Michael D. Crawford wrote: .... Michael, Thank you for your article. If I can ever get myself to concentrate long enough to get my own site online I will be linking to yours. I've long felt that music should be something that everyone has the right to _do_ themselves. The experience of making sounds happen seems to me to be something everyone needs. So many people do not get this experience. My knowledge of history may be a bit spotty, but in general my understanding is that before the rise of the Music Business a far greater percentage of the population actually participated in music making fairly regularly rather than merely consuming entertaiment. Now it seems to me that most people in the general population are afraid, or can't even conceive, of making music themselves. The feeling I get is that the average person (amongst the general population -- not the average reader of this list :) ) is trained to think that if they can't sell millions of albums they might as well not bother. This is a horrible shame. My personal hope is that the internet and free software can help to give back to the individual the freedom to create and to enjoy the act of creating. The world will be a better place for it. Thank you again. You have stirred me up a bit, definitely for the better :) -Eric Rz.