Once in a while, I just have to comment on things rather than be funny. There is a time and a place for every emotion, and the issue of downloading music, and the state of the music industry as a whole never fails to twist my panties tight.

I just watched the news, and it appears that the record industry has started to crack down on file sharing amongst non-paying music lovers. Apparently what that means is that if you download music, you're breaking the law, and you could go to jail. Hmm.

This confuses, but does not scare me, because, the big profit loss is with the big earners in the music industry, meaning all the big pop stars of the day, such as Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, Madonna, Christina Aquilera, and my beloved Britney.

If the feds decide to show up at my house to clean out my hard drive, they won't find any of the above, but they may find some obscure Accept bootleg, or some garbled tape of Iron Maiden fighting backstage. I do have some Britney on the 'ol C drive, and it sure as hell aint music. It's the other product she's peddling, the product that brought her attention in the first place. .

Nobody believes in “try before you buy” anymore. I would never buy a car before I drove it, and with the cost of CD's today, people aren't as willing to take a risk. Too many times loyal fans have been let down by second-rate trash fed to them by 'artists' on a deadline. I saw a recent study on CNN saying that 85% of people who download music buy the album if they enjoy it. Those stats prove that that is NOT the reason sales are slagging. It's because the world wants something different. And true to form, media lords don't pander to the creative types; they cater to revenue, and milk it until the teat is tapped, in which it then becomes a joke, mocked at ten years later, along with every stupid reality TV show. We are feeding the machine diet food at this time, and they are seeking sustenance from our wallets.

Straight up…music sucks today. They are making it illegal to download music, because the record industry has lost control. The fans are the ones deciding who is good or not, and the sales show that. We are not carelessly spending our hard earned cash on sophomoric schlock by the likes of just about every band following formulaic angst ridden verses who turn to a melodic chorus just before you change the station. It's so predictable that a monkey could pen the next Disturbed album, and it would probably be superior. Fred Durst has pulled every hair out of his head on his quest to prolong his fifteen minutes.

All the ridiculously goofy hard rock bands that are peddling their wares into the hearts and trousers of teenagers are doing nothing more than prepping for their “Behind the music.” Yesterdays Poison is tomorrows Staind. Yesterday's Alice in Chains is today's Alice in Godsmack.

I'm not an embittered cynic pining for the good old days, because it has always sucked. The labels and MTV sell anger and sex in the form of the predictable hooks dumped into editing software, while the real music fans search for real music.

My point is, if you keep throwing up from McDonalds food, you'll eventually go elsewhere. And that's what the Internet has given us, and not so popular bands. A chance. The so called super information super highway has allowed us the option of trying before buying, and the conclusion is that most of these bands suck, so we're looking for something different, something better. And it's out there. The difference is that it's easier to find now. Those who choose to inform themselves are released from the shackles of mediocrity and empowered with the presence of greatness and artistic merit.

Have people forgotten about Color Me Badd or the New kids? How about Kik Tracee or Warrant? They sucked then, and they suck now as the Backstreet Boys, N'sync, Creed, and Puddle of piss.

Don't forget, it's about we the people, right? We determine who makes it or breaks it, and we're failing as fans of art if we do nothing but line the pockets of doles or clones. Pick up an instrument, a paintbrush, a pen, or a microphone, and show the world your passion. Just do something DIFFERENT for Christ's sake.

Turn off your radio, turn on your computer, and begin your quest to show the music industry who the boss REALLY is. Right click, save target as. Simple as that. End of rant.