Numerous rappers have said it before, but "cash rules everything around me." It is no secret that money makes the world go 'round, unfortunately. And, unfortunately that means music too. The music industry is a slave to currency just as much as any other corporation. What happened? Where did the freedom to spread the music and spread the love go? What ever happened to pure, unadulterated freedom of expression? Money happened, that's what.

This sad truth comes out especially over the fight for music rights. Now, I am all for people to have a lock on their intellectual and creative property, but sometimes there is a very fine line between copyright violations and honoring a person through their music. If I were to write a song that achieved commercial success, and then someone was to come to me and say, "I would like to cover your song on my album," I would be honored. I would be honored because I have no money and have never achieved commercial music success, so the mere fact that someone else even likes my music enough to reproduce it is beyond me. However, for people who have achieved commercial success, they could probably care less and would scoff at the idea of someone making money on their talent.

A movie about the life of Jimi Hendrix has been in the works for years now. Even Andre 3000 of Outkast has been cast to play Jimi. Spin.com has an article explaining the excitement of the upcoming film, but the snags they have hit along the way. Mainly that they may be shooting a movie about Jimi Hendrix with no Jimi Hendrix music. How could this be? Well, the Hendrix family, mainly Jimi's father and sister, own the exclusive rights to all Jimi Hendrix music under the title "Hendrix Experience LLC." Yes, they have made Jimi Hendrix a corporate enterprise. Shame, shame.

As of right now, the Hendrix family has not made any official statements as to whether they will license some tracks to the movie production, but they seem to be a stonewall. I read this article, and bring you this story, not to critique it, but to complain about how annoying I find this process. A person wants to make a movie honoring the life of Jimi Hendrix, bringing to light his musical genius for a generation of music lovers that never got to experience him. Still, the Hendrix film won't allow it. That's like telling a city they can't erect a statue of you in the town square, because the statue will never match up to the beauty of the real you. Why not let these great filmmakers use a few Jimi Hendrix songs to highlight his genius? Well, the Hendrix family will tell you it is complicated, and it is what Jimi would have wanted. What they won't tell you is that they don't want someone else making money off of their enterprise.

Good People, let's let music be free. Let creativity reign. Most of all, let us know the difference between stealing, and honoring.

Read the Article Here: http://www.spin.com/articles/andre-3000-may-be-starring-hendrix-biopic-no-jimi-tunes