Garth Brooks Complains That The Gov't Ignores Musicians
from the say-what-now? dept
Singer Garth Brooks got some attention for sorta kinda unretiring, and in answering some questions he made some bizarre comments about how the government doesn't protect musicians from piracy:"Our government's not doing anything about piracy. Until we can hear what a day of radio is like with no music, until this place sits silent because the music creators and the artists and copyright (holders) are not happy because they're not being protected like everyone else is, then, yeah, I would like that power myself. It has to be placed in the right hands, so it can't be one person, but a board that represents music, its creators and its content owners. I think that'd be more than fair to stand up and say, 'Look, you've ignored us, because there's 50,000 of us and 300 million voters. You've ignored us, and now to show you, we would like to just simply stop for a day,' and see how dry this world gets."Really? This is the same government that has only increased copyright protections over time and never decreased them (never). This is the same government that has both Republicans and Democrats repeating the RIAA's bogus stats on piracy. This is the same government that allows the RIAA unprecedented access in terms of setting the copyright agenda of the nation. It's hard to see anything that the government has done that "ignores" artists in favor of the rights of the rest of the country. I can't name a single thing.
And I'm curious as to what he means by "they're not being protected like everyone else is." That's also not true. Copyright has been twisted to grant more rights than everyone else, in that it allows copyright holders to control what happens to works after they're sold. In many ways they get extra protection from folks in any other line of work.
Finally, he seems to assume that the only reason people create music is because of these protections -- and yet, as piracy has increased, so has the number of musicians and albums being produced. So, if he wants to create some sort of union that goes on "strike" for a day, I would imagine that there would be a massive influx of indie musicians (I guess they'd be "scabs") more than willing to get their music on the radio instead.
The problem is that for the vast majority of musicians who are not Garth Brooks, the bigger issue is obscurity, not piracy. Having those big name musicians take themselves out of the competition for even a day would thrill plenty of smart musicians, giving them a chance to get attention normally reserved for the Garth Brooks' of the world.
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Filed Under: copyright, garth brooks, music, piracy, radio
Companies: riaa
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Garth Brooks joining the ranks of other well know RIAA supporters like U2, Metallica, Prince to name a few.
BOYCOTT until YOUR DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Drivel
A) A pack of Lies
B) Unreadable
Who on earth put you up to this????? Obviously didn't think of this all by yourself - so fess up - who paid you?
A day of no music on the radio if this is the kind of drivel we must listen to is just 364 days short of a year with no music on the radio.
Where's the publicity and resultant royalies coming fom then? NOWHERE
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According to Wikipedia Brooks refused to allow his CD In Pieces from being sold in stores which also sold used CDs. His label CBS was sued and eventually the CD was sold everywhere.
I've said it once, I've said it a million times, used game and CD sales do not harm anyone!
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Re:
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I'm an engineer. I get payed a salary plus some rather inconsequential and sometimes even insulting bonuses. My work is sold over and over to great returns by the various companies.
I am just saying. If he wants musicians to be protected just like everyone else, I say give it to him. I think there is no better way of describing copyright reform than Sir Garth's very words.
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Un-American, Defined
Yes, yes iTunes is killing music. This genius is cutting himself off from a distributor accounting for 20% of all music sales everywhere. He would rather the government write him a check than allow even the slightest modification to the nature of music distribution.
That's about as far from the "country" paradigm as I can imagine.
Garth Brooks is to country music (and music in general) as Jane Fonda was to the anti-war movement.
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Well...
Yeah, but an immediate rebuttal by Chris Gaines was issued stating that filesharing is all good.
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wait, hold on
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Barf Grooks is over-rated.
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Here, Here!
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I Dare you...
Too chicken? I thought so.
Funny, I emailed my favorite radio station today, after the Radio tax thing and asked them to stop playing and promoting music that is supported by the copyright lobbies.
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Threat or Promise?
... pretty please?
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Re: Threat or Promise?
Garth Brooks will shut up for a day? A whole day?
"""
Exactly this, here's to hoping.
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Protectionism
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How about for more than a day? How about a week? I doubt that would be long enough for us to realize that no new music is getting out, though... Better make it at least a month... Probably closer to a year before people realize they haven't heard anything new.
Mr. Brooks forgets that there are people for whom earning millions isn't a necessity; earning a comfortable, living wage is sufficient.
Presently, the record labels are the ones who decide whether an artist will be able to earn a living wage. They only retain artists that they know they can make money off of, and send everyone else packing.
Eliminating the record-label choke-points will allow far more artists to earn a living wage, although it will probably hurt many of the superstars, like Mr. Brooks. Frankly, I'd rather hear the music of someone who's passion is the music, not the money. That person gets my attention, and my dollar.
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Ungrateful
Still think piracy is harming the industry? Fine. Garth, you owe them $320.
