The Observation Deck

There are questions about the legality of file sharing and mp3s and stuff in the news and forums.

It got me thinking.

There have been video rental stores for about 30 years.

Were there ever music rental stores? I spend more time listening to albums than watching movies. But i've never encountered a music rental store.

libraries offer cd rentals

I've always wondered why mp3s were such a big deal to artists, when I doubt very much they get royalties from things I buy at The Exchange or Half Price Books. I haven't bought a brand new CD in years.

It's not so much the artists that are against mp3s as it is the record executives, the RIAA, producers, etc. The record companies make the money on record sales, as do producers (referred to as 'points' or a percentage of record sales).

Steve Albini does an excellent job of documenting exactly how major label artists get screwed on a typical contract (which royalties are usually .5% of record sales):

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

Napster is an example of an online music rental store. As long as you pay the monthly fee, you can listen to the music they carry. Stop paying, lose access to their music.