Snarky Puppy's Paycheck

 Because I mostly stream music I don't have much of an opinion on if its ok for free downloading of music. I want musicians to make money and i want people to enjoy music and be able to access it.

The group Snarky Puppy was recently in Boston at the Berklee Performance Center kicking off their one year tour of more than 200 shows. The leader of the group Michael League in between songs made some jokes about how the group gets minimal checks from Spotify yet hundreds of thousands of plays. The group’s small royalty checks may explain why Snarky Puppy and many other artists go on these long tours. Although it would be unclear what Michael League’s view on music sharing and whatnot is, it might say something for the consumer. It might be interpreted as, ‘you should buy my music so, me, your favorite band can keep making music and be prosperous’. But it might also be even more of a reason to get the music free because not only do you get it free, you get to see the band when they tour through your town. And maybe that is how it should be, because everyone likes a live show.

The world of how much artist’s paychecks rack up to be can get pretty complicated with all kinds of new things involved like streaming. Spotify and youtube are big ones. With a little bit a research it wasn’t too hard to find out that most artists are not making millions through streaming. An independent artist might get lower than 10 dollars per 10,000 streams on Spotify. It takes a lot to make good money off of streaming music i would say. I can’t say much about it but i would imagine that record labels  make things much more complicated. Record labels to me have a reputation for basically stealing from artists, taking the majority of their music’s revenue and making them pay for their recording costs. If independent artists can’t make a lot from streaming I’m assuming it’s even harder if you have a label. I don’t know if there are new record labels now that are better but thats beside the point. The point is that its complicated for artists to make money from streaming usually not to their advantage.

Or is it? The idea is that it doesn’t really matter how much money you're making from the music if it is getting people to listen to it and getting publicity from being free to everyone. If the music is free and accessible then it has the ability to be spread faster and making a little dough along with it would only be an added bonus. not the main focus.  When more people listen to the music more people pay for concert tickets and pay for the music in other places. When you think about it, me, maybe you, and many others, discover their music from Youtube, Spotify, etc. The artist isn’t making a lot from the streaming itself but now that song you just posted to your Facebook page might get bought in another place where the artist is making more money because you showed it to your friends.

I will admit that I listen to Snarky Puppy through Spotify and haven’t actually bought any of their music at all, even though they have been a serious favorite of mine for a good two or three months now. But does it say something that i bought tickets to one of their shows. I probably spent more on the one concert than i would on purchasing 3 of their albums anyway. Here’s something interesting, I also introduced 5 of my friends to the band through Spotify and Youtube and the 5 all bought tickets to the same concert and a few actually bought their albums. I discovered Snarky Puppy through free streaming and now I introduced them to even more people so really its going to make them more money in the end I guess.

Here is a few fairly strong, conflicting opinions on free music that I found interesting.

"As an artist who has dedicated his life to music and the music business, I have seen what illegal music copying has done and continues to do to new and established musicians. I understand why people download music, but for me and my fellow artists, this is our livelihood. When you make an illegal copy, you're stealing from the artist. It's that simple. Every single day we're out here pouring our hearts and souls into making music for everyone to enjoy. What if you didn't get paid for your job? Put yourself in our shoes!" Sean (P. Diddy) Combs

"I like what's going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music. It's the democratisation of music in a way, and music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift." -- Shakira    

I like how Shakira mentions the idea of being connected to your audience and listener. As an artist it seems like connecting to your listening would bring value and sincerity to your songs and will probably make you more money in the long run too. At the same time P. Diddy argues it is not only his, but many peoples “livelihood” and it would be like not getting paid for your job if people take your music free.

    There are lots of opinions floating around and that's healthy to any issue. I do hope that it can be easier for musicians to make a living, but in these times there’s a lot of competition and lots of great music out there.

