Folk punk troubadour Frank Turner doesn't like you putting music on BitTorrent, Rapidshare, Megaupload, Mediafire, Sendspace, or any of the other means by which most people seem to acquire music illegally. In a MySpace blog post entitled "Angry Thoughts On A Tired Subject," Turner states "The basic fact of economics is that we reimburse people for enjoying the fruits of their labour. A situation where people labour and are not reimbursed is untenable and unjust."
More specifically:
"Secondly, the idea that by stealing music from the internet you're somehow crusading for justice against the big bad record labels is absolute fucking bullshit and needs to be stamped out. Britney Spears and David Geffen aren't going to downsize their condo's because you didn't pay for a Fugazi album. The people hit first and foremost are the low-level workers in the industry and smaller or independent artists. Telling yourself otherwise is, in my opinion, more often than not a lame attempt to salve a guilty conscience."
However, even though Mr. Turner seems to regard "a collection of music as something with intrinsic economic value," it appears that Canada's Great Lake Swimmers appreciate the greater fanbase that comes with file sharing.
Frontman and vocalist Tony Dekker refers to it as "global word-of-mouth," continuing that it's "good for music because you don't have to scratch far below the surface to find interesting music that doesn't have the machinery of a big record label behind it."
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What I mean is a classic recording that has been reissued several times where the artist has already made millions and, in many cases, the publishing rights have been sold to a major label or large publishing house, the artist either doesn't need the money to continue to make art or doesn't receive the money for that work any longer...then I don't have as much of a problem with the "gaffle". sorry for the run-on sentence, Jason.
Robert - totally not calling you out; I'm just curious as to where you draw the "gaffling okay" line in the gap between Ghosty and the Beatles. Neko Case? Wilco? Pearl Jam?
Point taken, Robert.
Interesting point, Matt. Not all musicians are in the position to capitalize on performance-generated revenue (including lesson teaching) as effectively as a symphonic/jazz trumpeter, but big ups to your pops!
My father, Jim Spencer, has worked as a jazz and classical trumpet player in KC for the past 45 years. He has never had retail music sales as a source of income. Teaching music lessons, and playing live music are his life, and he still works at age 71.
The only time I am willing to purchase a CD is if the artist whom I just watched perform hands it to me themselves. I love supporting local artists and local music by attending as many live shows as possible. Human beings have been making music for thousands of years, recorded media has only be around for a century or two. Live performance will always be the core of the art.
I completely agree with Mr. Turner. As a small-label owner, we feel it personally. I was able to track several hundred downloads of our compilation on illegal sites. If we don't get paid, our artists don't get paid. If you want to gaffle a copy of Sgt. Peppers, I'm fine with that. But don't steal from the DIY labels and bands or we won't be around for long.
Am I hearing an argument for a personal policy of downloading new albums free and paying for older ones? It helps new bands and old bands with new albums alike to have their music on as many hard drives as possible because album sales are no longer a viable part of the early revenues from a band's new-album promotional push -- viz., the concept of the album being a flier for the live show.
But when it comes to acquiring music that has been out for a while, paying for it is inarguably the ethical choice. Unless its an album by folk punk troubadour Frank Turner.
Just kidding.
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