another thing that gets me - especially as someone who intends to be recording my own material soon enough; why are so many people whinging about how the musician gets ripped off through downloading, yet hardly anyone ever complains about the fact that we get such an incredibly bad deal whenever we try to distribute our records or publish our lyrics? my dad recently tried to get a distribution deal so his CD could be in shops, and they were only going to pay him £4 for every £15 CD sold, PLUS he would have to give em about £250 up front. The problem today is nothing to do with the poor people who can only afford so many CDs a month anyway, its the same as it's ever been - musicians getting f***ed over by men in suits who never listen to music.

i know i'm simplifying things, but it really gets on my nerves when people like peter gabriel and other extraordinarily rich musicians complain about mp3 downloading yet would never actually say anything against one of the most disgusting, cruel and ignorant industries there is. if they really wanted to see a better deal for up and coming/independent musicians, they'd be fighting against the industry, not against some spotty 14 year old kid downloading the latest top 10.