Next time you are cruising down Millersport on the way to school, count how many times "Hey Ya" comes on the radio - and remember that is the reason why file sharing will continue to boom.
Corporate radio's cookie-cutter format is about the only thing found on the airwaves these days. Most stations provide a homogenized product, and choose their playlists based on album sales rather than musical quality.
So is it any surprise so many people turn to the world of file sharing, where the selection is eclectic and almost unlimited?
If all you can get on the radio is the A Simple Plan and 50 Cent, who can blame consumers for creating their own playlists on their computers?
A music business driven solely by profit margins is to blame for the popularity of online song swapping, and contrary to popular belief, song swapping is going to save the industry, not destroy it.
Services such as Kazaa and Soulseek give music fans the chance to explore bands and even genres to which they wouldn't normally be exposed - these programs are vehicles for today's music fan to escape force-fed corporate tunes and explore the diverse talents of all of the world's artists.
Record companies may suffer financially from widespread file sharing, but nobody who has bought a CD in the past 10 years should feel bad. A lawsuit against several record companies was recently settled after the companies they overcharged consumers during the '90s.
According to Salon.com, from 1991 to 2001, the price of producing and marketing music albums dropped - yet at the same time, the average price of a CD rose from $13.01 to $14.64.
The ruthless capitalists who head America's record companies, after gouging consumers in the name of the dollar, shouldn't feel betrayed when consumers turn around and get their music in the most cost-efficient way - by downloading it.
The only people who may lose out on the file-sharing trend but don't deserve it are the artists themselves - but they shouldn't blame music fans. Rather, they should consider it yet another instance of getting screwed by record companies. The artists may be losing out because their labels have abused consumers, not the other way around.
In any case, it's debatable whether artists even suffer from file sharing. Eminem's "The Eminem Show" was widely pirated even before its release, according to Salon, prompting an early release to head off the file sharing. But despite rampant sharing, the album went on to be one of the highest-selling discs of the year.
Sharing is the best way to get your music heard across the world, and it not mutually exclusive with record sales.
Often times, music fans will download songs they may not have originally been interested in, much less purchase, but after discovering it online they will buy the album, t-shirt or concert ticket.
The Web can be a band's greatest - and cheapest - promotional tool. Bands don't have to worry about fitting into a certain pre-fabricated image. File sharing systems are ideal venues for bands to distribute their music, free of charge, and if their music is good, their songs will spread.
Ultimately, no measures currently being taken by the recording industry will be sufficient in stopping the free exchange of music, images and ideas online. Kazaa is our generation's tool for rebellion against the corporate-dictated culture that is packaged up and forced on most of the country.
So join the rebellion, if you haven't already. Plug in and be free.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
