A debate that has been raging for lo these last, what, 15 years or so? heats up yet again: is free music good for music creators or is it theft depriving artists of a chance to earn a living for what they do?
Recently, an NPR intern blogged that, while she has over 11,000 songs in her music library, she has only paid actual cash money for about 15 CDs in her life. Read her post here.
David Lowery, of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven fame, wrote a public reply to Emily in which he argues, among other things, that acquiring copyrighted music without paying for it is, in addition to obviously being illegal, is unethical. Read his letter here.
In Round Three, Zac Shaw, a musician, writer and label owner, weighs in with his defense of free music. His piece can be found here.
And so the debate rages on.