When Your Idols Don't Get It

So what do you do when your idols don't get it (see question 15)? When you see them making mistakes that cause their careers to continue to go lower and lower, what do you do? The problem is that being the head poo flinger at RockMyMonkey, I end up interacting with these people on a very dangerous level. I could totally destroy a great business friendship by trying too hard to help them.

ALL CAPS IS BAD
So say there is a guitarist that wrote, recorded, and released one of your favorite albums of all time. You friend him on Facebook and he turns out ot be a really great down to earth guy on top of being extremely talented. The problem is that he types everything in all caps. Now everyone knows that typing in all caps is not only considered rude, but it makes it hard to read. Every noob on the internet goes through their ALL CAPS PHASE. They think it is their way of sticking out from the crowd. What they don't know is that it makes them stick out in the crowd the same way that it would make them stick out if they wore a Poison shirt at a Slayer show. It's the same as wearing a billboard letting everyone know you have no clue what the hell you are doing. It let's everyone know you are a total noob who doesn't get it. They are under the delusion that it makes them look unique. Well, there is a reason you don't wear a Poison shirt to a Slayer show. People are not thinking unique. They are laughing at you. There are even some who think it makes them look tough. Sure, as tough as wearing a Poison shirt to a Slayer show.

IS IT WORTH THE BUSINESS CONTACT OR FRIENDSHIP?
But if I told this new friend I risk insulting him. I risk ticking the guy off and ruining the friendship we are just starting to build. So what do I do? As a friend it kills me to see them making a fool of themselves, but I don't want to get the guy on the defense either. Plus the chances of them listening to anything I say is about null. All that I would do is make the situation worse.

DO ALL RECORD LABEL FOLKS WEAR TINFOIL HATS?
What about the artists and other music industry people I see still keeping their focus on the people who download? Recently there was a leading music journalist (that will remain unlisted here to keep people from making that the point) that posted an article (click here) about what shape the music industry is in. What followed was an endless flow of people I seriously look up to musician wise talking about nothing more than how they need to stop the down loaders and how it is totally the down loaders fault. All they wanted to do was bitch, moan, and start a witch hunt. There was zero interest in any real solution.

I tried to explain to them that downloaders buy more music than people that don't download. I tried to explain that the RIAA has lost millions trying to sue as many people who download as possible. I posted reference link after reference link to show that keeping the focus on trying to stop the down loaders was killing the innovation of the people trying to find real solutions.

INNOVATION DOES NOT EVOLVE IF YOU KILL IT
I know many of you will point out that the money being made from online sales does not make up enough of the difference. That is because things have not been allowed to evolve! The music industry has time after time killed off pay models (and potential pay models) that gained too much steam. Why? They are paranoid of change. This is especially true with anything digital or internet based. They freak and want to just convince everyone that the internet is bad for music in every way possible. They have even tried to sue a laser printer!  Now that's some serious paranoia! Now because paranoia is never about any real plan or focus, it often leads to what is called the Streisand effect.

AN TIN FOIL HAT WITH YOUR RECORD DEAL
The musicians of course spend tons of time with these people and have ended up with a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome.  So there is no talking to them. Trying to talk to them just really pisses them off. Here I was trying to get everyone to talk about the pay model solutions and how if allowed to evolve and mature, they offer a much better chance at saving the music industry than them continuing to beat the dead horse of stopping the down loaders. This achieves nothing more than them bitching and moaning about how much it sucks. Well if it sucks so damn bad DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ALREADY! Let's at least try discussing a possible solution. That's all I am asking here. Let's change the focus of the conversation to a solution instead of just complaining.

THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT SUPPORT MUSIC PIRACY
The problem with both these situations is that I have a really high respect for these people and it kills me that they are falling for the lie that continues to destroy the music industry. Yes the people that download tons of music and never buy anything piss me off. You can't expect good quality music to continue to be released if you have a free for all. Studio time costs money. If you want your favorite band to be able to come to your town, they need to be able to pay their rent, buy diapers for their kid, and pay for all the things you pay for with your job. You get paid for your job right? How should they feed their family? But that being said it has been proven that keeping the focus on that not only doesn't help, but hurts the end goal of allowing people who work full time in the music industry (artists and those of us who work for artists) to make a respectable living wage.

I AM A FAN GUYS AND I JUST WANT TO HELP
So how can we get these amazing artists of old to understand they need to move the focus from vilifying the down loaders to finding actual solutions?  How can we get them to help move the industry forward in the direction of allowing the industry to find ways to make money off of their music online without destroying the companies that are trying to help innovate? How can we inform them without them putting up mental blocks because they feel their intelligence is being insulted? How can we teach them without them getting defensive and closing their mind to any facts we present? I'm not sure. If I had that info I could probably save the music industry. Hell, I'm willing to bet many skimmed this article and think it is about defending the down loaders. If you think that is the case, go back and start from the beginning. You missed 99% of the article.