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The Music Industry’s New Extortion Scheme

I completely agree with this article. A music tax is a very stupid idea. Taxes are already out of hand in this country; allowing a private industry to tax citizens in order to prevent the progression of that industry's life cycle would be a crime. Industries change. Disruptive technologies often cause a displacement of industries. The telephone changed Western Unions way of doing business. In fact, the advent of the telephone nearly destroyed Western Union as a company, and it surely replaced the need for telegrams. Western Union adapted by finding another way to make money. Should the government have allowed Western Union to tax citizens simply because people no longer needed to pay for telegrams? One could argue that telegrams, because they performed a necessary function of communication, should have had the right to be protected as a necessary utility. Music doesn't even qualify for that status. Yet they want to arbitrarily tax the public? What kind of Pandora's box will be opened by such an endorsement?

Now that advertising mediums such as broadcast television, radio, newspaper, etc. are losing money because of new advertising mediums that operate via the internet (Google, Yahoo, etc) should we now pay taxes to newspapers, TV, etc. because the standard way of making money has been displaced? Perhaps inventors of board games (Hasbro etc) should also tax the public now that children are not buying board games because they prefer to play electronic/video games?!? Before the internet, people used to pay automobile dealerships $1500 to $3500 over sticker price for new automobiles. Now that people can get prices online for cars they are now paying only $100-$500 over sticker price (on average) for new cars. Should the automobile industry also be allowed to tax? How about the cost of stereo equipment?... Computers? Hey, what about stock brokers? Boy, everyone used to pay broker fees of $100 to $200 to make a trade buying stocks. Well, since the internet made trading stocks almost free ... brokers cannot charge outrageous fees any longer. Brokers are losing money due to disruptive technology. I suppose they should be taxing as well. What about banks (lending rates?)?

The list goes on and on. The point here is that the music industry has been making fat executives rich by raping society for the priviledge of listening to music that is created by artists with talent. The internet allows artists to distribute their music and make money directly by selling their creations. They no longer have to pay some slick thieving middle man in order to have their music heard by the public. The music industry can no longer keep musicians and their fans prisoners by taking all the money. If an artist is good ... he/she will get paid.. and paid well. At the same time, the listeners/fans won't have to go broke because some middle man is trying to get rich simply because there is a lawyer, a contract, and a copyright law.