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I Want My Music On Napster

from FREE! The 24 Hour Project by Tom Smith

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The original title of this was "A Different Kind Of Survivor". There were two kinds of survivors in the news during the summer of 2000: the wackos who ate rats for CBS TV, and the musicians and music fans undercutting the grotesque profits of the recording industry. KaZaa, the reborn Napster, et al., may have legal troubles and money woes yet ahead of them, and they may not survive (although the same can be said, more hopefully on my part, of the Recording Industry Association of America and its team of racketeering thu- er, executives and lawyers), but, thanks once again to the most incredible information resource ever seen, the Internet, people are finally aware of truly alternative music, and alternative music sources.

lyrics

There were two tribes, they were at war, for all the world to see,
A big cash prize they battled for, but who’d claim victory?
They played their games, they screamed, they fought, a nation’s nerves were stretching taut,
It isn’t right, it isn’t fair, so, listen up, I want my share –

I want my music on Napster,
I want the world to say, “Wow”!
Some say I’m losing money,
Like I’m making it now.

I want my music on Napster,
Metallica, leave ‘em alone,
You want your bloated profits,
I just wanna be known.

Opponents say the fans are wrong, that bootlegs are no joke,
A perfect copy of a song means artists will go broke,
But studies show the Napster fans buy albums of their favorite bands,
And if a singer feels the Muse, he sings -- and if he’s broke, it’s Blues --

I want my music on Napster,
I want the people to hear,
Some say I’m taking chances,
Like I’ve got something to fear.

Somebody get me there faster,
I want to finally arrive,
You want your big-time cash cow,
And I just wanna survive.

It costs a buck to make a major label CD, and they sell it for about fifteen,
Another two-fifty goes to the artists, the profit margin’s just obscene.
Metallica’s worried they’re missing the prize, what’s the real problem, boys?
Are you afraid fans’ll listen, and realize that your stuff is awful noise?

The Internet’s made billionaires of losers with no plan,
So why can’t it cough up some shares for one hard-working man?
My fans applaud my music skills, but my mundane job pays the bills,
Oh, won’t somebody please put me into your Shared Directory?

I want my music on Napster,
I know the people ain’t dumb,
Some say I’ll only be ripped off,
I’ll show ‘em my fans aren’t scum.

I want my music on Napster,
Where smaller artists are grown,
You want your bloated profits --
Man, I just wanna be known.

I want my, I want my, I want my MP3….

credits

from FREE! The 24 Hour Project, released May 14, 2022
Brief quote from "Money For Nothing" by Gordon Sumner & Mark Knopfler

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Tom Smith Ann Arbor

Weird Al with more books, JoCo with more jokes, Carlin with more Cthulhu. Since 1985, Tom Smith has been breaking hearts, minds, and laws of propriety and physics with his insane blend of sf/fantasy, Life With Computers, pop culture, politics, and puns. More than twenty albums later, he maintains the best is yet to come. ... more

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