I knew there was (yet another) reason to love Damian Kulash, lead singer of the band OK Go. Apart from their killer new album, Oh No, amazing video for the song A Million Ways and their blog and podcast (blogged here, and here) – he’s quite the articulate and thoughtful guy.

His deconstruction of the use of DRM on audio CDs is one of the most lucid, important pieces on the topic I’ve read. Another blogger mentioned that the world, and record companies in particular, needs more artists and those with higher profiles to start making these same noises publically.

But I think Damian best addresses this in his article:

Our name came up in high-level meetings; we are the type of band, they decided, that is most damaged by piracy. Because we are a little left of center and we appeal to smart college kids with high-bandwidth connections, it’s assumed that we are exactly they kind of band that gets traded instead of bought. This may be true, but we are also the sort of band that hasn’t, as yet, been profitable enough for our label that they’ll pour tons of cash into the promotion of our releases. They aren’t going to shell out the big bucks to get us on MTV and KROQ, so those smart college kids are our only window onto the world. They are our best chance of continued success, and we desperately need them to be listening to us, talking about us, coming to our shows, and yes, even trading us.

The article is causing quite the stir, as addressed in this follow-up post.

And I wouldn’t be doing my duty if I didn’t tell you to buy OK Go’s Oh No, either through iTunes or your favorite music retailer. It’s good listenin’!