We had an interesting class discussion on Tuesday about whether folk melodies retooled by other artists should be considered copyright infringement, because really, who owns those songs? When asked in class whether or not people should be allowed to do that, my answer was, as long as it's not crap, and to that I hold. If someone who considers themself an artist (for this is the work of an artist, not a musician) decides to do a techno remix of "Amazing Grace", which I'm sure exists somewhere, though I personally don't care to listen to it, then surely they should do it. However the muse moves you, you go ahead and act upon it. However, if it's crap, don't allow me to hear it. Keep it to yourself. In my personal music library, I have two very different versions of "Amazing Grace", one by Ani DiFranco, and one by Tori Amos. Both of these are very different - Ani brings in a whole brass section at the second verse and keeps the other instruments to a minimum. Every artist has their own interpretation of a song, and they should be allowed to release that... if it actually qualifies as music. For instance, Britney Spears's little cover of "I Love Rock & Roll"? Hardly music. It sounds more like a little kid with a cold playing dressup and pretending to be a badass. To me, that is not music.
Will people be offended if we take their culture's melodies and make them into our own songs? Possibly. That is not something that I haven't considered. I also realize, however, that you can't please everyone. If your version of their song gets back to them, and they think it's sacriligious/total crap, then to honor them, take it off the market. It wasn't "your song" to begin with.
In reading the other entries, I stumbled across Brooke's entry in which she stated something along the lines of, "If you are in music for the money, find something else that you love." I am also a music major, and I am most definitely in music for the money. Granted, I know it's not much, but if I can make a couple of cents by writing a few lines, of course I'm going to. It will be a labor of love, the fruit of which the entire world could possibly hear. I want people to hear the music that I create, and I want to make money from the music that I create because that is time I could have spent doing something else, like, you know, working a "real" job. But I chose music, because I love it, and I want to ensure the future of the sound of music is to my liking, and what better way to do that then to be a part of it?