Jan Davis Guitar is spreading a warning to ALL independent music artists, writers, publishers, musicians, bands and groups. How does he know it's the beginning of the end? (Because he does). Jan knows it has begun, and unless an act of God or Congress occurs, music hopefuls have little or NO chance of making it big, or even a little, in the music industry.

It begins with a current TV ad from Rhapsody.com

"All the music you want, just $10 bucks a month."

Jan says, "This is Bait and Switch to the Nth degree."

Go to Rhapsody and read the sign-up Agreements, and Oh yeah, take your attorney with you! You'll find pages upon pages of legal mumbo-jumble. These Agreements that Rhapsody urges the public to agree to, are 99% on their side.

Concerning Rhapsody, which is it, a streaming or a download site? They have a new member confused, at best. Streaming means the public (or members) can only LISTEN to music. Downloading at Rhapsody means the members pay a download fee to purchase a song for an amount determined by Rhapsody, in ADDITION to the member's monthly paid subscription fee of $9.99 (rounded off to $10 dollars).

Do the math. One million subscribers at $10. per month = 10 million dollars x 12 Months = $120 MIL. That's quite a chunk for using an artist's music while the artist receives less than a penny for a streamed song.

If this continues at Rhapsody, Napster and other streaming sites, will the major 'download only' sites such as, iTunes, Amazon and others follow suit? They MAY have to. But, if these huge sites change over to streaming, the independent artists and others will make virtually nothing. That scenario leaves very little incentive for anyone who wants to create and record music.

Here's how the crumbling starts: If all download sites become streaming sites to compete with Rhapsody, Napster, and more, the digital music distributors such as CDBaby.com and others will end up possibly going under, because they operate on a percentage basis. Percentages vary, and these music distributors can earn about 9% of each artist's downloaded song from iTunes, Amazon and other 'download only' sites. But distributors won't survive on 9% of a streamed song at a penny per song. If this downfall happens, the independent artist will have NO distribution or delivery method and if they did, SO WHAT? The current 'download distribution equals payment' process will dry up, unless laws are made against music streaming.

Where do major (big name) artists stand on the streaming of their music? The band, Metallica, stood up to Napster when their music was offered for free and they filed a class-action lawsuit. Hats off to them! It is unknown who among major artists remained silent, possibly because the silent ones were booked doing concerts and making big or better bucks than struggling independent artists and bands. So, do these upper-level artists care? Hmm. Once again, money talks.

If music streaming continues, the downloading industry WILL dry up. Then, where do the independents go to sell their songs and CDs? How about the good old-fashioned radio and record store scenario? FORGET about it!

One main reason independent artists and bands remain independent is because major record labels have refused (or turned down) their products, forcing independents to run out and manufacture their own CDs and start mailing them out to radio stations, hoping to acquire airplay. This has become a running joke in the music industry.

Major radio stations prefer to play charted Top 20 songs, 24 hours a day and that's it, while record stores usually won't stock anything new that is not being aired (played) on top radio stations, delivered by major record labels. There is not enough room here to give all details involved, so these generalities will suffice.

Now, here's the irony of it all. Many record chains, including Tower Records, Wherehouse and more, have shut down because of Internet downloading and other factors, such as the weak economy, which leads us right back to the top.

Independent artists have a chance to level the playing field a little to sell their music via the 'download only' sites, but now, music streaming has reared it's ugly head, giving huge profits to Rhapsody, Napster and other streaming sites who are promoting "Bait and Switch" agendas, while music creators are thrown to the wayside.

If the public allows streaming sites to gain a foothold, with more music download sites turning to streaming, all artists and bands will suffer, especially independent performers, along with songwriters and their music publishers. Independent artists who may not have regular concert bookings will have virtually nowhere to sell their creations, other than out of their car trunks, at weekend gigs for local pubs, or directly out of their pockets and purses!

This is a very serious issue for all involved in music. The public can help by calling, emailing, or writing to their congressmen and women. Get involved. Alert friends and family to make them aware of this impending issue. Maybe someone you care about has written or recorded great music that may never earn a penny... all because of music streaming. ~Jan Davis Guitar

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