A properly peeved pirate
Be forewarned, I’m a little pissed off today. So much so, in fact, that my hatred of the Florida Gators is going to have to sit the bench for a bit.
In the past week or so, the music blogging community has been thrown into a state of confusion and fear by a burst of heavy handed enforcement of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act by Google, Blogger and Wordpress at the behest of the Big 4 Record Companies. This enforcement has manifested itself as the deletion of a number of posts that contain or contained links to MP3s of artists in their stables. In some cases, these links had already been removed by the author or had been posted with the permission of the artists before they signed with one of the big boys. Google and Blogger have sent threatening e-mails about copyrighted material without stating the material to which they were referring.
As a part-time music blogger, I initially found myself slightly confused - a feeling that has begun to make the transition to anger. It’s not clear to me where I stand legally. Is my blog going to be deleted because I posted a Jimmy Buffett song (putting taste aside). I blog about music and post tracks because I want to share my love of music. I want people to have a chance to hear the music that makes my heart race. Many people wouldn’t pick up the music that I blog about, because many people haven’t heard of the band. I like to think that, now and again, I expose people to a new band that they then come to love themselves. I like to think that, now and again, someone hears a band on my site and then goes and buys music from that band or goes to see them live. Yes, sometimes I post music without explicit permission but I always post a”Buy” link and encourage readers to go out and buy the whole album. I’ve been asked by record labels to take tracks down in the past and have always complied immediately and apologized. I may be a pirate in the eyes of Columbia, but I think that I’m a pretty well behaved pirate. The Captain Jack Sparrow of music piracy maybe.
I post music because I love music. I want people to support the artists that I love. I, and other music bloggers, are an excellent source of free advertising for the record industry. I don’t get anything back for this - except an occasional free record in the mail - I don’t get paid to give artists that I love advertising.
Well, the Big 4 should probably know that there is nobody angrier and more vindictive than a jilted lover. I would love to stand up and say “fuck you” to Columbia and the other record companies. I would love to give them directions to the orifice in which they can jam their DMCA. But. This blog is more than just a music blog - it’s a personal journal, it’s a baby book for Boy Z and it’s a way for me to remember this part of my life that at some point, as old age catches up with me, I will no doubt forget. I can not risk Bluehost deleting individual posts or my entire site because I’ve violated some bullshit American copyright law that they’ve decided to enforce, with the collusion of Google, in a draconian manner. My hosting company is in the U.S., thus (despite being 10,000 miles away) I am subject to American law.
So, the record companies win the battle. All of the MP3s featured on this site over the last year or so have been removed, whether or not I had permission to post them. I can’t remember and it’s not worth the risk. I will not post music on this site anymore unless I have explicit permission, in writing, from the artist and their record company.
However, they haven’t won the war. The record industry has been in decline for more than a decade. This is just the latest hail mary to save a dying industry. Like some of their other misguided enforcement efforts, this one attacks their customer base. I buy a lot of music, a good part of it from major record labels. I will not generally buy a record unless I have seen a review from a source that I trust or have heard a track or two from the album. Increasingly, I rely on fellow bloggers with similar tastes to help me make that decision. Here is a partial list, off the top of my head, of artists whom I’ve purchased records from based on other bloggers reviews:
Cat Power- Mates of State
- Sigur Ros
- Joe Henry
- Frightened Rabbit
- Moonbabies
- Kings of Leon
- Hem
- Great Lake Swimmers
- The National
- Jamie T.
- Jason Isbel
- The Hold Steady
- Portishead
And many more that don’t come immediately to mind. Well, no more. I will not buy any more music unless it comes from small record labels who have a record of being cooperative with and supportive of music bloggers. That’s unfortunate, as I will likely miss subsequent new releases from some of my favorite acts, but I think it’s time for some populism in music. And there are still used record stores.
That being said, I will still post a song every day. Instead of reaching back into my iTunes library, I will feature the music of new artists who are unsigned or with small record companies who recognize the service that bloggers can provide. If you are a label or artist that would like to work with bloggers to promote your music, please do contact me.
Universal, EMI, Sony, Warner - you’ve bitten the hand that feeds you. Go to hell.
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Super XX Man is the latest musical manifestation of Portland based musician Scott Garred. His new record, “Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds”, is a joyful, pop-culture laden, lo-fi gem. Buy the latest Super XX Man LP directly from independent, blogger friendly Tender Loving Empire.
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[…] Original post by A Free Man […]
30 Oct 2008 at 5:25 am
[…] to Use it and they write amazing posts and I highly recommend them. (A Free mans post on being a properly peeved pirate is most awesome. But I just cant really be bothered to write anything that is not financially […]
30 Oct 2008 at 6:24 am
Holy shit. I cannot even imagine how much time and effort it took to go through all your old posts and yank all of that information. I’d buy you a beer or three if I were local.
The crap thing about all of this is that they are probably yanking site based on their cache and not what is actually live on the site. Start nightly backups, man. It may well be worth it.
NATUIs last blog post..Brushing Teeth the Hard Way
30 Oct 2008 at 6:40 am
NATUI - No, I just deleted the files in bulk. I don’t understand caches but I don’t think anyone but my hosting company can remove my posts. I’m going to ask them.
30 Oct 2008 at 7:56 am
I seriously don’t get it. It’s not like we’re leaking albums or anything. Most of the mp3 blogs are either promoting new artists (in my case) or a look at your own life with music thrown in (like yours).
This is completely biting the hand that feeds you. Today, I experienced it again. I posted on Tim Myers whose label contacted me a while back and asked if I would listen. I did, I liked, and I posted. Then I get asked to remove the mp3s, which I did. However, without the music to back up the post, I feel like the post is useless. No one’s going to click on a buy link if there’s no way to preview the tracks.
