Doing The Right Thing

Last night I bought a cd. Directly from the artist, cutting out layers of middlemen, thereby increasing the profit to the artist. When I already owned a copy of that very cd! What a fool, you might be thinking! She could have copied it for pennies! Not that I haven't. I have copied Here, by Hank Harris, numerous times. It's a cd I happen to love, so I have an upstairs copy, a downstairs copy, one for in the car, and the music is also on my iPod. I have a tendency to be a little careless with cd's, particularly the one that winds up in the car, so I keep the original archived safely, away from temperature extremes, cats, dust and grit, and possible loss. But the one I bought last night is a gift. And it would have been wrong, wrong, wrong of me to copy it for that purpose. I have the technology! A computer, blank cd's and cases, and a kick-ass printer that would render the cover art beautifully. But Hank is an artist who makes his living off of what he has created. It's called intellectual property. And as someone who hopes to someday reap some profit from what I have created, I feel that I have to honor the work of others. And when you buy direct from the artist, it's that much better for them. As the big, greedy companies have discovered by seeing their profits dry up with the technological advances in recording, distribution and publishing. Live music is an art form for which there is no real replacement. So show up, pay the cover charge without griping, and buy the music directly from the artist. Everybody wins!


Photo used with permission