And LOL @ the radio threats. I haven't listened to the radio in years. Pure garbage.
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Garth, You're an Idiot
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Radio?
If local music radio disappeared completely it would not affect me at all.
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It would be nice to have an RIAA music free day (or week) on the radio to see if the "music industry" would get a bit of a reality check.
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Someone else would take advantage of the situation to release their own music.
It's helpful to people and organizations if they realize - they are all replaceable.
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DO IT FGT!
when that doesn't work, then stop making albums in disgust.
do it sissy. do it now.
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There's plenty of musicians from the 70's and 80's who had a couple of hits, and they've spent the rest of their careers touring and playing smaller venues. It's possible to find most of them online, sign up for email updates through their websites, and keep track of their concert schedules. I prefer to support these artists.
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Re:
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Garth Brooks Complains
So please go ahead and pull your low class butts off the radio, who really cares. Your a dime a dozen.
It's a shame you've forgotten that.
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STRIKE
I also call on all music store owners to stop selling the CDs of the artists and labels in this strike. Stop selling them so that those dirty pirates can just steal them.
I urge all listeners of music to stop supporting those dirty pirates, stop downloading songs, stop listening to those thieving radio stations, stop buying those CDs from the stores that profit from piracy.
Let's see just how damaged our culture can get.
*I truly, honestly believe this. If they are that worried about the piracy issue, they need to go on strike until it's resolved.
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Too Good
"I think that'd be more than fair to stand up and say, 'Look, you've ignored us, because there's 50,000 of us and 300 million voters."
- The government is elected by those 300 million voters to LOOK AFTER THE VOTERS, NOT CORPORATIONS AND MONEY HUNGRY ASS HATS LIKE YOU GARTH BROOKS!!! Treat your fans like people, and not paychecks that you think you are entitled to because someone thought you were better than the next guy. Then this wouldn't be a problem. The real issue isn't that you're not protected, it's that other corps/industries are protected so much. This is a free market economy (is supposed to be anyway...) and that means the CONSUMERS rule supreme, not you, and not the government. It was designed that way for a reason.
"You've ignored us, and now to show you, we would like to just simply stop for a day,' and see how dry this world gets."
- Please Garth Brooks, stop not just for a day, but STOP FOREVER! I promise that for every greedy moron like yourself, there are 10 other aspiring musicians waiting for you to go away so they can get some attention. Pull your music from the radio, tell your friends to pull theirs, and since no one who's music is on the radio will need such absurd fees for promoting them, the whole industry gets cheaper, and we'll see better radio stations. We'll also see better music, because instead of working for a paycheck, the musicians will be working for the reason music began - to try and make good music. Fans won't have to listen to the likes of Soulja Boy, who can only be around because he paid someone (TERRIBLE MUSIC, yet he's on the radio all the damn time?!?!?!?!) because artists will be competing based on their quality, not who's nargle they snargled...
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Re: Too Good
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Re: Too Good
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Re: Re: Too Good
You know, I really tried to read and understand your post, but all I heard in my mind's voice was:
SOB! LEAVE GARTH ALLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNEEEEE! WAAAHHHHH!
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Where I'm from we call them English, Math, and Gym....
SOB! LEAVE DARK HELMET ALLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE! WAAAAHHHHH!
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Re: Re: Too Good (@Jersey Girl)
Besides, if people aren't getting their fair share that is a fault of their contracts, not people 'pirating'. If there is not enough money to go around then that is a fault of the business model, again, not people 'pirating'. If those who work with him are not able to make a living out of his business model then stopping seems like the most reasonable thing to do.
When Mr Brooks stops talking about what he wants government to do about the 'pirates' and starts explaining why 'piracy' should be illegal, maybe people will be able to respond with something more constructive than indignation.
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Can't download
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His answer is "no".
FTA:
He would much rather be entitled to arbitrary, unlimited payouts enforced by the government.
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waa waa waa
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Re: waa waa waa
Well, it would appear that where he's sitting is in Owasso, Oklahoma, where he's enjoying such activities as being the third husband to his second wife, arguing with Chris Gaines in the mirror, and in general working hard on becoming the Brett Favre of country music....
Yeah, I hope you know I've just been having fun with you and wasn't intending to be mean (or cyber bullying!), but I'm going to go ahead and say that sitting here and whining is the better option of the two....
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Re: Re: waa waa waa
He *wishes he were only as annoying as Brett Favre. I still think he's the Jane Fonda of country music...
...perhaps the Vanilla Ice of country.
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Part of "retiring," Garth, is that you GO AWAY. You were fun for a while 15 years ago, but you've long ago lost your relevance. By all means, prove your point by not playing music anymore. Teach us all a lesson. PLEASE.
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garth brooks
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garth brooks
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Oy vey.
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Garth Brooks' early days of playing and singing
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