When entertainment stops being fun

I always thought that the entertainment industry was supposed to be based on making things fun. We pay lots of money to one of the most profitable industries in the planet so that they can entertain us, make us laugh, cry and sometimes even make us think. But where has all the fun gone? Fears over copyright infringement are taking fun away. Yes, I understand that these companies have to think about profits, and that they should worry about giving returns to their shareholders and investors. But why get rid of the fun?

MMORPGs are now banning users from playing anything but “canned” music in their worlds because this may be considered copyright infringement, and it could prompt a suit. I completely understand why games companies are worried about suits, but one must say that we have come to a sad turn of events when the music industry has managed to scare everybody into submission, erasing the fun that we gain from music. Music is personal, but it is also a shared experience, a social event where people are supposed to come together and enjoy the choice of song or lyrics, to provide comments about an artist, to fill silences. The moment has come where we are so afraid about copyright infringement that we have to go around tiptoeing, afraid of enjoying music. The fun has gone.

Will singing in the shower be next? I have a lifetime of doing just that. I wonder how much money I owe to Morrissey…