This has certainly been an interesting discussion. It is a shame that the words from the record companies are so stultifying. Their arguments are specious. Requiring songs to be removed from a website or allowing 30-second snippets might increase their revenue by a few pennies, but it will make it difficult to relate the songs to the wonderful narratives the Neal has written about the songs and the times in which they were recorded.
If record companies are interested in revenue and in expanding the market for their (and all Cajun) recordings, they should encourage websites like Neal's. Maybe they don't know how difficult it is to find Cajun recordings or how few people know about the music.
If they want to increase revenue, record companies could figure out how to make their recordings available and how to market them. A single internet site that has available Cajun recordings by all labels and artists would be a good start. Then a regular newslettter describing the recordings should be regularly distributed. Customers would of course have to be treated fairly. The biggest problem today is that it is quite difficult to learn about and then find specific Cajun recordings.
Just as an example, how many people know where to find two terrific Cajun recordings, one by Leo Abshire and Allen Touchet and one by Jason Frey and Al Berard? The first is untitled (I actually heard about it on this Board.), and the second is titled "Old Style Cajun Music."
How could anyone buy those (and hundreds of others) if they do not even know about them, much less where they can purchase them? Using the internet to increase the market for Cajun music would increase money for the artists and for the record companies. If done correctly, it would also be a pleasant benefit for customers.
That is where record companies should focus their efforts. Trying to reduce the ability of people to listen to the music by requiring them to pay for downloading songs will actually discourage them. The bigger opportunity is to increase the base of people who know about Cajun music. If they know, they will buy.
Musicians, producers, distributors, and sellers need to make money to survive. Customers need to be treated fairly. Limiting access to the music is counterproductive to that goal.
I took a look at Emusic's list and saw some Swallow, Jin and MdS labelled CDs there as well as others. One label that was missing though was ACE. They have great compilations. Two that I own are Floyd's Early Records and Cajun Classics. They contain the best of the Swallow label. So if Swallow wants to renew copyrights on their music, they have to battle with ACE I guess.