So I've been thinking about how some bands are totally against music trading and napster-type song sharing.  I found a great way for bands encourage fans to buy instead of steal.

I recently bought The Alarm boxed set.  The Alarm <http://www.thealarm.com> has been a favorite band of mine for a long time.  The set comes with a bonus CD that includes a dedication and song that's chosen by the person buying the set.   Hell, the idea that a song is being sung and dedicated to me is worth me shelling out money for the music.  It's recorded during sound checks, so it almost helps them kill 2 birds with one stone.  They get their sound checks done and help themselves make a bit of extra money in the process.  I guess if you are at the show when you buy the boxed set, they'll do a live dedication rather than the one at sound check which sounds REALLY cool to me.

If anyone's interested in hearing the dedication and a clip of the song, it's on:

<http://www.geocities.com/dramacci/dedication.htm>

DebbiR
--who realizes that "steal" is a loaded word but let's face it, that's what it is.