Dan Bull Recaps How Home Taping Killed Music With His Latest Song

from the sing-along-everyone dept

Tue, Mar 16th 2010 7:40am — Mike Masnick

Dan Bull, who wrote, recorded and made videos for his brilliant open letters to both Lily Allen and Peter Mandelson, was asked by UK ISP TalkTalk if he would be interested in creating a new song concerning the Digital Economy Bill. In response, Bull created this lovely song reminding us all about the old home taping is killing music argument:

Make sure your sarcasm meter is properly tuned before watching... Best lines? "Home sewing's killing fashion, Home cooking's killing fast food, Home sleeping's killing hotels." Enjoy.

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Filed Under: dan bull, digital economy bill, lily allen, peter mandelson
Companies: talk talk

30 Comments

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bwp (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 7:47am

Not bad
I have to give it to Dan Bull, he can certainly come up with some entertaining stuff.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2010 @ 7:54am

It's funny to see the Kings of the Wild Frontier-vintage Adam Ant character in there. When this campaign was being pushed in the UK, Malcolm McLaren used his ex-Ants group BowWowWow to counter it with C30, C60, C90, Go! The song was an in-your-face assault on the music oligopoly, to wit: "It used to break my heart when I went in your shop And you said my records were out of stock So I don't buy records in your shop Now I tape them all 'cause I'm Top of the Pops!"
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2010 @ 8:19am

He had to have been inspired by the 'Don't Copy That Floppy' PSA....then again I guess all 80's videos were like that. I love it! Cheers, Dan Bull! :-)
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zenith (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 8:23am

Once again, Dan Bull proves he is a genius!

Utterly superb.

Consider it viralled... :)
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Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 8:30am

No, the best line was...
"Peace is killing the arms trade"

It's funny, but it's also an insightful possibility into why we go to war at all....
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Yakko Warner, 16 Mar 2010 @ 8:43am

Subtle
The Rick-roll reference was cute. :)
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FatGiant (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 8:49am

I'm finding it everywhere now... GREAT.

Home Sleeping is Killing Hotels. LOL.
Amazing Dan Bull, amazing.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:13am

Love it
I absolutely need a CHOOSE FILE t-shirt.
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Dementia (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:18am

I thought he couldn't get any better than his open letters. I'm happy to say I was very badly mistaken. Keep it up Dan!
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Overcast (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:33am

Re: No, the best line was...
"Peace is killing the arms trade"

It's funny, but it's also an insightful possibility into why we go to war at all....

In the 'ideal' world for politicians / corporate lackeys - all this would apply.
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R. Miles (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:37am

I wonder why...
... the advocates for the Digital Economy Bill didn't ask Dan to make this song.

Oh, this was great stuff and the girl was cute to boot!
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Paddy Duke (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:37am

Very funny, but not quite right.
I appreciate that this is a novelty song, and very tongue in cheek, but it’s important to remember that these comparisons are not viable arguments in the piracy debate.

While it certainly never harmed the music industry (quite the opposite, in fact), home taping (i.e. piracy) is not analogous to home cooking or home sewing. Those activities have more in common with forming a band, than taping tunes off the radio. When you cook, you’re not making infinite free copies of something someone else has already produced. You’re making your own version that costs you effort and money.

Still, kudos to Dan and TalkTalk for making noise about all this.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:43am

funny lines dont mean much. fashion came after home sewing. fast food came after home cooking. home sleeping came before hotels. he got it backwards each one of those is killing the original not the other way around. he is clever with words but just plain wrong.
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@paddy duke, 16 Mar 2010 @ 9:57am

DIE LAZY PRICKS
haha try and use your lawyer speak powers on me did ya
haha i you alien garbage have lawyerspeak resistance at level 20
YOU now may TAM away no one here is listening to you

haha
here people laughing...bet you think its at you

and the only thing that harmed the music industry was allowing 4-5 big labels to horde all the rights and get stupid on the rest of the world by way of terrorising young kids with lawsuits

YOU DID IT TO YOURSELVES RIAA
NOW SUCK DIRT
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Cixelsid (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 10:10am

Re:
Congratulations! Everyone around you is stupid and therefore you must explain the painfully obvious without the use of capitalization. Please explain more things that nobody will read and don't forget to forget to use the shift button!
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Bob, 16 Mar 2010 @ 10:25am

This is hilarious. Perhaps Dan could do a video of some top execs from the ISPs dancing around in great heaps of cash as they press 'refresh' on one of those parliamentary petition sites. He could rhyme 'responsibility' with 'profitability', or something funny like that.
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Josef Anvil (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 11:12am

Re: Didn't quite get it
His analogies may be wrong, but you are missing the whole point of the song. The music industry whined and moaned that cassettes and home taping would kill music. They are making fun of that prediction 25+ years later. Just like the VCR would destroy the movie industry.

As I remember it the VCR created the Movie rental market, and cassettes just forced me to re-purchase music I had paid for but in a different format.

The point of the song is to remind us that home taping didn't kill music and neither will file sharing kill music. The industry just needs to adapt, although this time it may not be as easy as in the past; but that's just the nature of technological advancement.
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jamie, 16 Mar 2010 @ 12:18pm

So...
You apparently believe that music was invented after the RIAA was formed? Or maybe after the Statute of Anne?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2010 @ 2:45pm

Re: Very funny, but not quite right.
you’re not making infinite free copies of something someone else has already produced.

Err, blank tapes weren't free.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Mar 2010 @ 2:46pm

Re: So...
You apparently believe that music was invented after the RIAA was formed?

Of course! If it weren't for the RIAA, there would be no music!
/s
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Derek Kerton (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 2:50pm

Re: Very funny, but not quite right.
Um.

Did I invent Beef Stroganoff? Nope. When I cook it, I am copying somebody else's recipe creation in my home for the consumption of me and a few close kin...but I am not diminishing the recipe "inventor" the ability to also cook their own Stroganoff and sell it at market. Yep, I AM making infinite free copies of a recipe someone else has already produced.

To me, that sounds a lot like home taping. In both, I am "making [my] own version that costs [me] effort and money."
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Derek Kerton (profile), 16 Mar 2010 @ 2:55pm

Re:
Are you trying to refute yourself?!

It is generally accepted that the incumbent has the (unfair) advantage.

If fashion came after home sewing, then what you are saying is that a market-driven commercial industry can form EVEN AFTER a long-standing cottage market exists.

Thus, surely an entrenched commercial industry can survive a nascent cottage industry.

Bottom line here, 25 years later, is that none of these killed the other. They all grew.
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Mr Big Content, 16 Mar 2010 @ 5:22pm

So Prophetic
If only we had listened back then, we might have been able to stop the Internet before it was too late.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Mar 2010 @ 2:44am

"The Rick-roll reference was cute. :)"

The Rick-roll reference was more than cute, it was genius. It's the answer to the question of 'How's Rick ever going to maintain fame?', thrown into a satirical suggestion that we'll never hear from him again. It's beautiful irony.
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vivaelamor (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 4:07am

Re: I wonder why...
"Oh, this was great stuff and the girl was cute to boot!"

In case you haven't already found it: you may be interested in her YouTube channel.
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BearGriz72 (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 1:59pm

Re: DIE LAZY PRICKS
I sort of almost miss TAM ... Weird.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Apr 2010 @ 1:02pm

Re:
Naturally no one wrote music (or made money from it) before it was produced by slick studios.
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House Help Desk
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lrobbo (profile), 30 May 2012 @ 12:52pm

Pure quality.
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