Tab Wars

not only are they liars:

Mr. Keiser, of the Music Publishers’ Association, estimated that, including overhead costs, tablature could cost about $800 per song to produce, license and format for downloading.

but they are greedy assholes as well:

In the last few months, trade groups representing music publishers have used the threat of copyright lawsuits to shut down guitar tablature sites, where users exchange tips on how to play songs like “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” “Highway to Hell” and thousands of others.

i don't hear any of the songwriters complaining. the article cites mike happoldt of sublime, who says he doesn't care about tab sites and that publishers are just greedy bastards (okay, so i added the bastard part). how many people buy sheet music to begin with? just charge a nominal access fee and post the correct tabs to the songs. we'll appreciate it because we won't have to sift through the absolute crap out there right now, and you can reach your precious profit margins. and finally, $800 to format and post a song tab online? please. that is the biggest line of crap i've ever heard.

read the whole story here.