This is hilarious! Dear Rockers is a website which encourages you to send some love, in the form of hard currency to music artists who you like but might not have obtained all of their music legally. The site contains copies of some great letters sent to the likes of Axl Rose, Maroon 5, Sufjan Stevens and Billy Joel to name just a few. At first is seems like a pisstake but it’s apparently not. It’s a novel little idea which at the least highlights some of the holes in the recordings industry’s case on the war on piracy. Compare for example iTunes to Napster’s services on price alone. Should digital cost the same per track on average as a CD? There are no production costs. This article on Ars Technica shed more light on this debate especially in the comments that follow.

Anyway, back to Dear Rockers. Here’s what it is all about…

Many of us own music that we didn’t pay for. We don’t feel guilty about shafting the record company, but what about the musicians themselves?

Here’s how it works:

1. Pick a musician
2. Write them a letter
3. Scan or photograph the letter and send it to us
4. Mail off the letter along with $5
5. Enjoy your new, guilt-free life

And an example of which is…

Dear Jack,
I have a confession to make. A friend burned me a copy of Brushfire Fairytales. I loved it, but also downloaded your other albums. Sorry. Here’s $10 (for the last 3 and for the next).

I love your music but I don’t buy from the RIAA. I especially like “Mudfootball”, “Times Like These”, and “No Other Way”. Keep it up and tour Japan so I can give you some more money. Luke.

There is also a RAQ (Rarely Asked Questions) to explain more about what this whole thing is about. (Well, not all of it, because international music copyright law and the price of digital music vs physical recorded music on a disc is a big can of worms thanks in part to the like of the RIAA and their counterparts worldwide … more about that from Recording Industry vs The People and the EFF)