Piracy: What do the artists think? ♪♫

     When it comes to the topic of illegally downloading music, everyone seems to have an opinion on it one way or another. The strongest opinions however, are understandably, held by the artists themselves. The internet also plays a large role in music as it is a way for artists to promote themselves and provide customers an alternative way to buy their music. I interviewed Julia Taliesin on her views on the internet's involvement in music. She is part of the indie singer/songwriter duo Addy & Julia. She says that when it comes to the internet, she has found it to be absolutely vital in both creating a fan base by exposing their music to new potential fans and in selling their music. Addy & Julia post everything their band does, including performances and new songs, on the internet for anyone to see. She says "It broadcasts our stuff so no one can forget about us, because our music is literally right at their fingertips." Being an up and coming artist, as opposed to an already well established famous idol, she finds the internet to be a great way to spread her music as on the internet they have access to just as many potential fans as more famous artists do. When asked about her stance on internet piracy of music she said she was completely against it as it is disrespectful to the artist as well as downright illegal (obviously). She has never downloaded anything illegally and does not plan to. When questioned about how she balances spreading her music through the internet and making money from her music she says that her primary motivation is to be heard and spread her music. Money is only an added advantage. When I asked Addy whether she shared the same views as her band mate she replied (insert southern accent) "Aw hell no." She thinks that if a listener downloads her music illegally she is alright with it, as long as they are listening to the music it does not matter as much if they reap the rewards financially.
     Another artist who has very strong opinions on the nature of illegal downloading is the rapper and singer Anthony Rojas, known by his two stage names, Tonedeff and Peter Anthony Red. In his song, "Napster anthem" he demonstrates how he thinks the artists who complain about illegal downloading are selfish and greedy. He recorded the song with another artist PackFM who defends piracy by arguing that there are places where the only form of exposure that they can have to music is through the internet and that some people may not be able to afford purchasing music. In Tonedeff's verse he says "But notice, the only artists complaining seem to have the fattest pockets / It's sad and shocking the way that greed controls the nation" Essentially he is trying to say in this song that internet piracy has become a way in which people can enjoy music in the modern era and that it should not matter to artists as much whether someone pays for the music as much as the fact that they get the opportunity to experience it. As you may have guessed by the song's title, he also specifically defends Napster, as at this time it was in the process of being taken down due to infringement of copyright laws.
     Another artist who has voiced his support for internet piracy is Neil Young. He says that the internet is the best way in the modern era to promote music, saying that "Piracy is the new radio, that's how music gets around. That's the real world for kids." He also supports the idea of creating newer high quality files of music, since the sound quality of mp3s or even CDs is far inferior to that of the vinyl records that were most commonly listened to by the previous generation. In an ideal world, he thinks that people would pirate music that they were interested in first, downloading the standard quality file, and then purchase the higher quality files of those songs that they valued most. He also says that the low quality of mp3s is obstructive to the artistici intent of the musician as the audio is not as rich as they intended it to be, and therefore the song is heard differently. Creating a higher quality file of music to download could solve this problem.

sources:
http://www.urbanlyrics.com/lyrics/tonedeff/napsteranthem.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204652904577195252709906484.html
http://www.carbonated.tv/news/7-us-congress-employees-found-downloading-pirated-content-online

Addy Sleeman... What Do You Think?... Also Some Other Artists

Addy and Julia Website

My opinions on downloading are not shared by many other artists, Addy Sleeman, of local indie-pop band, Addy and Julia, is one of those artists who does happen to agree with me. Addy believes that it is acceptable to download music for it is a way to share it with others. When asked what she would say to people downloading her music she jokingly replied, "I hope you you can sleep at night," but said she thought it was best to "spread the love."  Addy believes that downloading music is "a great way to share the music and show others what you're interested in." She also has strong feelings about how other artists should react to downloading. Addy believes that "musicians should be in the business for the love of the music, not for the money".
I also asked Addy if her partner in crime, Julia Taliesin, shared the same views... they do not. Julia feels the complete opposite. She feels that is absolutely not okay to download. Addy admits that she has downloaded, what she assumes to be more music than Julia has, which seems like a fair assumption, seeing as Julia has never illegally downloaded.

