JAIMIE VERNON: THE WAR OF INDEPENDENTS

Not since the great Napster clap trap a decade ago has music – specifically the people making that music – been under such vociferous attack. For those that missed the multi-pronged brouhahas over the last 10 days, let us review: 1a) National Public Radio intern Emily White confessed in a blog that her personal collection of 11,000 songs have never been paid for. She excused this behaviour as a modern cultural construct – having been raised in an environment where the acquisition of music has never involved the exchange of money. She actually ripped these tracks from NPR’s library which had been given to them as promotion-only releases from record labels and independent musicians. She was unapologetic and closed her statements by saying that moving forward she, and her friends, would only ever pay for access to the music…not the music itself. Her support for musicians begins and ends with buying concert tickets and T-shirts.