Rapper Chuck D participated in a panel discussion Wednesday dealing with music on the Internet. Even on a day of other political drama, the theatrical mix of characters alone was enough to qualify the conference as a Washington event. The only hope for those dead businesses is if they realize they are dead and begin to reinvent themselves. Such blustery forecasts aside, the sounding off at this Web music conference is sure to reverberate through the digital entertainment spectrum. The issues we face with Napster and MP3 are soon going to be faced by television.
Fans deserve the freedom, and the artists deserve the right to have their creative voice heard.
The dialogue and decision-making have often shut out the very artists who drive Napster and digital music. But one aspect that made this conference different from many other think-tank fests was the presence of independent musicians, who comprised roughly half the audience. They were there at the invitation of coalition executive director Jenny Toomey, an indie rocker with the band Tsunami. The coalition is a non-profit group that seeks to give musicians a voice in the technology, copyright legislation and litigation shaping digital entertainment. We have bicycles for the independent musicians, and Rolls-Royces for the other 2 percent.