Give Pete a break. Agree or not, the guys got a point.

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: When he was 20 years old, Pete Townshend of The Who wrote the
: classic line "hope I die before I get old," as part of
: the anthem Talkin' 'bout my generation . As a Townshend fan,
: I'm certainly happy to know that he didn't die before he got
: old... but it does seem rather ironic that he's now acting just
: like the "old folks" that he once mocked.
:
: At an event earlier this week, he claimed that the internet is
: destroying copyright, and declared that iTunes is a
: "digital vampire." His complaint there is that it
: takes an "enormous commission." Um. Ok. So, according
: to most reports, iTunes' commission on music is approximately
: $0.30 on the dollar. While some may claim that's high, compare
: that to how much a record label takes on each sale, where
: artists often get perhaps 10 to 15% royalties, with the label
: taking the rest. Which one seems more like a vampire?
:
: He says that iTunes should employ A&R people, but why is that
: Apple's business? That's like saying Tower Records should have
: had A&R people to guide musicians a decade ago. It appears his
: complaint is that new musicians are allowed into iTunes even if
: they suck. But that's an issue for filters and mentors to deal
: with, and the internet seems to be taking care of that. Is there
: bad music on iTunes? Sure, but you can get around that by not
: listening to it, and those musicians can get guidance from all
: sorts of people.
:
: He also talks about why Apple should give away computers to 500
: musicians they like. But... why? What is focusing on just a few
: musicians going to do? The power of the internet is that it
: empowers tons of new musicians. Having Apple give free computers
: to the musicians it likes kinda misses the point of the
: democratization of the market. It will leave out all sorts of
: wonderful artists that niche groups in the public might like.
:
: He then goes on to complain that Apple won't stream full albums.
: Why is that Apple's job? Has no one shown Pete Spotify or any
: of the many other streaming players out there these days?
:
: Of course, he won't listen to me on this, because he talks about
: the "vilest" parts of "blogland" where
: people are "drunk, or just nuts."
:
: And, of course, he goes on a bit of a rant about file sharing.
: Beyond just the internet "destroying copyright," he
: compares someone downloading one of his songs to someone coming
: into his house and stealing his kid's bike (interesting
: comparison). Of course, as anyone who's ever thought about this
: for more than a second knows, making a copy doesn't remove
: anything. Making comparisons to stolen physical goods just makes
: it look like you're... well... not talking about our generation.
:
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