Flickrcc

There are two different extremes that new, or not well known, musicians can have. You can be happy that your music is being listened to and gaining a following, or you can be upset that you aren’t getting what you deserve from your hard work. These are both reasonable outlooks.
Though I did not talk to them face to face, I also looked up Ed Sheeran and Paloma Faith’s thoughts on downloading music.
Ed Sheeran has a healthy, yet unique point of view on this subject. Sheeran believes that downloading is fine, he doesn’t seem to care either way. In an article online Ed Sheeran is quoted saying “I didn't make the album to go on tens of thousands of iPods. I made the album to be universal and for everyone to hear it. So if nine million have my record and 800,000 come to my gig and pay £30, I make a living”. I think this is the outlook that most artists should have. Ed, though he is a well known artist and doesn’t have to worry about not selling out concerts, has the viewpoint of an obscure artists, because he just emerged from obscurity recently, therefore he still knows what downloading can do to an artist in need. Sheeran has a very relaxed view on downloading his music and, as long as it isn’t effecting his living, he believes it is fine.

Flickrcc

Paloma Faith is on the completely opposite side of the tracks. In this interview with CBI, The Confederation of British Industry, Paloma states that there should be some sort of punishment for downloading. Faith sympathizes with the other people in her industry, who cannot make a living off what people actually buy. Paloma believes that downloading is a “massive problem” in the music industry and is burning bridges. If people want to become as well known and successful as people like Adele or Jessie J then one thing that needs to be prevented is downloading.
Though I don’t agree with this outlook, I understand that downloading may be annoying to some artists. Downloading to me, like Addy, is about experiencing and sharing music. Though there might not be money involved, without downloading most artists would not be as well known as they are, and their income would be suffering even more.

The Price of Music

Sure there are piracy laws to crack down on the illegal downloads of music, but does that do anything? Do musicians actually care if their music is being paid for or downloaded for free? If not, then how do they make their living? Musicians are people and need money to live and survive in society. Yet surprisingly a good amount of musicians don't care if fans pay for their music or just download it for free. Lady Gaga started off giving her music away for free to try to build a fan base. Today that and the internet seems like the easiest way for aspiring musicians to make a name for themselves. A musician trying to make a name for themselves could easily up-load a video on YouTube of them preforming a song or make a Facebook page for themselves or their band. According to Shakira, music is a gift and shouldn't have a price.

So if music shouldn't have a price and artists need to give away free music to promote themselves, how do they make music. Lady Gaga in an interview says her largest income is from concerts and live performances. It is all about connecting with the fans and not just having them buy your CDs. Part of that connecting with the fans might be free downloads of music. Radiohead in 2007 had their fans pick their own price for their album "In Rainbows" on their website. Majority of the albums ended up being downloaded for free. So surprisingly, many artists don't have a problem with the free downloads of music. Now a days many artists resort to obtaining money from other means other than CD sales and digital downloads.

http://uk.music-jobs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/fac.jpg

Many musicians including Robbie Williams, Billy Bragg, Blur's David Rowntree, and Radiohead's Ed O'Brien are against the general public being prosecuted for illegally downloading music. The musicians are trying to appeal to their audience, not criminalize them. Bragg told the Independent newspaper on this issue of artists' rights and illegal downloading that, "Artists should own their own rights and they should decide when their music should be used for free, or when they should have payment." A musician should have the right to say under what circumstances and what price should their music be paid for. The Featured Artists Coalition, which is made up of Britain’s largest rock and pop artists, is more so against companies using their copyrighted music in commercials than the public domain downloading free music. As said earlier, many artists don’t believe that their fans should be punished for wanting to listen to their music.   

Sources
http://www.pcworld.com/article/161240/radiohead_pink_floyd_downloading_music_not_crime.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/its-not-a-crime-to-download-say-musicians-1643217.html
http://bhsportlight.com/2011/12/03/artists-view-on-illegal-downloading/
http://www.popeater.com/2009/10/21/shakira-illegal-downloading/
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100524/0032549541.shtml

Obtaining the opinions of three musicians

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47422005@N04/6720673741

In a continuous effort to understand different views on copyright, I have recently interviewed Miss Joanna Rosen, who is not only a terrific friend, but also both an artist and a performer with very distinguished opinions on copyright. Joanna has participated in various shows and performances. Since she is currently only sixteen (and according to her, “not in the Actors’ Equity Association”), she generally isn’t paid, but there has been occasions in the past where she was paid. Either way, it is obvious to the both of us that performing is not currently her most lucrative source of income. Joanna states that because she doesn’t make a living off of her productions, she is fine with (and has grown to accept) the fact that some of her performances are available for viewing on the internet.

