Avoid the Kanye West - 50 Cent Controversy

First some background. It was decided (I don't' know by whom) that Kanye West's new album would be released on September 11, the same day that 50 Cent will be releasing his new album. Once Fitty got wind of this, he began to go into attack mode. First urging Kanye to change the date, then stepping up the rhetoric and now he has even gone so far as to threaten to quit making records (solo records) if Kanye West outsells him on the ill-fated day. Wow. Now I don't know if 50 is acting out of arrogance, insecurity or if he actually feels threatened by Kanye. He's obviously not really used to being in any role other than that of complete dominance. Anything else clearly makes him uncomfortable. Some presale projections from iTunes show he may actually have something to worry about. Of course you can always argue that 50 is just engaging in an elaborate PR campaign designed to sell even more records, but who knows.

I was thinking that the whole affair is actually rather silly. It's unfortunate that music industry is still set up to be an elaborate competition for sales and profit. It supposed to be about creating great art. It would appear that some record company executives still want to be able to own 4 or 5 homes in exotic locations. But I digress.

What if we decided as consumers to avoid this whole charade? Let's not reward this behavior by buying either one of these albums on Sept 11. We could make it a point to buy other types of music instead that day. Lesser known independent artists. We could let the record companies and artists like 50 cent know that our money is not some prize in a foot fight that you have with other artists.

Try something new that day. Buy music from an independent artist you have never heard of. Check out sites like amiestreet.com or musicfreedom.com. Go to CdBaby and browse a category you are curious about. Oh, and in case your wondering, yes I have music out there for sale too (see below). You may find yourself liberated and empowered. You no longer have to accept the choices given to you by the crumbling "music industry". You can take back your power to drive what you want to hear instead of letting some program director decide for you.

You are in control, you can decide. It's really up to you.