What's the nicest thing FM ever did for the fans?

[Johnny Stew]

Originally posted by David
Can't you look at this equally validly from the public's perspective? If 18 million fans didn't purchase "Rumours," who would've cried & whined the most? The band.

But you didn't finish the rest of your sentence. "Just as we work hard to please our bosses in order to continue earning a living, entertainers work hard to please their fans" ... in order to continue earning a living!

Some other people in this thread said that Fleetwood Mac makes music & CDs for me. That puts a loony, simplistic spin on what is really a very complex interrelationship between the published musician & the consumer. When I buy the new CD by Fleetwood Mac, am I doing it for them? It's a business transaction, a marketplace event. Both sides happen to benefit: Fleetwood Mac makes a good living & enjoys the emotional benefits of adulation & connection; the consumers get to pop a CD in the car CD player or have a great time at a live show. It's Fleetwood Mac's living; it's our recreation, our hobby, even in some cases our emotional healing. It's symbiotic. But it ain't one literally giving something to the other. If John McVie paid this month's bills for me, that's giving me something. If he washed & waxed my kitchen floor, that's giving me something. But he & his bandmates don't give me their music. I buy it.

You make very valid points, David, and I do agree with you.
My posts have a tendency to get a bit verbose though, so sometimes I decide to refrain from veering off into yet another side of the argument, simply for the sake of my fingers, my keyboard, and the poor people reading these.

Yes, this whole situation is an "I'll scratch your back, if you'll scratch mine" kind of thing.
I tend to assume that's inherent, so I didn't bother mentioning it.

Fleetwood Mac does record and tour in the hopes that people will buy what they're selling... they need us.
And no, they don't "give" us anything in the completely philanthropic meaning of the word, but they are supplying what we want to buy, when they (well, at least some of the members of the band) could have just hung it up years ago and lived off their royalties. Which, to me, implies that a large part of what they're doing is for the fans.

As you said, it's symbiotic: If Fleetwood Mac continues to record, then I'll continue to buy... and if I continue to buy, hopefully they'll continue to record.

The main point I was trying to make, is that it's my choice to buy. No one is putting a gun to my head.
I like the music for hundreds of various reasons, and it has always been enough to satisfy me.
I try not to put demands on the things that make me happy, and to just appreciate them for what they are.

I know that's probably a pretty naive way to look at it, but it has held me in good stead this long, so I think I'm going to stick with it.