However, Joanna also points out that because she is mostly a “Broadway styled performer” who sings primarily non-original, musical theater pieces, she does not feel like she has the right to be paid to perform somebody else’s music, nor does she expect people to pay for watching her videos, though she would feel uncomfortable with the fact that people are enjoying her performances without paying the composers or herself. It appears that Joanna does care for copyright, but only if the work is by or belongs to her originally. To conclude our intellectually-stimulating interview, I asked Joanna, “I happen to know you aspire to be on Broadway in the future; If you were a renowned Broadway star, would your opinion for any of the preceding questions change? How?” Interestingly enough, she replied, “Well, if I was on Broadway I don't think my opinions would change much. However, if I was in an original Broadway cast, I would get paid for my work on that cast's album. I don't think I would feel great about the fact that someone could look up a video of me performing one of the songs on that album instead of buying that song or the entire album.”

"Though I do love listening to music on YouTube for free," she says,"I always try to buy my favorite musicians' or performers' music so that I support them in a way that will help them. I think copyright rules are in place for a reason and it's important to follow those rules so that performers' and musicians' don't get ripped off."

In contrast, artists such as Trent Reznor and Erin McKeown publicly support the internet as a way to publicize their work and thus, they strongly oppose recent petitions such as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), two controversial anti-piracy bills, intended to “strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft.” To them, the internet is a way of allowing them to reach new audiences and communicate directly with millions of fans, which they obviously find very beneficial.

After a friendly interview with a close friend and some tedious research, I can reasonably conclude that... this world is a strange place. Joanna, who as far as we know, is not yet a victim of the disadvantages of the internet, seems to care more for the free distribution of work than artists who are victims. Fortunately, artists such as Trent Reznor and Erin McKeown may be victims, but are not suffers, of the internet. In fact, unlike most stingy and unoriginal artists today, they’ve completely embraced the internet as a method of distributing their work. Joanna is right: we should support our favorite artists, and certain rules exist to be obeyed. But the world of entertainment is a highly competitive battlefield. Which artists are more likely to survive: the ones who you can afford to listen to, or the ones like the extremely bored person who spent the past few months suing Carly Rae Jepsen for supposed violation of copyright, meanwhile disregarding her own decline in popularity?

 

Confusion with Copyright

                Everyone knows that the person that creates a song owns it, or do they? Once publishers, and record deals get added into the mix, what seems black and white turns grey. Free distribution of music and illegal downloading; make simply getting paid for a song much more difficult. All of these contributing factors make copyright and downloading a touchy topic, and confusing for just about anyone who takes part in music world. The lines become blurred for even the artist’s themselves, and some have voiced their opinions for or against all of these things.

                Talking to an undiscovered artist, about how she acquired her music, led me to find that even she is guilty of downloading off of youtube on occasion. But most of the time she does buy CDs. When asking her about how she felt about people downloading her music off of youtube she didn’t seem to mind. As for the free distribution of music, she believed that it solved a lot of problems because people download most of their music without paying for it anyway. She believed that it wasn’t fair to an artist though, seeing that they are robbed of money in the process of free distribution. Anytime a song is downloaded from the internet, no matter what, an artist should be getting a contribution.

                After talking to her I realized how conflicting it is for an artist. Does free distribution of music do more harm than good? An artist may answer yes to this, but it does also broaden the fan base, and for many undiscovered artists that is crucial in their career. She seemed conflicted in her own views, seeing how fans downloading music off of youtube helped her, but also felt that artist should be getting a contribution. 

          

Other artists, discovered and undiscovered, have some very strong opinions for and against piracy and copyright. Two popular artists that have voiced their thoughts are the Beatles and Lady Gaga. The Beatles are against piracy, supporting the crackdown on the music copyright laws. Lady Gaga on the other hand doesn’t care about piracy. 

            The Beatles support the music copy right laws, and how they are attempting to become stricter. To show their support of the laws the Beatles created a short animated video on youtube. The video doesn’t out right say that they are against piracy, but shows how important music is to them, and all the stories they shared through music.  The video was in support of the Music Matters campaign, which works to reach out to people and show them the ethical reasons as to why they shouldn’t pirate songs. The Music Matters campaign has attracted many other popular artists along with the Beatles such as Sigur Ros and The Jam.

