[Harp-L] Tax Concerns, Royalties, and Fear and Loathing of Songwriters

[Aeskow@xxxxxxx]

As someone who feeds two small kids by the fruits of his creative labors,  
I'm frankly stunned by these apparent playa-haters bitching about songwriters  
receiving fair pay for their work.  According to one post, masochistic  viewers 
who don't like what they see on TV should be compensated for the time  they 
spend deep-frying their brains in front of the tube.   Wrong.  Actual labor is 
expended only on the creative side; couch-potato  time does not count as work. 
 And I promise you that blood, sweat and tears  go into the making of every 
song you hear, every movie you watch, and every show  on TV --no matter how 
banal, or lousy, they may be.  The reason you're  watching them, or hearing them, 
is that SOMEONE along the line probably enjoys  them.  (Maybe you'd like to 
be Commissar of Taste?) The men and women who  worked to create them, like pro 
ballplayers, generally have careers that don't  last as long as most 
working-people's do--careers in which the competition is  insane, the job security 
non-existent, and the pressure enormous.  If  you feel that the free-market system 
of the arts--including songwriters'  royalties--is somehow doing you wrong, 
try participating in it yourself.   WIthin no time, you'll learn what a waste 
of time and spirit it is to  begrudge any creative person the hard-earned 
rewards of their craft.
 
Peace and Respect,
Johnny T