Forget making music, playing records, singing, learning an instrument or anything else of any value in the world. Become a lawyer, you get paid better and there are two chicks for every boy.

Case in point: ASCAP has argued that every time your cellphone rings and plays a piece of music as a ringtone, it counts as a "public performance" and they want to collect performance rights. To be clear, the music is already licensed - Verizon or your telecom provider of choice is not bootlegging tunes. But the license isn't enough, they say: every time your momma calls you, another fraction of a penny should be transmitted to the artist. The 5 second ringtone on your cellphone, in their view, is the same as playing a complete song on the radio, with ads sold against it.

Incredibly, Verizon appears to have caved on this dubious argument, buying an "interim license" which is probably a precursor to negotiating a long-term licensing agreement.

This isn't something that will benefit the average songwriter or singer or band, so please don't throw that one down. It means another solid gold shark tank for Kanye. And your ringtone will get a little more expensive. This is what the industry is reduced to: snagging theoretical fractions of a penny for really one of the few positive growth areas for recorded music as a whole in the last 10 years.