Expect big changes soon — we’re starting anew. More details to come!
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Although his legendary band has hit the ‘top 10 rock’ charts on iTunes in multiple countries, Jon Bon Jovi isn’t very happy with the founder of the franchise, Steve Jobs:
Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it. God, it was a magical, magical time… I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am [he’s 49], and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: ‘What happened?’ Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business.
NOTE: Bon Jovi was clearly not making a statement on illegal downloading specifically, but rather the download/mp3 format and the way that music is consumed.
music.MSN
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi has released 11 studio albums since 1984 (most recently in 2009). All of them were released on Mercury/Island Records (both are owned by Universal Music Group). Most hit #1 on multiple Billboard charts. Their third, Slippery When Wet, is certified diamond and one of the highest selling studio albums of all time.
Christopher Dudley, keyboardist of Christian metal band Underoath, 2008:
[Illegal downloading] depends on who the person is, I think. I don’t think there is anything wrong with downloading per say, but when downloading makes people not buy records, I don’t like that because obviously if I like a band, I’m going to want to go and buy their record. Not saying that just because I’m a band, but I’m going to want to support what they are doing. I just never really understood [people who say] ‘I like that band, but I don’t want to support them. I’d rather just take it.’
Underoath has released 7 studio albums since ’99 (the latest 4 hit various places including #1 on the Billboard 200, Top Rock, Top Christian). The first two were released on formerly independent label Takehold, the rest on Tooth & Nail Records and their divisions. EMI’s Christian subsidiary owns a 50% stake in T&N.
In 2009, legendary rock band Alice In Chains released their first album after a 14 year release hiatus and the death of their lead vocalist. “Black Gives Way To Blue” was leaked a full two weeks prior to it’s official release date. In a video interview, drummer Sean Kinney half-jokingly compares the leak to prison rape.
You know it’s gonna happen ’cause it’s part of [how the industry works nowadays], but you just hope it doesn’t happen too far in advance. It’s nothing unique, but we hadn’t been through it, ’cause we hadn’t made a record in 14 years, so I think that’s the initial shock… We were talking about it earlier- It’s like going to prison: You know you’re gonna get raped, but you’re not ready for it. You think you’re all prepared for it, but you’re not really prepared for how violent that rape is…
[YouTube] [via]
[Alice In Chains]
AIC has released 4 studio albums since 1987; the first 3 on Columbia, the latest on Virgin/EMI. (42, 6, 1, 5 on the Billboard 200 respectively; the 2nd their highest selling- certified 4x platinum). They’ve received 8 Grammy nominations and 3 MTV Music Video Award nominations (winning 1).
Paul Wall (Rapper/Shiny Teeth Enthusiast), in an interview about, umm, grills:
[The internet] was one of the main things for me as it will spread whatever you have going on. I could put a song on there tonight and you could be in Croatia and the song will be there in ten minutes. . . [Piracy] is promotion for any artist. I love it.
Simple enough!
[HipHopDX]
[Grillz By Paul Wall]
Paul Wall has been affiliated with the independent label Swishahouse since the end of the ’90s. His first major release was in 2005 on Swishahouse/Atlantic (#1 on Billboard 200). He recently was in a hip-hop group with Travis Barker, his latest release was in 2010 (#56 on Billboard 200), and his largest current venture is selling mouth grills.
Indie-rock outfit Eisley releases their third album – The Valley – today (March 1st). In true Pirate Verbatim style, here is some old news to go with the new news!
In a September 2009 blog, the band of siblings blogged about the importance of illegal downloading for music itself. In part:
“. . . No matter what people pay or don’t pay… music has held it’s value. The price tag has little to do with that value. Music is life… it’s not a luxury we hope to afford or even a commodity we need to help make life bearable. . . Do I think it should have a price tag? Yes. Do I agree with those British artists currently ranting about illegal downloads (hurting the little guys)? Sure. It hurts bands like Eisley but it also helps bands like Eisley. . . ”
The blog is long, so head over to Eisley’s blog to find out WHY they say free music helps bands like Eisley.
[Eisley]
[Equal Vision Records]
Eisley signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2003 and left in 2010. At the end of the same year, they signed to Equal Vision Records, an independent label, who says: “We are entirely owned and operated with no outside financial support. We are however distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA Music), which is a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.”
In 2007, Goo Goo Dolls singer John Rzeznik spoke firmly against filesharing.
More and more people actually spend a buck. I do it every day. It’s a buck. Please, just give us a buck. . . It’s wrong. I did this work and I deserve to get paid for it. What people have got to remember is it’s really fun to take down The Man but The Man will always be there. It’s the artists that are the last ones to get paid and we get paid the least of anybody in the chain. Our last record sold maybe 800,000 copies – we didn’t make any money. None. Not one penny from record sales. Imagine if we weren’t able to go out and tour and make money on tour. What would we have done? We would have had a gold record and go out and get jobs.
