Pirating Music

I was recently online looking through dance related articles when I came upon this article by Horatio Cifuentes: http://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/02/02/horacio-khaled-pirating-music/

And it reminded me of an issue that tweaks my cymbals just a touch: pirating dance music. When I lived in Calgary, I went into Son of the Pharaoh one day to buy some new CDs so I could begin to build my own music collection. I understood that buying music was a part of investing in becoming a dancer. When I went to pay for my discs I received a stern talking to from Emad telling me that I better not make copies of the CDs for all my friends. I assured him I wouldn't but was puzzled by his comments about teachers giving out copies to their students.

I didn't understand what he was talking about. But sure enough, within the next couple of years I met a multude of dancers who purchased CDs and then made free copies for their friends. I am not talking about one song for a choreography class. I am talking about a full disc of music to pass along and share.

I understand that file sharing is the wave of the future. But to put things into perspective, a lot of the musicians on the discs that we enjoy so much live in small apartments and struggle to keep food in their stomachs and a roof over their heads. Imagine if you were struggling to make a living and you found out that someone was giving away your hard work for free?

With the advent of iTunes, you can sometimes purchase Belly dance music at a reasonable price ($9.99-$14.99). Otherwise, most dance CDs will cost you $18-$25 (sometimes even $30). I recognize that with the advent of the internet and file sharing we are not accustomed to spending this amount of money on music. However, independantly produced albums do not belong to multi-million dollar record labels that rake in millions of dollars in profits a year. As Horatio outlines in his article, they are produced through blood, sweat, and tears by independant artists who are struggling to support their art.

It is sometimes difficult to find good music without knowledge of various artists names. Some recommendations that I have that are available on iTunes: Hakim, Nagwa Karam, Tarkan, Tanyeli, Amr Diab, Niyaz, 10 Songs Every Belly Dancer Should Know, Shik Shak Shok, Layali Al Sharq.