Mashable has excerpts from their interview with Free software activist Richard Stallman.
Stallman started the Free Software Foundation based on four principles.
- Information, such as computer software, should be freely accessible.
- The information should be free to modify.
- The information should be free to share with others.
- The information should be free to change and redistribute copies of the changed software.
While not all of these principles apply to music, he says, some of them should apply. And a lot of music fans musicians tend to agree with him. In many ways, the corporate side of the music industry’s attitude toward musical content mimics Microsoft’s or Adobe’s or Apple’s attitude toward software. This attitude often does nothing to help those who create or those who enjoy the content in question; it does everything to make money for the corporations who oversee licensing and purchase fees.
There are interesting comments about the actual creators of content, the artists and how little money they actually get from the selling of music. I like some of his ideas, if only the industry haters and wreckers could see past their bricks and mortar mentality.
