There is a new bitch-fest going on over Spotify, the Swedish streaming audio service. It was essentially started by Metalsucks writer/co-founder Ben "Vince Neilstein" Umanov. Apparently he's got his panties in a bind because both Century Media and Metal Blade have pulled their catalogs from Spotify.

According to what I've read (and bear in mind I haven't done a particularly thorough research job on this because it makes me angry to even think about this), Spotify are not paying the artists diddly squat for the right to put their music on the site. Essentially, they are robbing Peter in order to allow Paul to have his cake and eat it, too. Because this issue makes me teeth-grindingly pissed off I responded to the post linkd above (it's the blog of Borknagar guitarist Jens Ryland) with the following diatribe:

Two points that seem to be missed in all this:

1) Society has become full of the belief in their own entitlement.

2) If it’s all so great and you’d “pay more” for the service, then why the hell don’t you just buy the album? Because you’re a lazy git.

First point, it sickens me to read all this BS about how the music has got to be more accessible and cheaper. What’s being ignored is the fact that this is a business, not charity. Jens, you are not simply an artist, you are a business man — this is your work, and you should be getting paid for it regardless of the mode of delivery. Period. End of story.

The reason that services like Spotify even exist is because people have become so caught up in the belief in their own entitlement that they actually believe that they have THE RIGHT to have the music. What they are blind to, is the fact that it’s a privilege, not a right. And with a privilege there is a responsibility. In this case, that responsibility is to pay the people who give it to you (meaning the musicians who create it).

Unfortunately, it’s no longer just music that is getting shafted by this entitlement mentality, now it’s books and movies and loads of other things.

Entitlement issues are at the heart of most problems; someone has an all-consuming belief in their right to something, so they do all in their power to make sure they get it — as cheaply as possible, because (heaven forbid!) they should have to actually shell out money. But there is no such thing as a free lunch; someone, somewhere, at some time, is going to have to pay. Even in a barter society you are trading something for something.

Second point, I keep reading all these people say they have the premium service and they would gladly pay more for it…well, if you’re willing to pay more for it then why are you bitching about the price of a CD or an LP?! Why not do as you say and actually support the bands by buying the CD/LP? The argument then is that “it’s so much more convenient.” Convenience. Yeah, it’s convenient because you’re too damn lazy to get the other formats. They like to say garbage like, “well I can have 5,000 songs at my fingertips!” Sorry, do you actually listen to all 5,000 songs at the same time? No? I thought not. It’s not actually going to kill you to take a CD in the car with you…just thought I’d point that out.

I am so sick of this entitlement attitude. They all claim they are supporting the musicians, but then they turn around and rip you off.