music while we did our homework and discussed the events of the school day. Some of us may have owned the same albums as others, but I’m absolutely certain that none of us owned every song, in every format in which it had ever been produced. My "richest" friend only got 75 cents a week for an allowance. Most of us got 50 cents a week.  We could barely afford to buy a 45 and we had to save-up to be able to buy an album – that’s why we shared our music, so that we could have a better selection when we were all together. 

By the time I graduated from high school, we were all sharing our music in three story dorms. Thieves, every single one of us ... sharing like that, instead of limiting ourselves to listening to only the half-dozen records that we could afford to buy on our own. 

Once we were out of school and starting families of our own, there were plenty of times when we’d share our music by just flat out loaning our records to one another, to be used at various dinner parties, family functions, things like that. Sometimes you’d enjoy listening to an album that you borrowed so much that you’d go out and buy it for yourself. No matter. It’s stealing, all of it, according the the RIAA.

It’s 2008. Our computers are the front porches, garages and other gathering places of old. On-line is where we hang out with our friends these days. Which means that it’s on our computers and on-line where we’re going to listen to music together. It’s not rocket science, so you don’t need to be the brightest bulb in the box to figure it out.

From 78s to 33s to 45s to CDs and now to mp3s - I’ve paid for more than half of the music to which I listen 5 separate times. But, according to the RIAA, if I’ve put any of it on my computer (which I do, in order to upload it to my iPod), they still consider that I’m stealing their music – I’m only stealing one copy of it, but, I’m still stealing. The absurdity of it begs the question: How much do I have to pay to listen to a particular song until my doing that is NOT considered stealing?

Skipping ahead, through more years of sharing music with friends (birthdays, holidays, any day), until today, January 1^st, 2008, where I find myself sitting at my computer terminal, writing this article.  

I don’t listen to music very much anymore. I’ve simply gotten to the point where I refuse to spend one more cent doing anything that will, in any way whatsoever, support the RIAA. They’re too greedy. Doesn’t matter to them how many times they’ve profited because someone like me has paid for the same music, simply because the media changed. 

Still, with these backwards clowns, the only way to win is to not play. So it’s the sidelines for me, until they stop accusing the people who keep them in business of being thieves simply to hide the fact that they’re too greedy to control their own cost of doing business. They need to pay themselves less and pay their talent less. Then, like any other business, they can be more competitive in a free market by charging less for their music.  If they charge less, people will be able to afford to buy more and their sales will go up.  Basic business in America, 101.  Put THAT to music!