The Company Boycott List

A list of companies I'm currently boycotting, and why. If you disagree with me, or have something to add, send me some mail.

Who Until when Why
The music industry Until they die

I like music. I like the people who produce music. Columbia Records (for example) doesn't produce good music, they merely distribute it.

Since the late 1990s I've come to loathe the middlemen in the music industry. They seem to feel that they're entitled to a lion's share of the profits of selling music. Did you know that most artist's don't make any money on a record contract? Sure they get royalties (on the order of pennies, or a couple of bucks per CD), but the middlemen take out 'promotion and marketing' expenses. Only the very top stars ever see a dime from a recording contract. Of course, they couldn't possibly pay for 'promotion and marketing' expenses out of the whopping $12 difference between the cost of a CD and royalties, and the amount you pay for it.

Not only that, but the music industry is trying to stifle technological innovation in the name of protecting their own profits. They're trying to kill the 'mp3' format, and are intimidating colleges and other institutions with threat letters unless they police their students to make sure they don't have 'illegal' mp3s.

Artists should get something for the work they produce, but the Internet has made copyright law as it currently exists obsolete. A better way needs to be found, and a better way won't be found until the current way is dust.

So, how do you boycott the music industry? By only downloading 'illegal' mp3s, and refusing to buy CDs.



Eric Hopper eric-www@omnifarious.org My homepage