Fast forward three years and Rzeznik admits to using Limewire P2P services! Well, just once, he says, to find a song in which ultimately resulted in a cover on the “deluxe” version of their latest album:
Actually, I have to confess that I went to Limewire and found a copy of the original song [by Flesh For Lulu] because I couldn’t find it on iTunes. So, if I ever run into the guys from Flesh For Lulu, I promise I’ll give them a buck [laughs].
And rewinding back to 2007, Robby Takac, guitarist, had a different idea:
I think I can look at the situation and say I can’t blame the fucking kids. I have to blame the industry for looking at a wall full of writing for many, many years and just going, ‘Meh! The government will work it out.’ You know what, they don’t do that anymore.
Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall had a bit to say regarding the music industry in November of 2010:
I actually have mixed feelings about it because, you know, I’m signed to a major label. . . I think of the internet, it has also had a major effect on the music industry. The labels are in a precarious situation where people really aren’t buying records anymore. I heard the statistic that selling 1 million records is the equivalent of selling 5 million records a year ago because so many people are managing to get a hold of it for nothing. So, it’s really changing and I think it’s very sad that people feel like they shouldn’t have to pay for it because it takes so much effort to make it. I put a year in a half and I’ve written 75 songs to make this album. It’s so much work and that’s partly what you’re paying for when you buy a record. On the other hand, on a more positive note the internet has made it so exciting because the cheapness of technology anyone can make an album. . . The ability to get music out there is so much available than before.
But, back in 2007, while Tunstall’s debut album Eye To The Telescope [Relentless Records] was climbing charts, she was singing a different note:
I have to be totally honest… when I heard about all the downloading problems and when I really thought about it, the only people who suffer ultimately – you know, if everything falls to its knees – are people who can’t sing or perform. It’s the people who actually can’t do their job who suffer because if you can’t make your money from record sales… I mean, I just know now that no matter what happens – if I lose all my friends and family and the record company spontaneously combusts – I can go out there and take my guitar out and make enough money to have dinner. It’s something you feel really grateful to be able to do.
We’ll forgo the introduction and keep this one nice and simple.
Marc Orrell, former guitarist, way back in 2003:
You know, there’s two sides to that story. There are the people that download the whole fucking album…albums upon albums…and they’ll rob, well, basically just take music. Then there are the kids that just listen to a couple songs, and they’re just trying to get the vibe of it. Me, I take pride in buying my albums. There’s albums that I already have, but when I look at the record store I’m like “Oh, I’m gonna buy that again! That’s a good record!” There are two sides to that story, you know? You can’t really pick and choose.
Current vocalist Al Barr said in 2007:
I guess [file-sharing] cool and hopefully those people like it enough that they’ll go buy the record. It is definitely affecting bands and the face of music in general. I think it’s the shape of things to come and that the music industry will have to accept it.
It’s only half of an answer, but drummer/vocalist Matt Kelly said in June of 2010:
As far as music goes, I’ve always and will probably always be a fan of “hard” media. File sharing is great if you’re sending a new song to a band mate, but MP3’s, WAV files, etc., just aren’t FUN.
[Dropkick Murphys]
[Epitaph]
[craveonline]
[maximum ink]
DM signed to Hellcat Records (owned by Epitaph) in 1996. In 2007 they joined Warner Bros. Records and released their sixth album under the WB-owned ‘vanity label’ Born & Bred (as with their 7th and latest, Going Out Of Style, March 1, 2011).
Twin sisters Tegan And Sara have released six studio albums and are currently signed to Vapor Records.
At a 2010 concert:
As long as you keep coming to see us play live, and you buy t-shirts or you keep spreading the word about our band, then we can keep making stops in all these wonderful, amazing cities far from home. But that’s the trade- if you download our record for free, you have to give Sara something in return.
I must admit- I have no idea if Tegan or Sara is doing the talking. Watch the video and let me know in the comments, if you can!
Chicanery is a recent music collaboration between Warren Cuccurullo (Missing Persons, Duran Duran) and Neil Carlill (Delicatessen).
Warren, on the state of the industry:
[The industry is] already in the toilet. CD sales are virtually non-existent, good luck making a decent living in music- it’s pretty much impossible. I’ve invested over 100k doing these records and have only seen 6k back, not really financially feasible. We’ll see what happens, but I have zero expectations.
