Garth Brooks is back. I never knew he went away. But apparently he’s out of retirement and back in the news. He’s complaining that the government is not doing anything to crack down on file sharing, which is allegedly killing the music industry, even though it’s not. (See also here, and here, and here.)
To the government he complains,
You’ve ignored us, because there’s 50,000 of us and 300 million voters. You’ve ignored us.
Think about that. Brooks is admitting that the use of file sharing is widespread. He acknowledges that everyone is doing it. But yet he wants the government to crack down on every single person in the US so that he can earn a few million more a year.
That’s some fricken balls! I almost feel like I should give him some credit for being so completely self-centered. It’s one thing to complain, “My family is starving so I need government help to feed my kids.” It’s another thing to complain, “Why won’t the government help me so I can buy my fourth fricken mansion?!”
Apparently Garth doesn’t know this, but it’s common knowledge to the rest of the world that it’s already against the law to use P2P to infringe copyrights. The punishment for such use goes way beyond any physical crime. If I go to Walmart, stick a gun in someone’s face, and steal a CD, the most I’ll have to pay monetarily is for the price of that one CD, about 20 bucks. However, if I download a CD worth of music, I’d have to pay millions of dollars.
But yet that draconian law is not enough for Garthy. He wants more! Does he want incarceration? For all 300 million of us? Apparently so. Apparently, his “lost” money, which has nothing to do with P2P, is worth more than the liberty of every citizen in the US.
But this isn’t the first time Brooks put his bank account above the rights of citizens. He also claims that selling used CDs is stealing. I’m not making this up. According to Brooks, the simple act of selling a used CD is a criminal act. Of course he’s wrong. But your right to sell your stuff is nothing compared to Brooks’ right to buy a mansion.
Of course the main reason he’s having trouble selling CDs is that his time in the spotlight is over. When rock and roll killed off the careers of the vocalists from the 50s, Sinatra, Mathis, Cole, to name a few, those guys didn’t ask the government to stop the switch to rock music. They graciously accepted their time was over and moved on. It’s time for washed up has-beens like Brooks to do the same.
Artists of today realize that the net is not a hindrance to making great music, but is actually a great tool for connecting with fans.
Gee, I hope I’m not being radical in pointing out that there are no “rights” in the citizens to steal music. I think copyright law should be radically changed so that artists have “fewer” rights, but the law is the law.
Your “analysis” is completely in error. Rich people always want to be richer==he’s only being human there. People with rights, don’t want to give those rights up==he’s only being human there.
Buy/or bittorrent a clue.
1. “Gee, I hope I’m not being radical…”
Gee, it would be radical for you to read my post. God, how hard is that?!
I specifically point out that Garth is wrong because there already are huge penalties for using P2P to infringe copyrights. And at no point do I ever say that anyone has a right to infringe copyrights. However, bankrupting families is not enough of a punishment for him, and apparently not enough for you either.
My contention is that CD sales are down because the population has aged out of the market. I may buy 1 to 2 CDs a year compared to 10 or more when I was in my 20’s (and half of these were replacement of albums I already owned). Add the fact that I think the current generation of musical artists suck with only a few exceptions, it is amazing that sales are not worse.
Let Garth release new music or rehash old music (now NEWLY REMASTERED) and compare his downloads to others on the “all you can listen to” music services. If he can make it spike there, I’ll listen further to his argument. If not, then he is just an artist whose music no longer appeals to the audience.
Well SN, what you say is: “But yet that ridiculous law is not enough for Garthy. He wants more! Does he want incarceration? For all 300 million of us? Apparently so.” /// Your link says what Garthy wants: a board of music people to authorize a one day strike in which music is not played on the radio. THATS IT==not your flight of fantasy.
There is alot to criticize here==no need to make stuff up as you have done. You are posting like Gilherme here. He’s a bad influence–your Mom should not let you play with him.
4. “Well SN, what you say is…”
I gave a verbatim quote from Garth.
You might not know this, but his use of 300 million voters is highly relevant. It’s the population of the US.
So by using the term 300 million, he’s saying it’s him against the entire population of the united states.
Those are his terms. Not mine.
Let’s face it, the threat of bankrupting families is not working. What if his board idea doesn’t work either? As I doubt it will. What’s next? He’s already said it. It’s him against the entire country.
The good old days:
Britney puts out a CD and 10,000,000 crazed 13-year-olds buy it. Britney makes $5 million and her record label makes $95 million. Everyone is happy.
Now:
Britney puts out a CD and 1,000,000 13-year-olds buy it, and they each make 9 copies (of the single) for their friends. Britney only makes $500K and the record label is not happy. Britney don’t care cause she gets commercial endorsements.
I think Garth’s problem is that he was endorsing trucks (Fords I think) and then the car companies all went bankrupt. D’oh.
#6 Ford didn’t go bankrupt. But they are trying to go more green.
I think Garth’s problem is he retired from the music scene quite some time ago. And the current music buying generation goes “Garth who?”
Hah, Hah.
SN==I know its YOU Gilherme!!!!! But I’ll play along.
You may not know what an exact quote is. That means Garth ACTUALLY SAID what you say he says.
SN/Gilherme YOU SAY: “But this isn’t the first time Brooks put his bank account above the rights of citizens. He also claims that selling used CDs is stealing. I’m not making this up. According to Brooks, the simple act of selling a used CD is a criminal act.” /// And your links don’t say that at all. Close in a certain sense, no quotes at all and only his “wish” that retail outlets would not sell his records. Nothing about making it illegal.
Prove me wrong====provide the quote you are fantacizing about, with a link?
