Musicians Rock the Net

Some artists get their facts straight:

Musicians, including well-known bands and smaller independent artists, have joined together in supporting Net Neutrality . On the actual website, Rock the Net, you can quickly get a list of the supporting artists and a list of upcoming concerts.

— SimpleTEXT creates a visual symphony, Ben Woods, WHAS11.com, 03:54 PM EDT on Monday, April 16, 2007

Or several different lists, but still, it's quite a few bands (362 bands so far, and 105 labels), some of them quite well known; others obscure (as yet).

See also their description of Why Net Neutrality is Important for Musicians:

The last decade has seen an independent music revolution powered by the Internet. An obscure band like OK Go rockets to national attention on the strength of a clever YouTube video. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sells thousands of records based on blog buzz, and Sufjan Stevens sells out concert halls solely on the basis of Internet play. Fans have never had such a dizzying array of music choices before, and artists have never had an easier time reaching receptive audiences. And that's just music - the net has opened the door for a wide range of media from political bloggers to amateur filmmakers. A big reason these changes have occurred is because the Internet treats all users the same. Whether they are major players like iTunes or an independent record label like Dischord, everyone has equal access to the Internet. If the web has worked so well, why change it?

Some cable Internet service providers such as Verizon and AT&T have proposed charging Internet content providers for having their web sites load faster. It's essentially a toll for using the Internet "highway" these ISPs have built. The proposal would create a "tiered" web. Companies that are able to afford the fees would have better service. Those that can't pay would be relegated to slower service. In the worst-case scenario, ISPs might even block certain web sites.

Rock the Net continues with specific suggestions for how to preserve net neutrality.

It's interesting that musicians seem to get the Internet much better than record companies. And sometimes a musician gets the implications for both music and society. One of those implications is that the Internet facilitates like minds banding together for political action, which is what Rock the Net is doing.

-jsq