Streaming music
My brother and I have a band called 19 Miles Per Hour and recently released our first album, “Crashed,” on all streaming platforms. It was exciting to see our original songs go public, and we thought we might earn some money from it too. Sadly, with today’s music industry focused on music streaming, the outlook for making money as a self-made band is not good.
We all want the most cost-effective way to listen to what we love, but do we ever try to see things from the artist’s perspective? If we pay little or even nothing for our music, how do the artists get their revenue? We made 73 cents after the first few months of our music being streamed. Divide that between our four band members, and we’re almost at 20 cents each! Not bad … now, after over 1,600 streams and a few purchased downloads, the total we have made is just over $13. But before all of that to even release our album, our expenses totaled about $100. We have a distributor who gets about 9 percent of our sales, dropping our income to a little under $12. So, let’s see, $12 minus $100 equals … negative $88 in profit! How are musicians like us supposed to keep producing if we can’t even break even? If the industry doesn’t change, the artists will, and we will lose the easy access we have to so much great music.
I’m guessing this issue is something you probably haven’t thought about before, and you’re wondering, “What am I supposed to do about this anyway?” The best thing you can do is purchase songs for download. But if you want to subscribe, do it legitimately.
It all comes back to music. My passion is music, and I’m sure most of us would be lost without our tunes. But if artists don’t get paid, they don’t survive and put out any more music. If they cease to put out music, you don’t get to look forward to another album from Taylor Swift. Then we’ll all have “Bad Blood” and a “Blank Space” still on our playlists.
— Danny Iaucoppi
Belmont, New Hampshire
Equine therapy
Many people across the world deal with mental disorders. These disorders can be caused by a variety of different sources. Some are genetic disorders, like autism or schizophrenia, while others could be due to abuse.
Equine therapy has helped patients overcome all types of mental disorders; therefore, it should become a more utilized method of therapy. Horses, in spite of being such large animals, are effective in treating nearly all forms of mental disorders. Surprisingly, horses can be very gentle when interacting with patients. This form of therapy involves more than just riding a horse; it is learning to build a relationship that will have meaning and trust between the rider and the horse. Trust is an imperative part of dealing with depression and other forms of mental illnesses, due to the emotional bond created between horse and patient.
For patients experiencing mental disorders it is vital that they find someone or something that they can love and feel that same appreciation in return. Self-worth comes from having responsibilities and receiving appreciation for fulfilling them. This is a major factor in the effectiveness of equine therapy. While working with horses, the patient learns how to connect and redevelops the skills they have been lacking in personal communication issues. As the patients earn and gain the horses’ trust, they learn more about themsleves and grow in appreciation for how they can learn and heal from the problems mental disorders have caused in their lives.
— Sidney Jones
West Plains, Missouri
Technology troubles
Can you imagine a world without the internet? Or one in which you have to go searching for a textbook at an actual location? Life without technology would be rough — technology has just done so much for our society. But, how often do we take into consideration the negative side effects of technology, specifically the effects it has on our youth?
Let’s discuss cell phones.
They’re everywhere, and everyone has one, or two, or more. With these phones, we send millions of texts a day to our friends all over the world. But texting isn’t always a good thing.
The increase in texting and social media has led the younger generation to misuse, and even forget, the basic skills of language, including punctuation, spelling and grammar. Without these vital skills, how will they possibly survive in a world where they will be judged against their peers, many of whom will utilize proper language skills. This improper usage even appears in schoolwork. Students have been found to frequently add in abbreviations and misspellings into their essays, such as “lol.”
I believe, if we removed this Textese from society, future generations will be much more effective as adults, and will never send their boss a text that reads, “can u plz c me??!” The effects of the removal of “textese” would benefit the world for generations to come.
— TJ Andrewsen
Monterey, California
