Near the end June, audio engineer Jon Sheldrick published a rather thoughtful, well-written essay titled “Why You Should Pay For Music." It was everywhere. Huffington Post. Sound Ctrl. Hell, I even republished it on our sister blog, Music Think Tank. But, the essay left me wanting more. More what? Well, more thoughtful discussion of the issues that surround file-sharing and someone, my hope: the ever vigilant and critical MTT comments section, to deconstruct the moments of obfuscation that occur in the piece. After weighing out the merits of critiquing an essay that I, myself, published, I decided to step up to the plate:
From The Essay: “More than a decade later, we still identify with and are even more fascinated by the plight of these abstract corporations in the digital age than we are with the flesh-and-blood artists that they represent, now why do you think that is? Do you really think it is because “people don't value music in a meaningful way" or are things a little more complicated? I would argue that they are more convoluted than Sheldrick leads us to believe. Has music become devalued to some degree, due to the social epidemic of file sharing and those born-digital who have embraced it? Sure. But, [fans] have become disconnected [from the value of music] too." Read on.
