I haven't blogged for a while now. I've not really had much to say. I'm sure an update will come at some point. In the meantime I just read a blog post by a record producer regarding illegal file sharing and felt compelled to post on this topic. Whilst I don't condone the ultimate subject matter of this post, I felt I needed to explain something that most music industry people might possibly be missing in their quest for ultimate control of their product and it's route to the public.
Whilst I support and sympathise with him and his peers, and understand where he's coming from, until the 'new marketplace' of online vendors such as iTunes and Amazon and the record companies get on the same page in terms of licensing then you're not going to stop piracy. The reason I bring this up is because he seems to place a lot of stock in the likes of Amazon, iTunes and any number of other legitimate MP3 sites, as the model for distributing music electronically. A good idea in principle, however quite different in practice. And as xenophobic as it sounds, something that music fans in different countries may not appreciate the impact of unless they have tried to get hold of something that has been licensed purely for one market.
Personally I would buy all the CD's and MP3's in the world if I was allowed (or if my bank account would stretch to them when I want them. ;)), however with the push towards electronic format sales, as is the case with online MP3 vendors and resultant reduction in CD availability (maybe not so much now but moreso in the future as we move further into an age where ‘electronic is the way’), and the inability or refusal (by licensing agencies, record companies, vendors …. whoever may or may not be involved) to reach some kind of agreement to provide them on a global basis as is possible with CD's, people will continue to share music that other music fans can't necessarily get hold of due to the licensing arrangements (or lack thereof) and therefore increase the chokehold limiting new creativity. And yes. I do realise this post doesn’t take into account the sharing of CD releases or the release of several versions of the same album with minor track listing differences. That is something that also has to be addressed somehow.
Every party with an interest has to get their heads together on this. Of course you will always have the minority that will flout the rules for their own ends, but depriving a percentage (large or small) of your global market or fanbase is not doing anyone any favours. If it came down to a choice between an illegal download and a legitimate copy of a file I, and I’d wager a large majority of the music buying population, would go for the legit copy every time because personally I want to support the artists I love and future artists I may grow to love, however if the parties involved in the supply are going to deny me access to the stuff I want to listen to because of some power trip there aren't many alternative options available which just exacerbates the problem.
I don't purport to know all the ins and outs of the industry, and this may be a simplistic view and may not make a lot of sense, and maybe a lot of people won’t necessarily agree with me on this, or want to try and ‘blind me with science’ and legal practicalities, but sometimes a simple viewpoint is what is needed in order to clarify the issues and, in a perfect world, change the system. These days we live in an environment that encourages and embraces global trade. An MP3 file is not as dangerous as a gun, yet there seem to be more constraints on purchasing electronic media than there are on weapons trade. Something seems very wrong there. I understand the desire to protect what you have created but not only are you limiting existing fans but also potentially denying new ones who will, by its nature go on to invest further in what they love and increasing the ultimate revenue to the affected parties. It becomes win-win.
I'll get off my soapbox now and continue to wait in hopes for my copy of the Sixx:AM '7' EP that I’ve been waiting to acquire legitimately for at least a month and which I can’t get a kosher copy of because it has only been licensed for the US and Canadian iTunes stores at this point in time. ;)