 

            On the other end of the spectrum is Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga used music as a way to create her fan base and to connect to people to build her popularity. She believes that pirating music doesn’t really matter, because the real money lies with touring. Telling them to just go out and buy an album all the time is mean and that you should go tour with your fans, from all over the world.

I can see how Lady Gaga would be in support of pirating because she used it as a tactic to get herself off the ground. Many other artists share the same beliefs as Lady Gaga such as Shakira, Nora Jones, and Jack White. The controversy over the issue, and the sheer number of songs and consumers, make solving piracy and copyright problems extremely difficult to solve.

Sources:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100524/0032549541.shtml
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/lady-gaga-jack-white-norah-jones-musicians-piracy_n_1258319.html#s666908&title=Norah_Jones
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/the-beatles-get-animated-about-music-piracy/

          

Music: Is it REALLY Necessary to Legally Download it?

 Music: Is it REALLY Necessary to Legally Download it?

Music ownership, copyright and internet distribution of music is a serious matter for many musicians. In fact, it is hard to name a single musician who does not care about any of this. Music ownership, copyright, and internet distribution of music affects the careers of many musicians, and a lot of them have strong beliefs that they are not afraid to share with the world. I did some research online to get the opinions on some famous musicians, and I was able to get one from an article about the newly popular British musician, Ed Sheeran. Because of all of his illegally downloaded music, Sheeran likes to call himself "the most illegally downloaded artist in the UK. In the article, Sheeran says, "I didn't make the album to go on tens of thousands of iPods. I made the album to be universal and for everyone to hear it. So if nine million have my record and 800,000 come to my gig and pay £30, I make a living." He expresses that even though he feels that his music is constantly being downloaded illegally, his main goal is to get people to listen to it, buy his record, and come to his gig. For Sheeran, the money is obviously important, because it helps him make a living, but he is mostly focused on having his music be heard all over the world. While I was conducting some research online, I also was able to find Keith Urban's opinion in an article about the 2010 People's Choice Awards, where Urban won an award for favorite male artist. In his acceptance speech, Urban says, “I don’t even care if you download it [my music] illegally, give it to your friends, I really don’t care... I love the people to hear the music and come out and see us play live.” Urban clearly hadn't thoroughly gone through what he said in his acceptance speech, because he made it sound like he didn't care at all about downloading his or ant music illegally. Fortunately, he had a chance to correct himself, and this time he says, for the record, I absolutely care about my music not being taken for free... But I love when people are passionate and want to turn friends on to music.” Urban expresses that he also believes it is important to download music legally, because the money is important to his career, but he mostly wants people to listen to his music for enjoyment purposes.

After I researched the opinions of some celebrities, I decided to interview a local musical celebrity and classmate, Hayley Reardon. Hayley is a 16 year old singer/songwriter who is a sophomore at MHS. I decided to ask Hayley a few questions to get her opinion on the topic.

1)      Do you use the internet to promote your music? If you do, how?

Yes! I use social media like Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Tumblr, etc. to put out new music, info on live shows, and just connect with fans as much as possible. I also collect email addresses and send out a newsletter with similar info on gigs and new music.

2)      Is your music sold on the internet?

Yes...it’s sold on most of the main sites people use to purchase music.

3)      Do your fans obtain your music without paying for it - by burning CDs, file sharing, etc.? If they do, how do you feel about it?

I’m sure they do but I don’t take it personally. It’s a bummer to have people accessing it for free when its available for sale, but I’m fully aware that the number of people actually paying for music online is in total decline and am always on the lookout for new and creative ways to subsidize my art and make up for the profits that are lost due to music piracy.

Reardon, just like Sheeran, Urban, and many other musicians, doesn’t care too much if people are illegally downloading it, because just having people listen to the music and want to get access to it is more important. After getting the opinions of these three musicians, I have come to a conclusion that while music ownership is extremely important to musicians, what’s really important to them is that people are listening to their music and want to get a hold of it somehow.

