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Frank Zappa Explains the Decline of the Music Industry (youtube.com)
23 points by spicyxtreme 5229 days ago
2 comments

The guy was revolutionary on many fronts. He proposed digital music distribution via subscription services decades ago:

http://www.zappa.com/whatsnew/news/FZ-Proposal/index.html

In the last paragraph, that sentence isn't in the book I have: "We require a LARGE quantity of money and the services of a team of mega-hackers to write the software for this system"
I like watching Zappa talk and all, but really, cigar-chomping record execs & their musical taste, and a 2 minute rant about the PMRC? Neither of these things matter at all anymore, to anyone.

I flagged this.

I tend to agree. I love Zappa and the Mothers, but it seems as though anything and everything decrying the state of the music industry is fair game on HN now. I mean, is it really news to anyone that these companies are more interested in profits than they are in furthering an art form?
Sure, and past that: this had to have been recorded in the 80's, right? Back when there were cigar-chomping execs with their feet on the desks, and when the PMRC was a force to be reckoned with (or at least to write Dead Kennedys songs about).