> it's a metaphorical ghetto because metaphorical lepers like you are metaphorically whining about how the metaphorical government sucks rather than leaping up, not complaining, and getting a metaphorical job.

You use this word, "metaphorical", a lot. I don't think it means what you think it means.

Also, what on earth makes you think I, or my musician friends (who I expressly told you work low-paid jobs as bartenders) don't have jobs? I'm a developer at a equity stat arb hedge fund, and I'm doing just fine, thank you very much. However, unlike you, I have the ability to empathise with my musician buddies who are less fortunate and didn't have the benefit of obtaining a Masters in Maths and Computing from Imperial College.

> I get downvoted for things I say pretty much constantly, but I don't call that a ghetto.

It certainly is ghetto behaviour to downmod somoeone while being too lazy to offer anything in way of riposte. Although, in f
airness, you didn't do that, so kudos to you.

> musicians who demand that a hosting service like Youtube pay them when Youtube never offered that up as an arrangement are
musicians who are greedy and trying to take money from an honest service.

Who cares if YouTube never offered that arrangement? If you recall, the idea was that YouTube was supposed to be the forum fo
r which Joe internet user could post funny videos about himself, not for the wholesale ripoff of established and up-and-comin
g artists. Do you really think that YouTube would have achieved the traffic it enjoys without the flagrant hosting of copyrig
hted material? And, just to repeat, seeing as you don't seem so bright: the material is COPYRIGHTED. Far from being greedy, i
t is absolutely right and proper for musicians to demand remuneration for the the use of that material.

> which I can't imagine happening were it not for the insane amount of freedom that the Internet provides.

Yes, the internet does empower artists in some sense. But food and rent don't grow of trees. People need to pay for music in
order for musicians to continue making it.

> You have a choice about using Youtube or not.

The implicit threat from YouTube is "accept our staggeringly low royalties, or deal with the piracy issue on your own." If yo
u'd bother to read Waterman's statements for example, you'd know that on the basis of around a million views of his Rick Aste
ly songs, he got 11 quid. Is that fair?

> So this "inability" of musicians to get funded? Doesn't make sense to me, when you can self-release a CD for no cost at all
. Get Logic Studio, learn a teensy bit about music recording, release yourself an album. If you're decent, people will hear i
t despite the shoddy recording, and you'll have leverage to get a deal.

It doesn't need to make sense to you. You are obvioulsy a layman who has no real expertise or interest in the music business. If you did, you would know that getting Logic Studio -- which, incidentally, costs 200 pounds, hardly a small amount for someone working behind a bar (not to mention a pair of AKG 414s -- 500 pounds each, in order to record drums, a few SM57s at 60 pounds a pop, a decent mike preamp, ... shall I continue?) (all the tracks on my myspace were recorded like this, all programmed by me, all done on cubase, so pardon me if I laugh when you say "learn a teensy bit about music recording") -- is far from being enough to record an album. Remember that generally speaking half of a labels budget for an album goes to marketing and promotion, not to the actual recording of an album. Plugging a record on the radio, putting up advertisements, etc. all cost money. Why would a label finance this for anything more than sure-fire hits in the face of widespread piracy? And then people here complain about a lack of "vitality". It's so hypocritical!

> You do not have a right to make any more money than people think you have a right to make.

No, you see, actually, it's the other way around. YOU have the right to listen to my music, IF you pay the price that I deem fit. Otherwise, you shouldn't listen to it, because then you're breaking the law, and trampling roughshod over my rights. Capiche? If you walk into a shop and want to buy a skateboard, then it's the shopkeepers prerogative to set the price, is it not? Why should it be any different for music? The seller sets the price, and the buyer can exercise his vote of disapproval by not buying -- and using -- the product. Not by engaging in some self-serving so-called "civil disobedience" and just stealing the product. That one even needs to state this point is astonishing.

> If you were superawesome, you would rise up.

Of course the "superawesome" will rise up. And, of course, I believe The Signals belong in that category ;) However, and this is the point, when an industry sees its revenues fall by 50% in less than ten years, you can be sure that many interesting but perhaps more niche acts will be left by the by. And that's sad.

> A friend's band recently signed on to a subset of Sony and they've gotten 4 million plays on MySpace. They're on the rise. I bought their album on iTunes and it was almost worth the money I paid, which is saying a lot since I'm broke.

Good for them, I wish them much success!

> Meanwhile, you defend yourself not with logic but with swears and Britishisms, which makes me think you're just a jerk rather than a sincere guy.

Britishisms? I chuckled when I read that.

As for not using logic, well, I think my posting record is clear for anyone with a modicum of intellectual honesty. I addressed the original posters remarks. I justified my use of strong language. Where is the lack of logic?