Neil has more to say:
Well, things have changed so much since I first released a record [in 1994]. I try to embrace what I need to these days. I think illegal downloading damages the artist, just like tape copying did before, but I still think music lovers will try and buy music. The internet business model for music is depressingly similar to the way it always has been, there are a few big sites which control most of the sales. They will dictate the success of the artists. There is a tremendous amount of data to sift through these days so it is as hard as it ever was to get noticed. Still, we must use the tools and adapt. Social networking sites make it possible to know people without ever really making a real connection. It’s like a big virtual reality board game.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Chicanery, Delicatessen, Duran Duran, Missing Persons
Well, here’s something I failed to post two weeks ago! I recently interviewed OK Go’s Tim Nordwind in collaboration with music industry publication Hypebot. What kind of interview would it be if I didn’t pop the big question?
There is a wide debate on illegal downloading. Where does OK Go stand on the spectrum?
Obviously we’d love for anyone who has our music to buy a copy. But again, we’re realistic enough to know that most music can be found online for free. And trying to block people’s access to it isn’t good for bands or music. If music is going to be free, then musicians will simply have to find alternative methods to make a living in the music business. People are spending money on music, but it’s on the technology to play it. They spend hundreds of dollars on Ipods, but then fill it with 80 gigs of free music. That’s ok, but it’s just a different world now, and bands must learn to adjust.
Do you think there is a danger in publicly embracing freely distributed music, or the inverse – do you think artists may withhold condemning music-sharing in fear of fan backlash?
I’m sure record label executives don’t like filesharing because it doesn’t sell the one thing that makes them money, the recordings. But from a band’s perspective I think filesharing is fine. Most music these days is freely distributed. We’ve always had naïve faith that as long as we make things that are good and people like them, more opportunities to make things will arise. We will find money from somewhere to chase our best ideas.
Read the interview in full at Hypebot.com – and expect more from my partnership with Hypebot in coming months!
PV has been silent in recent weeks and I’ve received a few emails demanding answers. Don’t worry- nothing horrible is happening to the site. As a one-man operation, my personal life can interfere with the time and attention involved in running PV. All I’ll say is that December was a big month for me, but we’re back on the air! Get ready for some regular posting again, and if things go as planned, a bit of a site revamp!
Happy end of the holidays and good luck with those new year resolutions!
R&B artist Ne-Yo, born Shaffer Chimere Smith, is, to say the least, disappointed in the sales of his latest album. He blames illegal downloading and an unfortunate early leak of the unfinished album, Libra Scale.
On Twitter:
“ALL HACKERS DIE SLOW!! It’s stealing plain and simple! There’s places where they cut people’s hands off for less! Y’all SUCK!!!!! . . . My apologies y’all. Try to stay positive but these hackers really make me wanna stab somebody!!! (Not for real, but you get my point..) MAD! . . . I work my a** off when it comes to my music! Blood, sweat and tears, I pride myself on it! Only for somebody to hack in and steal it!?”
Later, he clarified:
I just feel like people don’t have patience anymore. Where’s the class and integrity that came with music back in the day? You listen to it before it’s supposed to be listened to and then you don’t like it but you didn’t even give it a chance to get done. That’s like eating a meal before its finished cooking; of course you’re not gonna like it!
I was a little disturbed by my first week numbers, but a lot of things went into that first week number. The album getting leaked a month in advance definitely had something to do with it. That was another situation where I jumped on my soapbox and let the world know how I felt about that. You know it’s the world we live in today, it’s the game. I’m not gonna let the ignorance of some stop me from doing what I feel like I was put on this earth to do.
[Ne-Yo]
[Music Rooms]
Around the interwebs, we found….
Music Piracy In… A Series of Posts (Introduction)
Music Piracy In… The Beginning
Music Piracy In… The 1900s
Fairshare Music – Beta
“You download, we donate.” – Simple enough! (UK only)
Limewire to shut down Dec 31, 2010
Announced yesterday: “Dec. 31, 2010 will mark the day when LimeWire shuts its virtual doors”
Pop will eat itself
“Today’s hottest musicians are too busy making movies and selling perfume. What they don’t understand is that the secret of a long career is a decent back catalogue – and their indifference is killing the music industry.”
Don’t Just Make New Fans – Keep Them
Know how to keep fans engaged.
How Bad Of An Idea Is The Marvel Digital Comics Vault?
Very, says ComicsAlliance.
Comic artist Colleen Doran on comic filesharing
(And comicsreporter weighs in on it)
The Age Of Music Piracy Is Officially Over
It’s a ridiculous notion, but Paul has a lot to say on advances in digital music.
Google is changing to ‘prevent’ illegal filesharing
These tiny tweaks are insignificant and useless on their own, but where does this leave Google on the spectrum?
pirate verbatim 