>>I didn't say or even imply that they are entitled to having
>>their risk rewarded.
>
>i'm sorry, but i think you have certainly *implied*
>that...repeatedly

I'm mostly raging against the ATTITUDE that the artist is somehow moral suspect for even WANTING to be rewarded. Because I'm not a communist.

I believe that the promise of the potential of a reward motivates individuals to excel, and stimulates competition... which fosters excellence.

Take away that motivation and mediocrity will summarily follow. It may not be immediate, but it WILL set in eventually.

I never said or even implied that every artist is entitled to having their risk rewarded... There's a strong chance that nobody will like your work and you fail. That comes with the territory.

But where you have a situation where people DO like your work but they have no qualms letting you know that you don't deserve shit for it, and yet they still want you to continue producing work for their edification?

I'm sorry... that is just un-American. That's some pinko shit that erodes the soul of a culture,

I know it probably sounds a bit hyperbolic for me to be getting that deep about it, but it's true.

(I know there's lots of commie sympathizers round here, though... so they probably love that)


>imo, it is pretty assholish to *expect* a risk like trying to
>make music for a living to be rewarded...and it could be
>highly ego-centric as well...now *wanting* their risk to be
>rewarded is obviously a given for any risk taker, that goes
>w/o saying

Of COURSE it is egocentric.

Any performing artist of any kind is making a statement of ego. And we LOVE that!

Like, in a society where most people are literate, you believe that your writing is so excellent that it is worthy of being read by millions? You think that what you say is so important we all have to absorb it?

Well, if it turns out that you are right and millions of people do agree that your writing is exceptional and your thoughts need to imbibed by us all... why should you NOT get rewarded for that?

You hand over money to the dude who insulates your windows for the winter and it's no problem, but the artist who produces music that enriches your soul for a lifetime is an asshole if he wants to get paid.

Right.


>that said i think it's extremist and foolish to assume that
>creative people will not be able to innovate and find solid
>and reasonable ways to profit from their art because a bunch
>of assholes download w/o a care

I agree with you... I've said a number of times that now the musicians have to figure out a way to "monetize" as times change.

But the idea that the musician is a jerk for wanting to get paid at all is a BIG problem.

And as I said somewhere down below, the same people who are mad at a musician for wanting to make money from record sales are usually the same ones who will mock a musician for trying to make money by selling soda pop, clothing lines and Wi-Fi cable in commercials or selling sex in music videos and magazine pictorials.

It's a lose-lose situation and yet the audience still expects great art to be produced.

They are very unrealistic.