Unlike Napster, there's no corporation in the background, building up a user database hoping to turn a profit on it. But I'll be damned if you're going to start making any money off of us without compensating us. The recent trouble is that not only is the live music scene fast eroding, but also the ability to find a place to play is being squeezed by Internet-juiced rents forcing clubs and practice spaces to leave the city. But if general sales are bouyed, Tardon thinks indie labels like his haven't been rising with that tide. On the downside, indie distribution is the main area that is currently suffering hard .
Distributors are dropping like flies, so are labels.
The college student types who use Napster are definitely not using the current system for discovering new bands. You could call it the death of the High Fidelity effect. And the acts that used to do best by campuses were the indie acts, not the top 40. You'd go to the store, hang out, and listen to new CD's. So my personal conclusion is definitely that unless you've accepted the 'Napster paradigm' and put your stuff out there for the students to hear, then you've lost exposure.