The solution is to take the view that Woody Guthrie took. Don't participate because in spite of negative circumstances, Woody, Esperanza, etc. will survive because they will be recognized eventually.

It's nice that the companies have released the "milestones" of jazz, country, rock etc. but these are museum pieces which have value but no bearing on the music industry today. YouTube is great because it is a museum piece resource.

There is a plethora of talented people who will be appreciated in their local communities as they should be regardless of the industry. What the industry does is to scout out these talents and then co-opt them to fit their business model. The best thing for these talents is not to play with the industry. Let them become industries of their own, their own recording companies, publishing outlets, and court ancillary agencies that will help them along because of interest in their talent other than just making a buck off of it.

I don't buy the argument that Napster is cheating the artists. No, these outlets are cheating the industry moguls who are cheating the artists. Do you think that unknown singer/songwriters who are in ASCAP or BMI are receiving immense royalties? (Just pennies). Those defenders of the industry against Napster etc. are pocketing the proceeds made by the artist who is being exploited by the industry by greed. Artists continue to be a commodity in the industry corporate mentality that is to be used up to make more money. It ties into the whole concept of corporation and there needs to be an Occupy the Music Biz. A complete reworking of the value system of the industry is analogous to the reworking of our political system in the US which is controlled by monied interests. The music biz is a reflection of our corporate oligarchic preoccupation with exploitation in the system.

The lawyers and salemen have taken over the music biz and the musicians are given short shrift. The solution is that the real musicians need to stand up and take control of their "product" (an unfortunate term like soap suds). That's what Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others have done and as a result, there is their influence which has created valuable music for society. That's ostensibly what the "Indie" business was supposed to do but the Indies bought into the industry hype and try to fashion their product so they can be picked up by major recording companies. (Big mistake!)

Time for musicians and musical artists to reclaim their talents.