You’re right, this is bullshit.
Andrews last blog post..Tim Myers lives the good life
30 Oct 2008 at 9:34 am
I just love how, this blog and each post can be considered your work, your copywritten material, like the chapters of a book, that the record companies feel they have a right to pull. It’s like walking into a library and randomly ripping out pages of books because they happen to be next to a Prince CD on the shelf. Amazing.
I’m with you, hon. Fuck the big 4!
Coal Miner’s Granddaughters last blog post..Therapy
30 Oct 2008 at 12:25 pm
man that so sucks. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!
capitalism at its worst?
30 Oct 2008 at 5:47 pm
It’s a free rider problem, if people can get something for free,most of them will. It’s not a problem that’s going away, Limewire, Frostwire and other systems are not going away, and every time they shut one down, ten more spring up in their place. The big labels need to absolutely change their business model. Artists need to include more on cds if they want them purchased. If you buy an mp3, you need to be free to use it the way you want. If Peter Gabriel releases a best of or a live album or an acoustic best of, I’ll buy it. He typically has great extras and I know I like 90% of his work so spending the $ is worth it. I use free downloading to sample music I’ve never heard of or someone else recommends, if I dig it, I buy it.Asking music bloggers to not preview or include file downloads is dumb because I look to guys like you who do the homework for me to help guide my hand when it comes time to plunk some money down. Terribly shortsighted.
Chriss last blog post..Open Letter to My Cat’s Veternarian
30 Oct 2008 at 6:07 pm
I don’t download music illegally. I never have. I have always considered every song I’ve cared enough about to purchase as sort of part of the soundtrack of my life. For me, it was worth buying them.
This really upsets me. I’ve never really visited a music blog that held itself in check with as much respect for the artists and labels as you have here.
I have made several purchases since finding your blog. Artists I had never heard of before until being introduced to them here. So now I guess my future purchases will be even more important because you’ll be introducing me to small, more deserving choices!
Andrew’s comment is dead on. If you hadn’t provided samples of that music when you posted about it, I would never have purchased it. I don’t see how they can continue to piss off their paying customers.
30 Oct 2008 at 7:25 pm
Grrrrrrrrr. This is SO frustrating! Like the others, you have introduced the BA and I to many musical experiences which usually induce us to purchase something off itunes as a result (until I found I couldn’t play itunes format on my mp3 player, double grrrrrrr).
Well, record companies have always been aresholes, so no change there. More fool them though!
arizaphales last blog post..When The Air Becomes Uranious/Uraneous?
30 Oct 2008 at 8:38 pm
You go on with your righteous indignation. I support you 100%.
31 Oct 2008 at 2:14 am
I haven’t bought music from the Big4 in over 4 years. The 2 factors were their treatment of music fans/customers, and the fact that artists get pennies from each sold album.
I gave to say though, I think it’s great that you’re shifting your attention to the “little guys” now. There are myriad great artists out there for you to choose from and showcase, and I’m honestly looking forward to reading THOSE posts.
31 Oct 2008 at 3:30 am
The battle hymn of the republic was beating in my chest by the end of that…
Well said.
31 Oct 2008 at 7:53 am
ANdrew - I think we need to focus on people that want press from bloggers, screw the big boys.
CMGD - Nice analogy.
SSG - Rage Against the Machine is probably on one of the Big 4’s labels.
Chris - You’re dead on about the free rider problem, but trying to fight them is like playing whack-a-mole. Music bloggers buy a lot of music and try to sell a lot as well.
Angel - Thanks for verifying my suspicions!
Ariza - I’ll still introduce y’all to music, just smaller bands.
Gypsy - I love me some righteous indignation!
Joe - I don’t know an industry that treats their customers worse. Actually, maybe the airlines.
Xbox - Mine eyes have seen the glory…
31 Oct 2008 at 9:41 am
Yes, we do buy a lot! Yes, we do encourage others to buy! Yes, they are biting the hand that feeds them!
Seen Toad’s post about this new Shockhound website? Paranoid as it may seem, the fact that they’re just starting up now and providing downloads from artists all signed up to the Big 4 - artists who featured in a number of the posts being yanked for no reason - may prove to be a coincidence too powerful to ignore.
Agness last blog post..tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway
31 Oct 2008 at 5:56 pm
the most idiotic thing about this is that there’s such a disconnect between the pr people who literally cram my inbox with new music that they’re BEGGING me to promote and the labels who cry foul and demand it be taken down.
and we do it for free. imagine if they had to pay for all the publicity they get from bloggers?
it is like matthew aka song by toad says, it’s a crying shame that we are the ones who are alerting the publicists that this is happening.
anyway, it makes me sad that you won’t be posting all the music you’d like to from now on. i’m going to keep on living dangerously for the moment and post (mostly) what i want when i want. maybe it will blow over (she says with her head in the sand).
mjrcs last blog post..Don’t Let Their Name Dissuade You, The Danks Are Not Dank At All
01 Nov 2008 at 4:18 am
The spouse and I own a HUGE catalogue of music. Much of it has been purchased multiple times — first in vinyl (sometimes more than once, because they wore out), some on cassette, and then pretty much everything again on CD. Between the two of us, we have sunk a small fortune into the record industry.
But no longer. We _never_ buy music anymore unless we can buy it directly from the artist. And even then, not if it’s RIAA music (RIAA Radar). No iTunes, no Amazon — and really, not a whole lot of new music (much to my frustration).
If the music industry’s intention was to kill the music industry, they’re going about it in just exactly the right way.
alices last blog post..Finally putting the concerns of women where they belong…
02 Nov 2008 at 8:44 am