Where is my friend?

In keeping with the classic punk theme of the week ...

Mick Jones and Tony James have a band that I just heard about. On the band's website blog Tony James answers a question that has come up for them a lot since the release of their first record. They've been posting mp3s for free download on their site for 4 years, so why release a record? The funny thing is his answer jives with my experience of discovering the band. They only hit my radar after the CD was released and they did interviews and TV to promote it. So the CD is still the motivation for people who control media to write about a band and for record companies to promote a band. They aren't really promoting the band, just the record. I had never thought about that fact before - that the band and the record are different things in the eyes of the sales people.