UK Music Pretends That Musicians Aren't Against Kicking People Off The Internet
from the oh-really? dept
Recently, we noted that a bunch of big name musicians had come out against Peter Mandelson's sudden decision that it was ok to kick music fans off the internet for file sharing, despite earlier promises that such a proposal was off the table. Having these musicians speak out against such a "three strikes" plan looked really bad for the various collections societies and industry groups that want such a plan -- leading some to publicly complain that these musicians were doing something "destructive" in standing up for consumer rights (how dare they!).There were rumors that following this little dustup, that the UK music industry would drop its support for three strikes. Instead, Feargal Sharkey, the head of the UK Music lobbying group, has come out with a totally meaningless statement that basically says that the industry supports the government's plan and there's nothing to see here in terms of a rift in the views of the UK music industry.
That's not very believable. More and more musicians have realized that a proposal to kick people off the internet does nothing to promote better business models and does a lot to create significantly more ill will with fans. The only people who seem to be supporting it are those who are looking to protect old business models, and seem to think that kicking people offline will magically bring back paying customers. Sharkey has claimed in the past that the industry needs to stop fighting against music fans. Too bad he's aligning himself with a plan that is entirely about fighting music fans.
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Filed Under: feargal sharkey, music, musicians, three strikes, uk
Companies: uk music
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"Conversations will progress over coming weeks and days to ensure the industry can go out there with a clear vision on how we want government to help us going forward."
I know how I want the government to help me going forward. I want them to give me lots of money and strike down my enemies. These people are praying to the government like they would pray to some ancient deity for deliverance from their foes.
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And sadly, with enough ca$h sacrificed to their 'deity' they will likely get what they want...
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Agreed. This is starting to look like a progression of the age of reason revolution, when intellectuals rebelled against religion. More specifically, it smacks of Hegelism, which is an attempt to control the outcome of a debate through a manipulation of the argument.
Hegel's thesis stated that: thesis against antithesis would produce a middle resolution.
Unfortunately, that reasonable theory has been utilized like this so that the proposed thesis is so outlandish that middle ground isn't middle ground at all, but in favor of the thesis presenter.
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Am I reading this wrong or is this industry group SPECIFICALLY and plainly asking for powers of the state? And would implications could that have?
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Acting Like Bad Parents
Sent from G1 phone.
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Feargal Sharkey?
Sharkey
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Right now in the US music companies are trying to lobby government, basically asking for money every time a clip or snippet is played in a downloadable movie. All art is inspired by other art, its a never ending process, if a director includes music, he should only need permission, not to pay each time the music is played. In fact the musician should be thankful.
If we apply this silly musicians logic, we could say when a song is written and for example 'Rolls Royce' is mentioned, then Rolls Royce as a company takes a slice of the musicians cut, then the living ancestors of Mr Rolls and Mr Royce take a slice, then without all the blokes in the factory making the car they wouldn't exist, so each guy in the factory gets a quid. Without roads motorcars wouldn't exist, so we better find out who invented roads, and tarmac, and wheels, and engines, - you get the idea. Every work of art is inspired by another, musicians need to grow up, move on and realise the days of trashing hotels rooms upon different continents each night could hopefully be coming to and end. What they do isn't as important as everyone is led to believe, its just music.
Their job is to entertain, they don't fight for peace, they don't save lives, they don't feed the starving - they just sing about doing it. Especially in the UK we've been ripped off as consumers for far too long now, special editions, collectors packs, limited box sets, its all plastic shit in tacky packaging. LPS for £17.99. Sales in which we are told £9.99 is cheap - how much do they want? Concert Tickets going for £150. Get real and stop whinging. As a fanatical music lover, I've decided to turn my back upon it completely and erased it from my life - and too be honest it hasn't made that much of a difference, I talk to people more. I haven't spent a penny on music now for almost 6 months. I'm going to film the burning soon of my entire collection and post it on You Tube, sure its not the best thing for the environment, but then neither is pressing records.
As for Fergal - he just needed a job.
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"The winners are the ones who embrace change"
-Hulu CEO Jason Kilar
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What you're all missing is that file-sharing has *absolutely* gone too far, and it will enable the powers that be to argue (and enable & enforce) the monitoring of your internet usage. This affects everyone, so thanks for the memories. The irony is surely not lost on the so-called "we file-share in the name of freedom" lobby - is it? Because we're not just talking about musicians' livelihoods. This is a massive sector, full of dedicated talent, all of which is being hit by file-sharing and so is increasingly - and in the main reluctantly - having to ask for some sort of protection.
The simple uncomfortable truth is that in order to make a decent record, which I notice most of you are happy to consume, costs either a lot of money or a lot of (often unpaid) time. Either way there's a big cost (and risk) involved. Why should those who put a lot into making a record not hope there's some sort of a chance of a return on what is primarily a speculative outlay? Is it so repellent to contribute something, anything, to the cost incurred of something you clearly enjoy consuming?
Whilst I agree that in the past music has been very expensive to purchase, it no longer is. In this respect, what are your *genuine* non-fabricated reasons for just helping yourselves to it? Is it, as I fear, self-serving meanness - or a twisted form of greed?
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