[M.I.I] File sharing- Lily Allen's and Elly Jackson's views

I was looking at La Roux's Myspace page when I noticed that the singer, Elly had posted something about file sharing. Elly wrote about Lily Allen's reaction (on 14th Sept) to an article whilst also giving her opinion. The article from The Times website is focused on how file sharing has affected the music industry. This is extremely interesting and relevant to my project as two pop artists have spoken about the problems with the advancing online technology.
Both Lily and Elly seemed offended by the similar comments made by members of the bands in Radiohead, Blur and Pink Floyd. Basically the band members think that file sharing actually helps the music industry, as it almost markets their music and also promotional things, including tours and music products. I do agree with Lily and Elly with how richer artists and bands can afford to have their fans downloading illegally. Newcomers have to rely on their record label to generate their fame first to become noticed and liked by their audience. It is an extremely expensive process and the artists/bands easily have a heavy debt to pay afterwards. On the other hand, many popular and well known, rich artists/bands would have been in the same position when first becoming noticed by listeners. It seems a continuous cycle that music artists are going to face unless they have lots of money to start their careers.
Radiohead's guitarist Ed O’Brien said: “My generation grew up with the point of view that you pay for your music. Every generation has a different method. File sharing is like a sampler, like taping your mate’s music. You go, ‘I like that, I’ll go and buy the album’. Or, ‘you know what, I’ll go and see them live’. This is a fair point but then some artists can't let their music be given away like this, it costs them greatly. However by listening consuming their music they will probably consume more of their music and buy their merchandise.
I wanted to see what some of the public wanted to say in response to Lily's Myspace blog post. Avner Peled thought, "fighting against file sharing is next to impossible. There are just too many people and the internet is too big, accessible and free (which is ultimately a good thing)." This is very true as the amount of websites the internet allows us to access is crazy. He then goes on to say how the music industry "should adapt, like it has already started doing, making payed downloading cheaper and easier". I think the process of eliminating these problems is going to take a very long time as illegal downloading sites and softwares are accessible and available to lots of people. Even more, some don't understand the damage they cause to the artists and also in a way to themselves. Some users receive viruses and some may have had or will have their internet connections cut. This topic is one with many pro's and con's and it is difficult to weigh them out as there are so many! Some artists benefit and some don't because they can either afford to lose profits or not.
Users who download illegally often are not aware of their actions or rather don't fully understand what they are doing. Others live off the fact that they can create music of their own, creating mash-ups and remixes, ignoring the copy-right issues. Further more, what is the point in having Spotify and other websites which allow you to listen to music when many users just listen to tracks then delete them? Another commenter on Lily's page (Michelle Granelli) mentioned how they "couldn't afford to spend huge amounts on albums, taking the risk that they were any good. So I'd download a few tracks and if I liked what I heard I bought the album. If not I deleted the files." This suggests how users like Michelle Granelli just listened to the music but through illegal methods. I am aware that Spotify is relatively new but Myspace has been around for years. Spotify is a really encouraging method for music listeners to consume music. It does the job like illegal downloading but it isn't illegal.
The same commenter also said:
"I think file sharing should just be used for things like concert recordings where the artist/band encourages fans to record shows and share them out....it's advertising for them without having to do it themselves!". An interesting and good point.
The main dilemma with this issue is how there are so many underlying levels that it seems impossible to stop. Creators of illegal downloading sites and softwares will continue to find new ways of getting around the bans. What worries me the most is how well-known artists and people are saying that downloading illegally is all dandy, but it's illegal and they are not setting a very good example to the public.
"People respected and loved music, they valued it far more back then." KaH, Myspace commenter.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6828262.ece