This is a different post than most. I've been thinking about my recent postings of rare or hard to find LP's and 45's. Does this practice harm the artists? Does it help promote their music? Is it the same as Bit Torrent, Napster and all the other file sharing going on across the net or is it more akin to playing a single on the radio? It's a tough call. I will admit, I used to acquire a lot of music from less than legitimate sources. I used to say it was ok because I would still buy the music that I really wanted and only download the stuff I probably would never buy anyway. But this was just a way to make myself feel better. The truth is, it was always stealing. So is this the same thing? Should i take all the music off? My rationale for keeping it is that I am trying to promote music that is no longer being purchased by anyone but the most devoted collectors. I posted the Dale Hawkins album because it is a 1000 dollar record. I don't know that many people that can afford that one. Yet, it is available on CD (with bonus tracks). Am I hurting the artist by doing this or am I turning more people on to his music and hopefully pushing them into buying other albums by the artist? I don't know. I made sure not to post any music from more modern readily available artists like the White Stripes or Pearl Jam. I also wouldn't dream of posting a commercially available Beatles, Stones, Kinks or Who track. So that's something. I feel better about posting rare or osbscure 45's and maybe I'll just do that from now on. In my mind these push the listener to go out and find more. They don't get the whole album (and believe me with the Sonics and the Wailers the rest is great), and thus will want to find more. So what is the answer? Should I stop? Should I continue? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill? If you have any thoughs put them in the comments below. And now to make this post all the more strange, here is a the first song ever issued by Etiquette Records:Rockin' Robin Roberts - Louie, Louie
This is basically a Wailers record but is credited to Rockin' Robin Roberts. Either way it's great and it's the song that launched a 1000 garage bands (when it was covered complete with "Alright lets give it to em right now!" solo intro by Portland's the Kingsmen). Enjoy.
Louie Louie