Image Sources: www.peoplestylewatch.com, www.13abc.com, and www.passim.org 

         

Piracy in the Music Industry: What The Artists Think

 Piracy of music over the internet has become something of an economic downfall for many artists. Yet, the internet is almost necessary for artists to get off the ground and to gain recognition, as well as to distribute their music. When Julia of the indie band Addy&Julia was asked if she used the internet to promote her music and how, she replied:

"I use the internet for almost everything! That’s where it’s at these days. We use Facebook regularly as well as post new music videos as much as we can. It’s all about exposure and the internet is an easy source to use. We also have a website we update regularly. Check it out!"

She also said that using websites such as CD Baby and iTunes makes it easy for people who heard of them or saw them one time to check out their music. Though the main source of income for this specific band is from CD sales and gigs, Julia said that she thinks that it's disrespectful and straight up impolite to not pitch in the measly $0.99 for a single song to support the artist. After all, it is the artist the depends on the buyer to pay for the song, and in effect, contribute to the continuity of the band. But as of right now, for Addy&Julia, piracy isn't that big of a deal for the band because right now, as Julia put it: "Right now it’s all about getting fans and viewers. Down the road, revenue will become more important, but at the moment gaining popularity is the main goal."  In the case of small indie bands such as Addy&Julia, the top two sources of income are CD's and gigs, but for much larger artists, they may depend more on internet downloads of their music. Internet downloads of music are the aspect of the music industry which are suffering the most from internet piracy. This is so because pirating music is simply the easiest way to obtain music today; it's free, it's accessible, and because so many are doing it, you probably wont get caught. 
To combat this, some organizations or artists are taking a stand against online piracy of music. The artist Prince is especially taking an especially eccentric measure, he vowed not to release a single album until the issue of online piracy in the music industry is under control. Prince has taken exercising his rights to his intellectual property very seriously. He has gone to the extent to wage a legal war against file sharing giants YouTube and The Pirate Bay, as well as eBay. From this we can see that Prince is ardently against the prospect of anybody hearing his music without having paid for it.
Other artists, on the other hand, don't really mind piracy of their music. Some believe that it helps spread their popularity, others say that touring makes up for lost revenue. As pop artist Lady GaGa put it:

"You know how much you can earn off touring, right? Big artists can make anywhere from $50 millon for one cycle of two years' touring. Giant artists make upwards of $100 million. Make music--then tour. It's just the way it is today"(Source: Techdirt)

Artists such as Ed O'Brien and Neil Young back up her opinion, O'Brien said "Pirates may not buy the album, but they're spending their money buying concert tickets, a T-shirt, whatever." (Source: Midem) So overall, yes it is harming the industry, but there is a split in opinion among many artists. Some say it helps spread their music and touring makes up for it, others, such as Prince, ardently stand against it.

                                    http://www.flickr.com/photos/46466819@N00/11368122



Artist's websites:
http://addyandjulia.com/

Ownership of Music: The Little Things that Make a Difference:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/3617553/sizes/o/in/photostream/

We all have different opinions of music's inherent value and on music sharing. There are also laws and licenses which help govern the world of music sharing. Although some artists are less outspoken on the set rules of copyrighting, copyrighting  infringement and licensing, others have stronger opinions. I interviewed Jessica Prouty, who had some interesting thoughts on the matter. Though Prouty makes money off of her performances and work, she also does not think it is a big deal if her fans illegally download her music, reasoning that if the fans are interested enough in her works to download her music, a tangible financial investment will be sure to come later. When asked about her opinion on these issues, Prouty said "...when a fan illegally downloads our music, it is usually because they enjoy it. That illegally downloaded music will lead them to buy a ticket to a show, purchase a t-shirt, and commit themselves to our brand as a whole. It might even sway them to purchase our next CD in the future, as well as many shows to come." 

Prouty also believes that government involvement in illegal downloading of music is unnecessary. "If the government attacks those who illegally download artistic content, they are hindering the population’s knowledge, creativity, and culture... most people who illegally download an artist’s music commit to the artist’s brand. They will spend money down the line, regardless if they spend the initial $9.99 for the artist’s CD or not." Jessica not only believes that fans who illegally download will spend later spend money down the line, but also that this is almost like an investment .  "The piece of creativity that makes an artist who they are is being practically given away. At the same time, they are paying it forward – they will make more money in giving their creativity away. It’s almost like investing in your fans. They will give back!"

