In the past year, downloading music off of the Internet illegally has continued to be at the forefront of technology-related issues. It is not a bit surprising as songs and albums continue to abound online, and a lot of people will not stop downloading as long as there is something to get. It seems to me that the music execs and government watchdogs have been running around in circles trying to solve this problem.
Jamie Cullum, a jazz-pop sensation from the UK shares the same sentiments. In a recent interview, he admitted to downloading music illegally. He said that he would oftentimes use P2P sharing when he cannot immediately get his hands on an album. He added, though, that he would still buy the album when it came out, or when he found it.
While the idea of illegal downloading doesn’t sit well with me, I understand his point of view. There are times when you just want to listen to the music and release dates and other matters like that make it impossible to do so immediately. That’s when P2P comes in handy. And it’s not like you are taking revenue away from the musicians and the record labels – not if you buy the album anyway, right?
The problem is that not everyone will do this. Many people would probably stop at downloading illegally and not obtain the album legally afterwards. Jamie Cullum thinks that the solution is to come up with services “so sophisticated and so comprehensive that people don’t need to download stuff¬ for free.”
I agree. Now how do we do that?
Tags: illegal downloading, Jamie Cullum, P2P
Categories: Music, Random Thoughts
So what is this three-strikes rule all about? The UK government is pushing for a law which will give those who download illegally two warnings before they reap the consequences of their activities; the consequences being restriction of broadband service.
Naturally, this move has met a lot of resistance. Even musicians could not agree on a single stand. However, recent developments in that sector point to everyone giving their support to the government’s proposal. The Guardian has the story:
The music industry moved last night to heal a rift over illegal filesharing as artists including Lily Allen, George Michael and Sandie Shaw voted to support a “three-strikes” rule that would see online pirates have their broadband connections constrained.
After a three-hour meeting in London, the Featured Artists Coalition, which emerged as a breakaway lobby group in the summer, backed the government’s proposed introduction of “technical measures” to combat the rising tide of copyright theft. If they ignore two warning letters, persistent illegal filesharers should have their broadband connections throttled “to a level which would render filesharing of media files impractical while leaving basic email and web access”, according to a statement after the meeting.
I know I’ll probably make myself the target of hatred, but the proposal looks fair enough to me. After all, people get two warnings before they get “punished.” And as for the punishment, it is not even total termination, plus, it could be only temporary.
What do you think about this proposal?
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
Tags: File Sharing, illegal downloading, news, UK music industry
Categories: Downloading Legally
…as long as it’s not hers. Talk about double standards, huh? Speech Debelle is the controversial Mercury Prize winner, a rapper who is known for being as cocky as she is talented. Her real name is Corynne Elliot, and she recently walked away with a check worth ₤20,000. In spite of that – or maybe because of it – she encouraged people to download illegal music, as long as it is the work of other artists, and not hers.
She is quoted as saying that “There is a recession. People are angry and don’t have the money to spend on rubbish. They should download music for free when it is rubbish. A lot of music sounds the same all day on the radio. Now people will hear my album and know you can make music that’s different. The sincerity has shone through.”
Big words for a relatively unknown artist, don’t you think? Anyhow, I am writing about it not to support her statement, obviously, but to rant about how an artist can even think of such a thing! I mean, okay, there are some artists who would not mind people downloading their music for free. After all, true blue artists just want to get their work out there, never mind not getting rich. But to actually encourage people to rip off fellow artists?
Yeah, it is true that there is rubbish – even a lot of it – being aired on the radio and being sold in music stores, but that does not mean that you should tell people to do something illegal! Oh well, this one is sure to bite her in her behind.
Tags: artists, illegal downloading, Music, music awards, rap, Speech Debelle
Categories: Music
