Broadband News
News, views and analysis
Is Allen key to file-sharing debate?
28 Sep 2009 | 08.00 Europe/London
Various musicians campaigned against peer-to-peer file-sharing in the States - but one band in particular gained an international notoriety that refuses to go away. While Napster has long been rebooted as a legal music downloading website, musicians in the UK are now queuing up to become Britain's answer to Metallica - and one artist in particular is at the front of the line.
Almost a hundred musicians met in London toward the end of last week for what ended up being a three-hour debate on What Is To Be Done. Amongst them were the likes of Annie Lennox, George Michael, Radiohead's guitarist Ed O'Brien and a certain Lily Allen. The "overwhelming" consensus was the Government's suggestion of implementing the dreaded "three-strikes" rule - that's not been very popular with European legislators to date - went too far. Instead, they backed two letters being sent to warn file-sharers to cease and desist; after that the offending broadband connection would be "squeezed" rather than cut. A statement issued on behalf of the musicians gathered said that would "render sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic e-mail and web access functional."
The statement also explicitly backed Lily Allen's campaign to "alert music lovers to the threat that illegal downloading presents to our industry." If there's anyone artist who's the front-runner to become the UK's Metallica - and be pilloried thereafter by the illegal downloading masses - it's Ms. Allen; at the gathering she was instead cheered. As apart of her campaign, she had been running a blog but moved to take it down after the criticism she was receiving got too much. Subsequently, she made it known she wouldn't be attending the meeting.
Instead - in a week where Allen was rumoured to be planning on quitting the music industry - she was at the forefront of those clamouring for a crackdown on illegal file-sharing, positioning herself against the Featured Artists' Coalition (FAC), which has also made its stance on illegal downloading explicit (coverage here). Mr. O'Brien of Radiohead fame - a vocal FAC representative - told BBC News that she was "extremely brave" for showing up. "She's taken a lot of flak for what she's said," he continued. "What she's done has been brilliant because she started the process where artists have stood up and said, you know what, there is a consequence to illegal file-sharing. In the meeting, we didn't always agree but we came to an agreement that we thought was good for everyone."
One reason that Ms. Allen has been singled out for criticism is that she's previously released two mixtapes that included material which infringed on the copyrights of other musicians. But other artists have been willing to stand behind her, such as Mark Ronson and Take That's Gary Barlow, on her aforementioned and now defunct It's Not Alright blog. "Slagging me, my music and my so called 'family connections' off, and calling me a government puppet is not going to get anyone anywhere, so stop it," she says. "I think people assume we artists are a lot richer than you think we are, please bear in mind this doesn't have anything to do with me or my wealth."
Other, lesser known, musicians are now starting to make a name for themselves by making their opposition to Allen and company heard. "I think downloading music is a fact of life and I think the people that are supporting this, like Take That and Lily Allen that take the money from the kids when they're playing in stadiums, it's just an insult really," Jon McClure of indie band Reverend and the Makers told the Press Association. "And if they really want to save the world or whatever there are issues that are far more important," he said from his soapbox. "The bankers are taking the Michael, the MPs are taking the Mick, Afghanistan, Iraq, melting of the Earth, you know what I'm saying. It's a sad state of affairs if that's the only thing that gets them excited if you ask me." Luckily for him, somebody did - and now they probably will again. Who says you can't profit from illegal downloading?
Further details at [Sky News] & [PA]
Almost a hundred musicians met in London toward the end of last week for what ended up being a three-hour debate on What Is To Be Done. Amongst them were the likes of Annie Lennox, George Michael, Radiohead's guitarist Ed O'Brien and a certain Lily Allen. The "overwhelming" consensus was the Government's suggestion of implementing the dreaded "three-strikes" rule - that's not been very popular with European legislators to date - went too far. Instead, they backed two letters being sent to warn file-sharers to cease and desist; after that the offending broadband connection would be "squeezed" rather than cut. A statement issued on behalf of the musicians gathered said that would "render sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic e-mail and web access functional."
The statement also explicitly backed Lily Allen's campaign to "alert music lovers to the threat that illegal downloading presents to our industry." If there's anyone artist who's the front-runner to become the UK's Metallica - and be pilloried thereafter by the illegal downloading masses - it's Ms. Allen; at the gathering she was instead cheered. As apart of her campaign, she had been running a blog but moved to take it down after the criticism she was receiving got too much. Subsequently, she made it known she wouldn't be attending the meeting.
Instead - in a week where Allen was rumoured to be planning on quitting the music industry - she was at the forefront of those clamouring for a crackdown on illegal file-sharing, positioning herself against the Featured Artists' Coalition (FAC), which has also made its stance on illegal downloading explicit (coverage here). Mr. O'Brien of Radiohead fame - a vocal FAC representative - told BBC News that she was "extremely brave" for showing up. "She's taken a lot of flak for what she's said," he continued. "What she's done has been brilliant because she started the process where artists have stood up and said, you know what, there is a consequence to illegal file-sharing. In the meeting, we didn't always agree but we came to an agreement that we thought was good for everyone."
One reason that Ms. Allen has been singled out for criticism is that she's previously released two mixtapes that included material which infringed on the copyrights of other musicians. But other artists have been willing to stand behind her, such as Mark Ronson and Take That's Gary Barlow, on her aforementioned and now defunct It's Not Alright blog. "Slagging me, my music and my so called 'family connections' off, and calling me a government puppet is not going to get anyone anywhere, so stop it," she says. "I think people assume we artists are a lot richer than you think we are, please bear in mind this doesn't have anything to do with me or my wealth."
Other, lesser known, musicians are now starting to make a name for themselves by making their opposition to Allen and company heard. "I think downloading music is a fact of life and I think the people that are supporting this, like Take That and Lily Allen that take the money from the kids when they're playing in stadiums, it's just an insult really," Jon McClure of indie band Reverend and the Makers told the Press Association. "And if they really want to save the world or whatever there are issues that are far more important," he said from his soapbox. "The bankers are taking the Michael, the MPs are taking the Mick, Afghanistan, Iraq, melting of the Earth, you know what I'm saying. It's a sad state of affairs if that's the only thing that gets them excited if you ask me." Luckily for him, somebody did - and now they probably will again. Who says you can't profit from illegal downloading?
Further details at [Sky News] & [PA]