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By now we're all aware of the ridiculous hype and lawsuits surrounding the delivery of music in mp3 format, and the record labels' greatest threat since the death of rock, Napster. But just how are the artists handling all this? Most musicians are just waiting around to see how it all pans out. But then some bands got creative, especially Metallica. They realized that the media is going to be latched onto this story for a while, so they decided to get some free publicity for their summer tour, while sticking up for their bosses (the labels, not the fans), for some brownie points. You see, lawsuits have always been good publicity, and Metallica has always wanted to be on the 6 o'clock news for something not related to violence or death.
Lucky for us, the boys over at Camp Chaos exaggerated only a little bit, and came up with a couple of hilarious, really well-done Shockwave animations that illustrate just how pitiful Metallica's position is. How many bands reward hundreds of thousands of their fans, fans who lifted them up out of their garages and into the stadiums, by threatening to sue those fans, and calling them "cowards" when they share their music? Just one. So go to Camp Chaos now, and see how clever Metallica (and Motley Crue) have been about this whole new-fangled "interweb Napster machine" thing. You will need to get the free Shockwave 4 player if you don't have it, but it's worth it, because you're guaranteed to bust a gut when you see these animated movies.
Of course the real issue with these new ways of listening to music (which have been around for years), is that big business feels stupid for missing the boat, for letting the technology pass them by. They don't know yet how to keep fucking all the musicians up the ass for 85% of the money, when it's so easy to put music in the hands of the kids that want it. Think about it - how many artists have been sunk, or put on hold for years and years, because the monopolistic record companies put a legal stranglehold on them? Remember Prince writing SLAVE on his cheek? Remember TLC declaring bankruptcy right after going number one? One day, all music will be inexpensive, artists will make decent money, and all the fat, slobby middlemen will have to go back to hawking "get rich working at home" schemes in infomercials. |
