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Music industry 0-1 Illegal downloaders
The beleaguered entertainment industry has received another blow in its battle against the downloaders, as uber-cool music producer Danger Mouse has revealed plans to issue his latest album with a blank CD-R.
Due to a falling out with the suits at his record company, EMI, Danger Mouse (real name Brian Burton) will release his Dark Night of the Soul album with elaborate packaging, but will ask his fans to download the contents via the internet on to the included blank disc - and not by official sources either.
Young Mr Burton, who is half of Gnarls Barkley, has worked with Banksy and Damon Albarn (there is always room for one blip) and first won praise with his internet-only - and non-record company sanctioned - The Grey Album, a mashup of the Beatles and Jay Z. Now, following the EMI dispute, Danger Mouse says he "hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is".
The announcement is surely the sort of thing that sees record company execs remove their faces from mirrored surfaces and move at speed in the direction of high-storey windows. Just consider what the entertainment industry has to put up with already: early releases, forced preview downloads, DRM technology and unnecessary accompanying applications - and that's just the music biz.
Just last week, the UK creative industry stopped searching eBay for limited edition Nike trainers long enough to ask ISPs to step on prolific filesharers, while a study from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) revealed that one in four software installations in the UK was illegal.
Illegal software, the BSA warned, might not live up to your expectations and could leave you open to security issues - leaving Sneak wondering when they were going to start talking about how it differed from the official version in many cases.
While the above examples aren't quite as cool as Hip Hop industry spats, they still show just how concerned the 'biz' remains about pirates. Artists lowering a ladder for the miscreants to jump onboard ship isn't going to help anyone. Unless...
Sneak eagerly awaits the day that Celine Dion follows suit. Because surely a blank Ms Dion CD is the best Ms Dion CD.
In the current recession, there is the likelihood of an increase in pirated software, both individually and within companies. It is also likely that software publishers will increase their efforts in auditing customers to ensure they are fully compliant with the terms of any software license agreement. Companies would be well advised to ensure they have their house in order prior to any vendor audit, as the disruption, costs and public exposure of fraudulent activity can be hugely damaging for any company already struggling to make ends meet.
Posted by Robbie Richmond | May 19, 2009 9:59 AM
You know what, stop ragging on mrs. celine, yes people may hate her. but her success and accolades tell everyone that she is a mega hit and can really sing. So please keep your hating views to yourself
Posted by Derek | May 19, 2009 6:58 AM
Fantastic article, and fantastic news.
It's always great to hear when an artist sticks their fingers up at their major label.
I've said for years, there's not a "music industry", there's 2 music industries... a "money music industry" and a "music music industry", although my manageress at my old job at EMI disagreed with me.
Personally, I am an illegal downloader. I say this without the slightest shame, because I also own 300+ CDs and a similar number of DVDs, all of which are official releases that I have purchased legitimately.
I got sick of buying albums based on liking a single track, then getting them home and realising I hated the rest of the album.
Then there's the radio... full of overly commercial tripe that should warrant the artists in question and their labels being taken to court and charged with crimes against music!
So now, I download as much as I can get my hands on, listen at my leisure, and if I decide I like an album I go and buy it so that only the artists that deserve my money get my money.
As far as I'm concerned, I am a crusader against injustice. The labels have had it their own way for far too long and I for one am grateful that this "illegal" route is available so that people like myself can finally have a way of auditioning their music before buying it.
To the author of the article (and anyone else that's reading): I can tell from your article that we share a distaste for the commercial music world. I've recently started a website dedicated to finding the best REAL music out there. Please come and check us out, join the forum, and tell your friends! :)
it's...
http://www.realmusicforum.com
Posted by Phil P | May 18, 2009 3:36 PM