While I think it’s wonderful in one sense for Beyonce fans that she put out her latest album directly via iTunes, it’s not exactly earth-shattering or a demonstration of independence. Didn’t Prince pave the way here 17 years ago by going around Sony to put an album out directly on the Internet? Not exactly an original idea.

And for those who aren’t Beyonce fans but did get hyped up on her showing of “power,” really? Beyonce was powerless before, a commodity that the music industry bought and sold until 36 hours ago? I call hypocrisy here. Beyonce’s already in a privileged position and caste. She could have walked down Times Square and handed out 100 copies of her album and videos and sold them from her website and would’ve sold out.

That she used a platform within iTunes specifically created for the unknown artist or writer to put out her new material is neither brave nor something that is particularly innovative. In fact, it’s something that actually can have a corrosive effect on the new and unknown folks who do not have the access, privilege or money to put out their own albums and books like Beyonce just did.

I’m not saying that Beyonce should or shouldn’t have used the iTunes publishing platform here. It’s free and easy enough for my 10-year-old son to use. But we shouldn’t praise Beyonce for doing so, especially if it means fledgling artists and writers get crowded out of the marketplace as a result. (via http://huff.to/18rQU6t)