As close as you have gotten is a blog comment to the above that he said this on Letterman or Leno. That also is NOT A QUOTE!!!!
I’ll bet in an earlier life you served the Spanish Inquisition well. Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up. Haw, haw.
But who knew Garth Brooks sold so many records? I thought ABBA was No 3? He should get twice the credit what with it being country western, which could be argued is not even music.
Funny how you point to the existing law being against file sharing. Aren’t you always putting up posts when those laws are enforced?
So you are attacking Garth Brooks for wanting something that is already the law, but you don’t want the law to be that way.
Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here?
Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country *and* western.
The Blues Brothers
Garth and Elton John can turn off the internet if they want, but I still won’t buy their music.
GB is a douche to Nth power.
My favorite is when Garth Brooks, who is essentially a “good ole boy” country singer, feigns this sort of soft and introspective tone during interviews. He is 100% cheeseball! I am sitting in his hometown as we speak. He has done ZERO for our town EVER other than say he went to high school here.
I think it was about 10 years ago that Garth Brooks testified before a congressional committee that he wanted to outlaw the sales of used CDs. His reasoning? Because the artists never saw any profit from those sales.
These days, I’m surprised he’s not on some kind of kick about music being “licensed” rather than sold.
He’s a dirty, money-grubbing loon.
Went into Tower Records during their going out of business sale. 40-70% off everything. The place was dead empty. Even at those prices hard media isn’t selling. The decades old record industry money wagon is gone.
BTW Garth, you are the whitest person I’ve ever seen.
At the end of the day, these artists want to be paid every time someone listens to their song. You’re at a party? He wants a piece from every person that can hear his music. You’re watching a game on TV and his song plays? He wants a cut from every person watching. You are in traffic and can hear the radio from the tank top wearing loser next to you? He wants a cut from every person that can hear him. It is ridiculous.
The simple solution: cut the copyright to 10 years. If we do that, then tank top guy that downloads a copy of Garth’s songs from that concert in 1991 is perfectly legal.
What is a CD and who is using them?
For that matter, what is a CD player and who is using them?
Do you know of anyone with a portable CD player? No? That’s because CDs are 1990s technology.
Think I’ll send ole’ Garth a dollar, maybe he’ll buy a clue.
Oh bobbo, still willing to toady to whatever figure of authority there is to stomp on the unwashed masses. Yes, we should all bow down to the entrenched corporate/government power structure to defend the record industry’s outdated business model. Because, well…it’s the law!
Oh, and don’t forget to use one of your clever twists on my name in your reply, like the clever 7th grader we have all come to know and love on this board.
#18–nosoap==unwashed? Speak for yourself! I take a shower at least once a month.
Evidently people can miss a clear point: there are lots of issues to discuss, just a few that SN/Gilherme listed aren’t among them.
I agree with #13–Brian. 10 years sounds about right to me. Course, there are pro’s and con’s to all rules. Ease/fairness in enforceability of rules is but one of the weaker/but more pragmatic factors.
You should never “anticipate” anothers actions. I do by twisting the nicks. Twisted when having fun, straight when being more serious===but yours was so aplicable, you dirty person!
It’s possible to get less time for killing somebody than file sharing.
Stop and think about that for a while.
Do we have our priorities right as a civilization?
#18–nosoap// and SN/Gilherme==do you guys agree with #20–BirdBrain? If “I” disagree, have I failed to read his post, or am I toadying for the man to comment that there is NO JAIL TIME for mere copyright infringement?? Excessive civil penalties===yes. Not the same as jail time.
Silly ninnies, so confused you are.
The people that are ripping him off the most are the record companies that he signed with. He’s just probably too much of a stupid fuckin’ redneck to figure that one out though.
He should just be happy that he made any money at all with all that shitty music he made.
@22 for the win!
“He should just be happy that he made any money at all with all that shitty music he made.”
He’s just looking for publicity. He should send his kids up in a ufo balloon!
#22, trouble,
OK, that is the most accurate post so far. My bias is I never cared for him anyway.
#21, Bobbo, who almost spotted it,
… and SN/Gilherme …
FYI
Guilherme is the pseudonym for a regular that never posts anything substantive. He always claims everyone else is wrong although he can’t tell them why. His favorite buddy, Alphie, is almost as irritating. His name begins with a “p” and ends in “dro”. Put that together and you don’t have an Uncle Hopper.
If SN is a third part of that schizoid relationship (the Three Faces of a Wetback) then I will be very surprised. Very, very surprised. I’ve seen SN post here for many years (including a few years under a different handle) and is very intelligent with well written comments, even if we don’t always agree.
These guys can whine all they want, and the RIAA can fine all they want. T’aint gonna change a thing. Most people I know who play music don’t make a dime anyway, they do it for pleasure. The end of commercial recorded music does not seem like that bad a thing to me. Maybe then more people would learn how to PLAY music.
I am sad to hear that he feels this way. I have been a big fan for a long time. I think he is quite a bit out of touch with how much the music industry has changed since he has been retired. Just rather sad that so many other artists see how many people have lost their jobs and can’t afford to go out and buy a CD. Time to give back GB. So your great, great, great, great, great grandkids will still be unbelievably wealthy but you want us to choose between feeding our kids and buying your “possibly” good CD. Where is the guarantee that every song on it is good? Just sad that a person with such an opportunity to help or understand, doesn’t.
He’s returning to the stage and he’s doing it in LAS VEGAS?! Sounds like someone needs more money for child support payments…
He’s bored. Performers do that. They “retire”, realize they have NOTHING ELSE TO DO IN THEIR LIVES and then reappear.
Mute buttons do wonders.