Too often those most talented among us are taken away too soon.

    Thankfully, we can always celebrate their lives and pay our dues that way. We can keep the memory alive through the art they leave behind. With modern musicians, this celebrating has increasingly involved monetising the art left behind, sometimes past the point of what is acceptable. As fans and consumers, where should we draw the line?

I'll confess I often feel uncomfortable when listening to posthumous releases; to a certain extent, it feels like I'm invading the deceased artist's privacy for personal gain. They didn't choose to release what I'm listening to, probably for a reason, but I'm disregarding their choices in life for the sake of coming to some intangible and fundamentally selfish 'greater understanding' of their work. What do you think? Are posthumous releases justified? Do they invade artists' privacy, or allow us to further celebrate the deceased?


posted 3254 days ago