Not everybody feels the same way. Famed musician Prince is prepared to go to lengths as drastic as filing lawsuits in order to protect his rights as a musician. In 2007, Prince had a strong case against sites like YouTube and The Pirate Bay, even hiring British company Web Sheriff to begin a legal process against companies who profit illegally from an artists work or without a license. 

Musician Peter Gabriel has also spoken out on the issue of copyright and piracy laws, though in the opposite direction of Prince. Shutting down his website for 24 hours to petition the SOPA bill (the Stop Online Piracy Act), Gabriel clearly would agree more with Prouty. 

One must consider how artists value their own work as well. Prince values his own work at a high level and has strict ideas about with whom he would like to share the rights to his work. Prouty and Gabriel also have pride in their work, though it may manifest itself differently in each case.  When asked: "How do you define the value of each song you write (from your personal point of view). Do you define it by terms of difficulty and time spent writing it?", Prouty responded: 

"I wouldn't place a dollar value on my music. Music isn’t like fixing a car or building a house. Writing a song is like having a child. I don’t think any mom/dad could place a dollar value on their child, because their children would mean more than any dollar amount they could think of. It’s the same in my situation, regardless if it was immensely difficult to write the song, or if it took five minutes. Songs have an emotional value to me more than anything else. Some original songs just bring emotions out in me that make the song very special." Gabriel also expressed his appreciation for his own music and his willingness to share it in his protestation of the SOPA bill.

Each artist has their own way of expressing their feelings about their music, and each artists puts an individual value on their music. Each issue is complicated. Where do you draw the line? This is a question which will no doubt plague artists for decades to come as the world becomes more technologically advanced and sharing becomes easier than ever. 

 www.jessicaprouty.com
http://petergabriel.com/
http://prince.org/

Should Music Be Free? Part 2

Should Music Be Free? Part 2

After exploring the issue of illegal downloading of music in some depth, I have found that my opinions stated in my previous blog post are for the most part what I stand by. The slight altering of my opinion has come after further researching the topic through the eyes of the party that the issue affects the most: the artists themselves. After completing my research, this is my altered (somewhat) opinion of the issue of the illegal downloading of music: Although I am still against the idea of downloading music illegally in principle, I have come to accept that this is a common occurrence, an occurrence that hardly hinders an artist, as many artists have come to accept that there is simply no money in strictly selling their music anymore. Rather, musicians aim to make their money in the modern music market by touring, as this a sure way to make money if you are an artist, and a great way to support an artist if you are a consumer of music.

            As mentioned in my last blog post, the music business, or the selling of music through legal retailers such as iTunes or the local record store, is failing. This is because the illegal downloading of music has become so prominent, that the music industry is having a harder and harder time bringing consumers to their stores and spend money to obtain music that can be obtained for free, and with less effort. I am not the only person who knows this to be true, but musicians as well are beginning to realize that the illegal downloading of their material is inevitable, and resistance is futile. According to Sara Jean Kelley, a recording artist and my second cousin, she is aware that consumers download her music illegally, but has begun to accept the harsh reality. Other, more prominent artists have also spoken out in response to the rampant illegal download of their music. Country superstar Keith Urban said, “I don’t care if you download it (my music) illegally. Give it to your friends, I really don’t care.”, when accepting an award at the People’s Choice Awards in 2010. If artists are beginning to accept that consumers will more likely obtain their music illegally than legally, how can artists still make money?

            The answer to this question is one word: touring. Musicians have turned to appearing in numerous tours to make money. This is an obvious way to make money, because unless you are some kind of escape artist that can miraculously evade security, you are going to have to pay the price for a ticket to the artist of choice’s show. This method of basing their financial earnings on concert tours is seemingly effective for many musicians. In a list of the ten richest musicians in the world, the top three were Bono, Paul McCartney, and Madonna, in that order. Those three musicians have been a part of seven tours since 2010 combined. Bono and U2, a man and a band that are characteristically ahead of the times, recently signed a twelve year deal with Live Nation worth a reported 100 million dollars, showing the lucrative nature both parties believe to be in live performances. As well, U2 had the commercially successful 360 tour lasting for two consecutive summers. Paul McCartney has been the busiest of the top three musicians, as he has had three tours since 2010, and as a result is one of the most successful musicians on the planet. Madonna has had two tours in that time period, and is also a major international success. According to Lady Gaga, “The big money is in touring”.

