OFF:<<== see? WARNING! the word NAPSTER appears in this post!-_-

[Paul Mather]

On Sat, 13 May 2000, Zebulon Mysterioso wrote:

=> >This whole debate is ludicrous. Napster provides exposure for new artists
=> >as long as you name is Metallica or Madonna or Korn or any other popular
=> >group who needs more exposure like a trapanation job.
=>
=> Eh?
=> Napster is about complete illegality, ie, sharing MP3 files.

Sharing MP3 files is not illegal per se, but in my brief observations of
Napster, I'd hazard a guess that the large bulk of those being shared
*are* shared illegally. :-)

=> So if you search for your own band and find no matches.....nobody has your
=> MP3 files.  Simple as that.  Don't be shooting the messenger or anything.
=>
=> There's a facility in the Napster front-end for looking at the MP3's on one
=> person's computer, surely this is where this "promoting new bands" nonsense
=> comes in - if you find that you're downloading a lot of MP3's from one
=> particular user, you look and see what else he/she's got, because you've
=> begun to share his/her taste...that's when you download artists you've never
=> heard of, and that's when you'll download his band's songs......

That's not the Napster official line.  The "promoting new artists" is a
convenient excuse for them to hide behind, something to legitimise
everything on their annual report to shareholders (assuming they now go
ahead with their IPO:).  (You have to admit, it reads a little better
than "facilitating unrestricted copying of MP3s d00d!.":)

In their MOTD they say:

>>>>>
Be Heard! Napster provides maximum exposure for the unsigned artist.
-->           Want to promote your music on Napster?
-->     Surf to http://artist.napster.com/ to find out how!
<<<<<

Reading "how" reveals their support of unsigned artists is a complete
joke.  The only part Napster help with is that they allow you to have a
little crib card entry on their WWW site, and, of course, people can
search for your files via Napster assuming *you* arrange good
connectivity for them to be online.  Napster appear to forget that
"exposure" includes providing information about the band; photos; gig
dates; discographies; lyrics; contact information etc.  Well, they don't
actually forget, they just tell you you need to use someone else for all
that.

That's why I think services like www.mp3.com do a much better job of
providing "maximum exposure for the unsigned artist" because it's a
"whole deal" kind of affair.

=> And of course Metallica are gonna have millions of references, it'll just
=> reflect their album sales, same with the BOC big three.

But what if, say, Metallica or BOC *don't* want to be "promoted" via
Napster (or only want old or certain songs to be "promoted" on there)?
Is there any mechanism to allow that?

I don't really have a position against Napster.  I'm just sick of their
"holier than thou" attitude.

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa