It never ceases to amaze me how much people continue to attempt to exploit artists, especially musicians, even in these days of Creative Commons, Magnatune, CD Baby, IODA and podcasting.

You have these people operating on the web that claim to be doing something different. They claim to be doing things in a new way. But its just the old way with a little bit of new wrapping. When I say 'old' I mean a way that is very unfriendly to the artists who are creating content. I also mean 'old' in the sense that the technology, while touted as the latest, is frequently a few years behind the times.

You can't expect artists to know what they're getting. Most are focused on creating and not the ins and outs of web2.0. As podcasters, we should take it upon ourselves to do the right thing when we use music from independent artists. We can spend a little time to create relationships and educate them on what's what.

If we take this approach maybe we can slowly bleed out the hucksters who are in it mostly for themselves and fail to embrace the reality (and technology) of these times.

Labels: creative commons, music, rights