From the Crack Talk Newsletter This proposal is causing quite a stir:

Kazaa, the dominant file sharing network, and Verizon, a company with revenues of $67 billion are floating a proposal to ISPs and the computer and manufacturing industries to lobby to force the music industry to license their music. Royalties would be payed to artists directly, thus circumventing the stranglehold the RIAA has on the music industry.

Recording Industry Association of America president Hilary Rosen calls the proposal "the most disingenuous thing I've ever heard. It's ridiculous."

Of course it's ridiculous Hilary - if this catches on, not only would artists get paid but the RIAA would quickly become pointless... and then where would your job go? Boo hoo.

On the other hand...

Can someone explain how the Kazaa/Verizon deal would not eventually end up being RIAA with a different name? The artist probably would NEVER see the $1/month that gets charged, because a processing/admin/overhead fee would get applied against that $1/month, and each year (because of additional compliance costs, infrastructure costs, billing costs etc.) that fee would get just a bit bigger.

And the proposal would add $1 to every internet user's subscription fee. Why should people who have no interest in mp3's, or even know what they are, be forced to pay?

A third option to consider...

Maybe the answer is that artists will give their music away for free and make money giving live performances. There is nothing that can be done to truly replicate a concert experience- no amount of high tech audio and video will ever be the same as being there at the concert.

Artists will encourage people to download their music and give away promo cd's for free to entice people into becoming fans to get them to pay to see the band live.

Touring doesn't HAVE to cost that much money. What really costs money is when tours include crazy pyrotechnics, excessive stage props, backup dancers and singers, etc. Most all of that doesn't matter if you're a real musician.