Comment Re:Pay up or shut it off, is it really so simple? (Score 5, Insightful) 191
On the one hand, yes, people must be paid for their work.
But on the other hand, the people who actually -did- the work in this case are not the ones setting the price, and they are not the ones getting the money. Music creators don't see a nickle of licensing, most of the time.
If an Applebees in Podunk Nebraska plays a Hendrix song, does his estate or his heirs get the money? Or is it some conglomerate that acquired the rights in a hostile takeover 20 years ago? Yep, the conglomerate.
And a quick reminder, the owner of the Podunk Applebees is not the one who ultimately pays for that license fee. YOU are. Because costs are passed on to the customer.
Thus we have a situation where people are being gouged for license fees and the musicians are still getting nothing.
Things are never as easy as one might hope.