Digital file-sharing is not going to go away. It is a passion for music which sustains such habits, and yet it is also a passion for music which argues that it cannot go on. Falling sales revenues raises fears that fewer and fewer artists will be able to fund themselves and their music if their music is not paid for.
Lord Mandelson is doing his best to make sure that persistent ‘pirates’ will be punished for downloading copyrighted music, much to the delight of the music industry. On Friday 25th September the government met with the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a pressure group representing the UK music industry, and agreed that the proposal of implementing technical measures to impede widespread file-sharing is the best plan of action. Mandelson argued that downloading “poses a genuine threat to our creative industries and to the livelihoods of talented, hard-working people striving to get a foothold in them”.
The FAC, whose board members include Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien, Travis frontman Fran Healy, Kate Nash and Annie Lennox, believes that all downloaded music should be paid for, but is open-minded enough to recognise that distribution of free music helps to create an online presence for new talent.
“The industry recognizes the value of this unpaid-for-promotion and regularly uses free downloads as a marketing tool… By demanding blanket suspension powers from the government, the industry is in danger of cutting-off a promotional tool that is of great use to fledgling artists who seek to create a buzz around themselves yet don’t have the financial support of a major label.” – FAC
Lily Allen wrote on her ill-fated blog in response to the FAC’s belief that free downloads can be a positive thing: “The FAC seems to be viewing the government’s proposed legislation as an attack on freedom and liberty, but stealing’s not really a human right, is it? ”
Lily Allen’s position as an ambassador for the crackdown of illegal file-sharing is now no more, after deleting her blog amidst ‘abuse’ from commentators. Countless comments on her It’s Not All Right blog drew attention to her hypocritical views, because, after all, her success wasn’t just down to contacts from her famous father, oh no… I actually first heard about Lily Allen’s music through blogs that distributed her demos and mixtapes for free, files that she actually put onto the internet herself!
Even more confusing is that as well as deleting her blog, she now also revealed that she has no plans to make another record. For someone who blamed the FAC for not caring about the music industry due to already having “sell-out arena tours and [...] the biggest Ferrari collections in the world”, her seemingly nonchalant attitude to making music reveals a lot more about her place in music at all.
Maybe her real reason for jumping on the piracy-crackdown bandwagon was to get a few more column inches and some attention, rather than out of sheer love for music itself. Commenting that digitally stealing music is having “a dangerous effect” on the British music industry, perhaps her promise to retire will help make room for people who are able to write attention-grabbing songs without having to call it “Fuck You” or slag off fellow celebrities whenever you have a record out.
The FAC has always stated that they disagree with the government’s plans to victimise individual music fans, Friday’s meeting shows that we are one step closer to making people accountable for illegally downloading music. The new three-strikes rule involves sending letters to those who are persistently breaking the law, culminating in a period of internet suspension. The FAC has at the moment “agreed to disagree” with this idea of suspending internet access to individuals, but overall is happy with the government’s plans.
Software such as Spotify helps bridge the gap between making music easily accessible for listeners, at the same time as helping generate revenue for the musicians and record companies. But, I believe in freedom of choice, so you can either click here to download it or have a look at Hype Machine and sample some of Lily Allen’s music for free if you should so wish. Or, of course, you can go into a SHOP and buy the CD… how quaint!
Fundamentally, regardless of what side you are on, there’s no denying that the digital era will make it increasingly more difficult for the middle-men (i.e. record companies) to make a profit now that music fans and the musicians can create a relationship without their help.
For the last word, here is a segment from the FAC Myspace:
“The digital revolution is a fantastic opportunity for music. It has changed everything, liberating the relationship between artists and fans. As this revolution gathers pace, we, Featured Artists, must seize the initiative and put ourselves at the heart of our industry.
