A meeting that was called for British musicians to discuss UK government proposals on how to tackle illegal file sharing has come to a consensus that file-sharers should have their bandwidth “squeezed” for persistent copyright infringement. The congregation of more than 100 artists came to the agreement that file sharers should not have their Internet accounts suspended.
Artists including Lily Allen, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason signed a statement. It calls for two warning letters to be issued to users when they are caught sharing music illegally before their bandwidth speeds are restricted for certain purposes.
The idea would be to “render sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic e-mail and web access functional.” Lily Allen, who was the target of quite a large amount of criticism for running her mouth on the issue while technically breaching copyright law on the exact same website, was applauded by the audience for her campaign to “alert music lovers to the threat that illegal downloading presents to our industry.”
Jim Killock, executive director of digital rights activists the Open Rights Group, said that the artists had addressed the symptom, but not the cure, adding that the only answer was to “license products to compete with file-sharing.” However, he said major labels are being too cautious to approve some new services.
Result for: radiohead
The popular bands Blur and Radiohead have teamed up to fight the British government’s plan to begin “three strikes” laws against Internet pirates, one that has pirates kicked off the Internet for downloading unauthorized music three times.
The FAC (Featured Artists Coalition), will represent the “best interests” of the recording artists, and believes that file sharing in fact is better for the artist, as it encourages concert ticket sales and merchandising. The FAC does conceit that file sharing hurts record sales however.
The Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien adds: “My generation grew up with the point of view that you pay for your music. Every generation has a different method.
“File sharing is like a sampler, like taping your mate’s music. You go, ‘I like that, I’ll go and buy the album’. Or, ‘you know what, I’ll go and see them live’. What’s going on is a huge paradigm shift.”
Blur drummer Dave Rowntree also added: “The fact that file sharing goes on, and is as popular as it is, is an incredibly positive thing for the music industry. The fact is that music is so popular that people are willing to break the law to get it.”
All the bands in the group add that file sharing is bringing their music to new generations of fans, those that did not grow up with a radio, and instead grew up with the Internet.
Says Nick Mason, drummer with Pink Floyd: “The last thing we want to be doing is going to war with our fan base. File sharing means a new generation of fans for us.”
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Result for: radiohead
Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke has confirmed in an interview that they will no longer be offering any of its albums on a “pay-as-you-please” purchase model, and that “In Rainbows” was a one time deal.
A few months ago the band made headlines when it decided to release “In Rainbows” as a digital download, and for free on its website. Fans were asked to pay as much as they wanted for the album. Many took the full CD for free but the band still made millions, without having to pay any in distribution fees or record label fees.
Yorke says however that the move was “a one-off response to a particular situation”, and won’t happen again.
Yorke also added: “I don’t think it would have the same significance now if we chose to give something away again. It was a moment in time”, he said.
