Artists vs Govt

Musicians applaud illegal downloading

22 Feb 08 - Bands have been having their say on the file-sharing debate following the news that the Government has given internet service providers a deadline to prove they are committed to putting an end to illegal downloads.

The Culture Secretary Andy Burnham says ISPs must prove they are trying to stop music piracy by April 2009, or they'll legislate.

They claim it is in the artists' best interests: “We understand what’s good about the modern industry but we have to understand that if we don’t get the value back into our creative process – into rewarding creators of music – then we won’t insure that Britain has the best music and creative content going into the future.”

We have been talking to a few bands who disagree.

Matthew from Nada Surf has got involved with the debate and it seems illegal file-sharing has worked out for the band in the past: “We played in Brazil a few years ago and we expected there to be a couple of hundred people and there were like 800/900 people.

“It was purely because of the internet and purely because of people passing on mp3s to other people and that was great.”

"We lived and survived through the time where record companies couldn’t make a right decision.”
Peanut from Kaiser Chiefs

Kaiser Chiefs’ Peanut acknowledges the music industry is going through a rough patch, but blames industry bosses for flagging sales, not individual downloaders: “Things are going wrong aren’t they? And in a way I feel privileged.

“I’ve seen it been b*lls-ed up so much. We lived and survived through the time where record companies couldn’t make a right decision.”

Even though CD sales are down, at the Brit Awards this week Mark Ronson said he is confident about the range of talent out there: "Music itself is really healthy... you look at the breadth of all the artists nominated (this evening) from the Arctic Monkeys to myself, to Richard Hawley... to even the international artists, like Arcade Fire and Rufus Wainwright, that didn't even get Grammys or anything - I think it's a healthy time for music."

Ruth Barnes and Kelly Stooke