists. It explains everything I listed in full detail, in only a way that David Byrne can. By the way "Your Boss," David Byrne is from The Talking Heads.
I may be a piece of shit, but I know what I am talking about. Take a look at our interviews, specifically Bang Camaro and Jealousy Curve, we have found many artists that believe in a similar philosophy. A hundred artists and a billion downloaders can't be wrong "Your Boss."
Craig,
Excellent response. Also, thank you for admitting that you are a piece of shit. I do have to agree with you 100% about artists' motives. They would much rather tour where they can sell merch and build their fanbase than see Best Buy and their record label keep 95% of the revenue from an album sale. I only wish that "Your Boss" left us his MySpace or email address so that we could respond to him directly. We definitely appreciate all feedback and criticism, but we also want to defend our comments, and without contact info, we can't respond directly to the person who left the comment. That is why I am announcing a new email address at Blogs N' Roses where we encourage you the viewer to email Craig your complaints. Please email CraigWettnerisaDoucheBag@blogsnroses.com
email us now
Reply to this
Vic,
Not everyone has complaints. There is actually a whole world of pieces of shit sharing the same views as our young Craig.
For this reason I am happy to announce a new contact address to praise Craig and his rants:
CraigWettnerLovesYouBackMostlyIfYouAreADude@blogsnroses.com
Reply to this
Hot damn, I want in on this bandwagon action. I'm setting up my own email address for you ranters:
JoeWettnerWontReadYourHateMailItWillFallOnDeafEarsBecauseImTooLazyToCheckAndIDontCareWhatYouThink@blogsnroses.com
Reply to this
SO after reading my post again, maybe I could have done without the name calling and profanity. I'm a big Metallica fan and take offense when people attack Lars and Co. for a stance that they took on this issue (an issue that other bands/artists were too scared to take on, even though they have similar feelings). Don't get me wrong, I like to get things for free too, but I'm not entitled to it. But the business of thinking that I should get it for free just because I want it, and its available, is selfish. I know that many artists out there would rather people hear their music than make a couple of dollars of the sales of cds. Who wouldn't want they music to the masses? CDs are wayyy overpriced anyway. The future of music IS on the internet, no doubt. And bands make their money from touring and sales of merchandise at said shows, not off the sale of a cd - for which, like you stated, they only make $1 or so, and everyone else gets the rest. There is a way to make it work so both the consumer and artist are happy, and we are seeing it these days. My main beef is that people that talk shit about Metallica and think they are money hungry, greedy guys with millions of dollars, and they want to make everyone pay as much money as possible, so they can make maximum profit - and all this hatred toward Metallica just because they stood up for what they believe in. But before the days of the internet, NOBODY ever told artists or musicians, "hey can I have your CD for free, because I don't feel like paying for it." That's essentially what people are doing when they download studio albums without paying a penny.
Reply to this
Hey "Your Boss",
Not a bad argument. I am also a Metallica fan and stuck up for them when all of this went down several years back. They have made some impressive strides to get with the times over the past few years. I only hope that their music will be as progressive as their recent business practices. I don't know what your background is but if you have any interest in contributing in some way, shape or form(maybe locally), let me know. We are always looking for some fresh views on the industry. Thanks wettner@gmail.com
Reply to this