Top Five On Friday - 2/29/08

Come get your Top Five:

Top 5 things you'd like to change about the music industry

1a) They should stop treating the customers like criminals. Respect is earned by giving respect to others. Most music consumers today don't feel respected.

1b) They should let us do what we want with the music we paid for, within reason.
Within reason = putting music on computer, mp3 player, making a backup copy, etc.

2) They should better promote artists and releases. This means: promoting artists who deserve promotion by making quality music; allowing consumers to preview albums before they purchase them. I have to admit that the industry is doing a decent job of the latter by way of the last.fm full track deal and album previews on AOL and VH1.

3) They should make more music videos, and make them more accessible on TV. This would give me something to watch on TV.

4) They should encourage artists to take shorter breaks between albums. I'm not saying we should go back to the 'two albums per year' thing the Beatles had to deal with. However, four years between albums is way too long! Making music is a musician's job. If he or she is not currently touring, the album-making process should be proceeding smoothly.

5) No more special editions! If it's an album's 25th anniversary, that I understand and appreciate. But if the album came out just a year ago, they should quit adding two new tracks and a DVD few will watch and charging us to buy the album again just to get the goodies.