Posted by Bob Olhsson on 01/11/06 16:36

Paul Stamler wrote:
> "Michael J. Anthony" <nondisclosed@no-spam.com> wrote in message
>>What is it with bluesmen and ailments?
> In a time with little social safety net, music was one of the few
> occupations open to a blind person.

It's a little known fact that the modern popular music business was
invented by none other than P.T. Barnum before he went into the circus
business. Freaks have always been an entertainment attraction. Pop music
has only been promoted as being "art" since the folk revival of the
1950s and the Beatles who were originally publicized through the fashion
industry rather than the music industry.

Very few real public domain songs have ever been recorded because music
publishing has always been a major source of income for artists,
producers and record labels. During the folk revival there was a great
deal of one-upsmanship over who had greater "authenticity." This lead to
many brand new songs being touted by artists and their managers as being
"traditional."

It would probably be a great deal less work to write new music than to
unearth useful public domain music. A lot of corporate interests seek to
expand the public domain only as a means of forcing contemporary
composers to settle for lower levels of payment.



--
Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com

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