Hello to everyone, I would like to add my two cents to Hobie's post on Copyrights. As the article stated, that most artists earn their money from touring, there is a physical limit to which that is possible. For as long as we continue to age (age may be reversible), there comes a time when touring becomes untenable.

Also, the article doesn't give much attention to the writer(s) of the music which do receive royalties as long as recordings are sold. If recordings are not sold and someone other than the touring artist wrote the "hit" song he has no way to be compensated for his work. The reason for the creativity is bypassed and what we get is a lack of motivation for creators to create going forward.

Another problem has recently been noticed by the world's top recording acts is that streaming like Pandora and Spotify are paying the artists a pittance for their recordings that are streamed. Excuse me for not quoting exactly any one particular act here, but I receive a digital news magazine every morning and famous artists are writing in about their payments from these streaming companies. Their pay is amazingly low. Million selling recordings are paying the artists for six months of streaming play less than $115 on average. $115 for six months of plays which often reach into the hundreds of thousands of plays? Really? Is this fair by any moral standard? Any? Can you live on $115 every six months? I cannot.

Because I am aware of this, (and I love "The Voice") I often snicker at the young artists that want to help out their families (a worthwhile desire of course) if they make it large on The Voice. Folks, this ain't 1964 anymore. And even back then, the recording industry was run by crooks I can tell ya. However, it's worse now than ever. Recently, Lyle Lovett admitted, "in all my years playing and touring, I've never made a dime off my record sales." This is a travesty going back to what I said above. Lyle is coming to a point where age will trump touring. It would be nice to have some royalties arriving to keep the lights on after the touring ends.

Copyright laws need to be re-written and address what each facet of the music is entitled to. It doesn't have to spell out the rate, but it should explicitly lay out who in the chain gets paid for airplay and sales. And fans, need to reach in and pay for CDs or downloads. Somehow, when the internet came along, some way, the idea that everything on the internet is free got logged in to the public's mind. Meaning free music, free information. We see this every month here at RMN.

There is a cost of doing business and doing it well. YouTube ads are not paying the bills for anyone except YouTube. If this doesn't change in the next five years, there will be damned few musical acts and authors. We must realize, just because someone loves what they do, doesn't mean they can do it indefinitely for free. What if your boss called you in and stated:" Hey, Bob, I can see you really like working here. For you it's a lot like playing music. You're so dang good, I'm gonna cut your pay by 75%. Sounds good doesn't it?"

You've just been informed of reality for creators. Dig deep, help those that create or get a guitar and make your own music for your family as in reality that is all that you deserve. INTERNET does not spell FREE.

CapnGriff