music for free...

During my lifetime, music and the formats it comes in has changed many times and drastically. I confess, I remember seeing these massive white 8-track tapes in cars when I was a child. They had faded out apparently by the mid 70s but obviously took a bit longer to fade out in Greece, where I grew up. At the same time of course there was vinyl, in Album (33rpm) and single (45rpm) sizes. From these was formed the beginning of my record collection. There were a number of stores in Corfu, from where I used to buy records, or diskoi, as they were called in Greek. Diskoi is a word which also means tray. This has led to a number of misunderstandings with my children... Then there was also the trusty cassette. The music pirate's, first instrument of crime...
Nick Hornby has written much about the ritual of making a good compilation tape, and, whether it be intended for a friend or a prospective girlfriend, a lot of time and love went into these.I did my share of those too.
In the early 80s we started hearing about the new thing, the CD. This remained for some time out of mine and my friends reach, as we were teenagers and not rich. I didn't actually get a CD player until the early 90s! I still remember my first CD. It was "Little Creatures" by the Talking Heads.



my vinyl collection was soon stashed away, replaced by the much smaller and handier CDs. And then along came MP3. I did my bit and got an iPod, which I soon sold to a friend's son. There was just no way i could make those earphones stay in my ears!!

Being an intensive computer user, the mp3 format soon took over for me, as with many others, and the CDs now form an essential backup facility.

I am also one of those people who doesn't believe that musical "piracy" is such a bad thing. I could never have afforded to buy all the music I have. The funny thing is there is so much of it I will never listen to it all. But I do not believe, that I or other downloaders are cheating anyone out of their money.

As far as I am concerned musicians have been making far too much money as it is. I think they way it should be, is, artists should get paid from their live gigs, and the music sold on Cd should have a minimum charge, more like a promotional item. Maybe they could even give them away at concerts.

I am sure many will not agree with me, but this just my opinion.

Here though for your enjoyment is a band leading the way in music appreciation!




And it is not only musical artists that get paid too much. It is actors and footballers too!