The dispute over illegal filesharing over the Internet has been going on for quite some time now, and it hasn't been going in any direction. It's just stayed in one place, as if banging its head against a brick wall, reiterating the same points over and over and over, as if doing so might uncover some special magi words that might unlock the key to some ultimate answer. A solution.
It's not working. It hasn't been working for many, many years now. The industry has been moving in ways to get around the issue, as tackling it head on would be just like, well, hitting the wall again. Bands and artists, both new and experienced, have employed different methods to reach through to their audiences and dedicated fan bases. The four main record labels are even starting to adapt to the change, though I don't know how much more punishment EMI can take. All parties have learned to try and carry on with the thorn of illegal filesharing embedded deep into their sides.
But look! There are a few more parties still being held in the shadow of the old brick wall. To put it incredibly bluntly, these parties are all being held by the government. Some people want to knock down the wall and put filesharing in shackles, punishing anyone who interacts with it at varying levels of severity. These punishments can range from a strongly worded letter (ooh, bravo) to disconnection from the Internet. Another party in the government, also boogying on down at the wall, call disconnection from the Internet a breach of human rights and start shouting so loudly any other voices in the local vicinity cannot be heard. This argument finally made it onto the BBC's poorly concieved Panorama programme.
And it really p*ssed me off. Talk about taking one step forward and two steps back. They immediately pointed the blame finger at students, gormless idiot children and their even more gormless idiot parents. Well, students get blamed for everything, so no change there. As for the family gorm, they must've chosen the worst possible example of a normal household in the whole country. The mother went on about how she had no clue about how the kids downloaded music on that there computer, that she didn't even know what they were doing on there most of the time and that it often vanishes from where she last set it down, because them pesky kids nick it for more of their hijinks. Right, keep your damn kids under control. If they're stealing your computer and doing whatever they want on it without you knowing, they need a stern talking to. It'll be your fault if an order of combat knives and other such typical goods arrive on your doorstep, and that won't go away with a shrug of the shoulders, a sigh and quipping "Kids these days, eh? Little rascals!"
If the kids are stealing music online, then they need to be told that stealing is wrong. I was taught that at an early age, actually. As was everyone else in my school year. I would expect this to be the norm right across the board. Even if the product has no physical properties, it is still stealing if you are meant to pay for it and don't. There should be no exception. Stealing is stealing. It is against the law. Whichever law that happens to be doesn't matter, either - it is still wrong.
Back to the programme. Jo Whiley wittled on to people who knew nothing about the situation they were talking about (including a member of Scouting For Girls talking about creativity, which I thought was a bit ironic seeing as though they have none. At least his heart was in the right place), making the argument more and more fractured and extending party time at the brick wall by several more months at least. The members of The Featured Artist's Coalition were the only people in the whole thing who made any sense. The FAC is made up of various artists in the industry, from the experienced (Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, Mark Kelly from Marillion, Billy Bragg) to the young (Kate Nash and some bloke from a punk band - apologies to that man as I can't remember his name). And all they spoke about was how they've been getting around the issue and adapting their marketing plans so that they can still make a living from their trade. Which is what everyone should be doing.
But no. Some people want to come down swift and hard on people, others want to do whatever the hell they want. The problem with the punishment is that it won't solve anything. The people whose argument was against that seemed to base their position on the idea that being done for illegal filesharing was unfair. The problem with that is that it's still illegal, and the last time I checked, doing something illegal was against the law and if you were found doing something that was against the law, you would face the consequences.
Oh no! Wait - I'm sorry. It is unfair. After all, it's only music, right? It's not as if musicians need the money from the music they make. They all fly big aeroplances and have their own monogrammed Rolls Royces rolling around their private property on their private islands, where the streets are paved with coins. If you actually believe this, then you need a cold, hard punch in the face. And another. If someone is selling music they have made, no matter what their financial position is, you should pay them if you want to aquire it. This is how general trade works. You do not have a right to any music you have not made yourself. It is not unfair to get done for illegally sharing music files on the Internet. Some moron on that programme argued that if someone got disconnected from the Internet, they wouldn't be able to do important stuff, like online banking and studying. Bloody hell. If you get disconnected, fear not! If you need to do banking, why not go to a bank? If you need to do some studying, why not go to a library? Remember those?
I myself am guilty of downloading albums illegally. You'll have to take my word for it though when I say that, most of the time, I downloaded records that are not available physically (or even digitally), or if I wanted to try an album purely out of curiosity with intent to buy later if I like it. It's not fair to the artists that I did that. I feel bloody awful for doing it, as I hope to move into that part of the industry in the very near future, and I know how difficult it is for a new band to make a living purely from making and selling records. I am now looking to replace my downloads with physical, paid for copies (where and when available) to pay my dues and to get a better product.
There's one thing that the programme ommitted - the try-before-buying trend. Well, they did touch on it briefly. I think. But websites such as Spotify, where artists allow people to listen to entire works for free, were not mentioned. This method can spur people on to buy a product that would have otherwise passed them buy. It does happen. A lot. People are generally good like this, I find. Not all of them are b*stards who don't care about anything.
That's just the students! (Bandwagon, ho! Ba-dum-tish!)
They also failed to mention that CD sales were up by about 15-18% last year, and that this decade has been the best for cinema since the 1960s...
Sometimes, you don't need to break down a wall. You just need to step back and walk around it. I'm sure you'll find it much easier. It doesn't work all the time, but I think it's the only path we can take before this particular situation drives us all insane.
And now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight.
0 comments:
Post a Comment