As for the whole p2p/copyright/RIAA issue, I think we should just have a yearly renewable licence to upload/download any and all copyright material without restriction per internet device (ie computer or whatnot) obtainable by the OWNER of said device for a reasonable ($25 bucks per year or so?) fee.
Copyright holders (even us who are independent of the “industry”) could register our works with a central agency (similar in ways to ASCAP/BMI etc., hey, why not Creative Commons?) that would collect and distribute the money based on a percentage of uploads/downloads by popularity.
Devil is in the details, and it would have to be done fairly. Maybe our government needs to step in and force this solution upon us all.

Just an Idea.

Support Local and Independent Music!

No artists of note left;
They now charge the ARTISTS for providing the resource they rely on;
They obviously have no clue what a Creative Commons license is, nor did they pay any attention to the fact that it’s free.

Pass them up, pass the word that they suck now more than ever before, and encourage artists to find someplace better.

Actually I’d almost suggest sending all their artists a primer on “better places to be than MP3.com”, you’d be doing them all a great favor.

How does free distribution for CC licenses and voluntary donations to a pool, distributed according to popularity sound? Money out of the pool to the artists, hosting company, site, bandwidth and Creative Commons, trying to ensure that the artists get a greater percentage than they can get in other ways… and low enough minimum donation amounts so fans can donate and give artists money at levels well below the current per track and CD prices for online distribution. That’s what I have in mind. Not sure yet if it can happen. Not entirely up to me but I can try to get it started.

Hee-hee. Great way to put it.

By the way, even in the Gilded Era of Michael Robertson’s snake oil, I wasn’t sufficiently impressed to participate.

The paralysis in the transition to new media has disastrously impacted the careers of Flash artists, marketing peeps, video directors et al. We are three years into an era of starvation, lockout and attrition. Those of us who wait out the industry “creative labor” freeze are badly served by blanket cliches from the EFF regarding “Hollywood entertainment cartel.”

NO ONE KNOWS MORE THAN US that the potential era of prosperity was blasted into oblivion by the compensation packages of top echelon media executives. Can you say “R.I.P?” What consolation can we offer to thunsung and unlamented category of motivated marketing, graphics and promotion people who were sacrificed to cost-scutting convergence. Downsizing those who loved music and chose to work within the label model.

Your best friends at CC are the artists. 30,000 at CD Baby and 25,000 at Just Plain Folks. Your pals who are EFF San Francisco elitists need to listen mo’ bettah.

TOM B.

If someone can pick up mp3.com on the cheap and do it right, that’d be a nice thing.