Following the eventually anti-democratic way in which the EU parliament dealt with ACTA, I'm frankly amazed at this step. SOPA / PIPA must indeed be terrible to prompt this response.
I've allways thought of 'Maiden as being a very forward-thinking band. Disclosure - I've allways been a massive fan of theirs. Years ago their CDs also featured web-based content such as band interviews, mini games, tour photos, access to their on-line shop etc. etc. One of their singles also came with a PC game (Ed Hunter). The game wasn't very good compared to offerings from the likes of ID Software or Epic Games, but the above is evidence that Maiden have allways dabbled with, if not embraced, the "connect with fans + reason to buy" business model. The result? Over 80M albums sold.
The other thing that surprised and pleased me was that a glance at the back cover of their latest CD (of which I bought the special edition precisely due to the offered extras) revealed that the copyright owner for the music is not EMI records but by the band's own company - Maiden LLP. The music is merely licensed to EMI. Another example of a forward-thinking band who obviously like to engage with their fans in (for the music industry) innovative ways.
Lastly, I remember watching a concert that Maiden did in Sweden or Finland years ago. Bruce Dickinson was speaking to the fans and instructed all those bootleging the concert at home to remember to send it to *all* their friends, rather than just their friends who were allready fans. Sure, technically it probably violated some stupid copyright law, but the end effect was more 'Maiden fans and hence more albums sold.
'Maiden deserve fan's suport for being so forward thinking about this sort of thing. Plus of course their music is awsome...
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Amazed!
Allways forward thinking.
The other thing that surprised and pleased me was that a glance at the back cover of their latest CD (of which I bought the special edition precisely due to the offered extras) revealed that the copyright owner for the music is not EMI records but by the band's own company - Maiden LLP. The music is merely licensed to EMI. Another example of a forward-thinking band who obviously like to engage with their fans in (for the music industry) innovative ways.
Lastly, I remember watching a concert that Maiden did in Sweden or Finland years ago. Bruce Dickinson was speaking to the fans and instructed all those bootleging the concert at home to remember to send it to *all* their friends, rather than just their friends who were allready fans. Sure, technically it probably violated some stupid copyright law, but the end effect was more 'Maiden fans and hence more albums sold.
'Maiden deserve fan's suport for being so forward thinking about this sort of thing. Plus of course their music is awsome...
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Cen Blackwell.
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