“I’m just a journalist who loves bands and wants them to keep being bands.”
– David Greenwald

David Greenwald, L.A. critic, journalist and founder of Rawkblog.net, launched a movement calling for fans and bands to work together so everyone gets something. He posted “The Reasonable Person’s Guide to Supporting Music/The Reasonable Band’s Guide to Selling It” on his site Rawktumblr yesterday.

As a preamble to the guide, he writes, “In the wake of Emily White-gate, everyone has an opinion about money and music. Let’s turn those into an actual set of ethical, practical guidelines that reasonable music fans can turn to, rub their 8” beards and say, ‘Why yes, I do really love this band and I would like them to be able to make more music! I guess I should give them some money.’  I’m just a journalist who loves bands and wants them to keep being bands: please take everything with a grain of salt.”

Greenwald calls his guide a “living document” that we can alter as technology changes or on a personal basis, but the goal is for fans to support bands they love and bands to give fans what they want. For instance, he suggests we buy our “favorite two albums per month, in a way that most directly benefits the artist or their label,” and for bands to price albums fairly and give extras such as “live shows, b-sides, demos, acoustic versions, radio performances.” For his entire list of suggestions, see the guide here. He also asks for readers to send any suggestions.

Like Greenwald, I’m a journalist who loves bands and wants them to keep being bands, and I consider myself a reasonable person. Therefore, I am joining the movement, with a few personal amendments.