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The debut EP of the avantgarde music band The Garden Throne. The music can be categorized as a fusion of alternative rock and progressive metal with traditional Iranian music. For more info, please visit www.thegardenthrone.com The Garden Throne's criticism of music industry: art is not a commodity ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Garden Throne is very distressed by the current structure of the music production and distribution. The highly capitalized and greedy record companies are unwilling to acknowledge the popular demand for free availability of music, and are struggling hard to stop this inevitable (though very natural and favorable) trend by means of filing lawsuits againsts nonconforming individuals and asking for outrageous sums of money. Indeed, they find their standing in the current structure of music production and distribution in danger and are fighting with their full force against the approaching dissolution of their business. The traditional means of production and distribution of music demands a revolutionary restructuring: art is not a commodity. It makes no sense to charge individuals who are interested to experience an artwork any amount of money, before giving them the opportunity to fully experience and judge it by their subjective aesthetics. The existence of record companies, as mediators between artists and consumers, is a true antithesis of individualism, is vulturelike, and subjects the non-mainstream artists to a very low opportunity of recognition. It opposes individualism, because we believe that the surplus value of an artwork is to be decided by the consumer, not the multi-millionaires who are obsessed with their greedy instinctual desires. We are already witnessing its catastrophic effects in the mainstream music: it is being rapidly transformed from what it originally meant to be, a genuine form of artful expression, to an abominable amalgam of pornography and propaganda. By buying a pressed CD from a record company, one is subject to pay a massive surplus predetermined by the company. This business is vulturelike because almost all of that surplus value goes straightly into the pockets of the headquarters of the record company. We believe that the music must be made freely available to the interested individuals through a low cost channel. Thanks to the availability of low-cost internet access to most of us, free distribution of music and its accompanying visual artwork is truly possible nowadays. Moreover, we believe that the only meaningful way to acknowledge the work of artist is through direct and voluntary commision by the consumers. This is a decision to be made by the community of artists, and we warmly shake the hands of those who have already taken steps towards this end. As you most probably agree, there are very few full-length (60 mins long) albums in the world with all songs worth listening to over and over again. Indeed, the idea of full-length production has its origins in the consumeristic metaphor more is better, which could not make any less sense when it comes to art. Thus, we do not see any necessity for sharing our work in bundles of 60 minutes. In conclusion, we feel committed to release our music free of any charge and any commitment for the consumer's end, as a small step towards a more rational and less greedy society. If you like our music, we encourage you to share it with your friends, specially through peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, as long as the copies are reproduced unaltered and in its entirety (including the accompanying cover art).

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