Jazzis Web Shop 7th Anniversary!

On July 7th, 2007 Jazzis Web Shop celebrates its 7^th Anniversary!

In fact I’m not so sure “celebrates” is the proper word here; “survives” is much closer to reality.

Seven years ago, when I started the on-line activity of my music company (Jazzis Ltd.) the reality was quite different. Over this relatively brief period of time we have all witnessed a complete collapse of the Music Industry, which for good and for bad operated within a set of defined rules and regulations for many decades.

The Internet, perhaps the most significant development in inter-human relationships, brought the Music Industry to its knees. Now we all know the Music Industry was corrupt, greedy and short-sighted, and its demise wouldn’t worry me at all, as I’ve always been among its most stern critics; were it not for the fact that the destruction of the business infrastructure is now destroying the Art of Music as well.

With all its vices, the Music Industry was after all a source of income for millions of people involved in the music creation process: musicians, composers, lyricists, arrangers, etc. The decline of the Music Industry inevitably means that all these people are not able to support themselves and their families by doing what they did for a living – creating music. With the traditional economic model of the music business being destroyed and no viable new model replacing it, the music business ceases to be a business and therefore no money can be made by creating music. In the long term this means that professional musicianship will also cease to exist.

The seemingly wonderful “democratization” of music, preached by the Internet, opened endless possibilities to amateur musicians to publish their “music”. Millions of wannabes place their “creations” on MySpace and YouTube, littering the Net with garbage of unspeakable quality. At the same time true musicians and real Artists find it increasingly difficult to get heard, not to mention making a living. Is this the future of music?

The gravest sin the Internet “culture” committed is the total disregard of Intellectual Property, which music totally depends on. Copyrights and other forms of protecting one’s creation and source of income are brutally trampled on by Internet users, without a moment’s hesitation and in most cases in total ignorance of their existence. The Net, which was supposed to be first and foremost educational, “de-educated” almost all of its users in matters of decency, honesty and observing the law in respect to Intellectual Property.

I know many basically decent and highly educated people: lawyers, doctors, professors and educators, who without the slightest sign of blushing openly gloat about downloading music from the Net without payment. O tempora o mores!

Before suffering the illegal downloads “plague”, the music business suffered for many years from musical piracy (illegal and unauthorized manufacturing of musical media), often openly supported by State Governments (Russia, China, etc.). The Net took care of piracy almost completely – paradoxically making illegal copies is no longer profitable as almost nobody buys physical product any more thanks to the Net.

In view of these gloomy reflections, the fact that a place like the Jazzis Web Shop (and other small independent vendors) still exists at all is a miracle.

Keeping an enterprise like the Jazzis Web Shop alive is a hell of an effort, believe me. Not only is it hard work, but considering the commitment to sell only good music, in complete disregard of popularity and trends, it is also a great challenge. Against all odds – the shrinking music business, the illegal downloads and copying, the shaky economy and the fierce competition – I managed to sustain a steady growth of my enterprise over the years. A modest catalog of a couple hundred titles developed into the current catalog, which offers almost 2,000 titles – each and very one of them deserving of a worthy place in a serious music collection. Of course people have different tastes and preferences, but I’m really proud of collecting together a selection of music, which caters to people who are true music connoisseurs.

I wish to thank you all – friends and customers all over the world - for your business, your support and most of all for your friendship. This is all about People anyway; the music is but a pretext to share human contact and emotions. Your emails, posted messages and telephone calls have been a great source of strength to me and my wife, when we needed it, and God bless you all for those.

As usual around this time I ask all of you to continue your support and keep this “fountain of musical purity” alive. As you all know I’m definitely not in this for the money. I simply love sharing my favorite music with all of you. If you haven’t visited my shop for a while, please come back! The growing selection, as well as the numerous handy new features available on my site might surprise you. Each and every one of my customers is dear to my heart and I hope I can sustain this enterprise in the future – if you continue your generous support.

Thank you for reading this and for your time.