            I personally don’t attend many live shows, but knowing that this is the best way to support my favorite artists, I will know consider attending more concerts in the future. These days, the actual music an artist releases has become merely a business card, and has no monetary value. Thus many artists have changed their tune (pardon the pun), and started to focus more energy on tours, which will forever change the music industry one way or another.

The Fine Line Between Exposure and Theft

Keith Urban

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10029535@N06/5269194023

In this period of technical advancements where everything and anything can be found online, many musicians are discovering that their music is being obtained through various (sometimes illegal) ways for free. Sometimes it’s by burning CDs, sometimes by file sharing, and sometimes through websites off of which you can download songs for free. Everyone loves getting their favorite groups’ or singers’ music without having to pay, but when you think about it, are you really supporting musicians by obtaining their songs           for free?

            As a member of the little known band Camper van Beethoven, David Lowery has strong opinions on the subject of avoiding payment for the music we listen to. In response to a blog post written by an intern at National Public Radio’s All Songs Considered, he wrote his own blog post retaliating and explaining in detail the money that is lost to a musician when illegal downloading or CD burning occurs. In June of last year, this intern admitted to not having paid for over half of the music in her iTunes library. Lowery responded to this with a lengthy letter basically explaining his point of view on taking musicians’ music without paying. His opinion is that whether or not we download for free is a personal choice: “fairness for musicians is a problem that requires each of us to individually look at our own actions, values and choices and try to anticipate the consequences of our choices.” He goes on to say that it’s up to us to decide whether illegal downloading is ethical or not. "You must live with the moral and ethical choice that you are making to not pay artists. And artists won't be paid."

           Obviously, copyright is a serious issue and there are many different views on what is stealing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59832923@N02/6143667341
Lauren Molina in The Huntington Theatre's Candide

and what is exposing music to possible fans. I talked with the Broadway actress and singer-songwriter Lauren Molina about her opinions on this. Music was clearly an important part of Molina's life growing up, since her father was a bassist with the Detroit Symphony. She began piano lessons at the age of 4, following that with cello lessons at 9 and learning guitar while in high school. Now, an accomplished Broadway performer, she writes and performs her own original music--featuring her own vocals, cello playing, and guitar/ukulele
playing. She says that since she is fairly unknown, she just   wants people to have her music so she doesn't mind if they don't pay. And even if they did, she says, most artists don't make a lot off of mp3 sales. As a Broadway performer, Molina's vocals have been featured on several original cast albums. Molina says that the singers on these albums only get paid once to record it, and do not get residuals each time an album is bought. I found this interesting, since I have noticed many youtube videos with just the audio of Broadway songs, and I speculated if this hurt the performers chances of getting paid for their work on the albums or not. Evidently, it doesn't. With her own music, Molina is still at the point where she just wants to expose her music and gain fans. She does find it frustrating when she can't monetize her videos on youtube, however. This means that ads won't be played before her songs which is one way that she could gain money through her music. 

           Molina isn't the only artist who thinks avoiding payment is fine, as long as it exposes the music.  The Australian-born country singer Keith Urban said in his acceptance speech for Favorite Male Artist at the 2010 People's Choice Awards that he didn't care if people downloaded his songs illegally and gave them to friends. He just appreciates the support of his fans, even if they are taking his music without paying. Urban says "I love that people hear the music", which shows how he views the situation more as a way to gain fans who will come to his concerts and thoroughly enjoy his music. To him, it's not about how much money he can make (though winning Favorite Male Artist and various other awards can't hurt his commercial appeal), but about how many people he can spread his work to.
            The numerous opinions from musicians on illegal obtainment of their music shows how divided people are on this subject. If downloading music for free is deemed acceptable and it becomes even more widespread than it already is, how can we assure that those who wrote this music will get paid? If we go too far in the other direction--strictly enforcing the laws that make downloading songs for free illegal--will we be hurting the songs' composers' chances of gaining a larger fan base? These are questions that must be answered as the technological age progresses. If we can come to one conclusion and create a worthy set of copyright laws that reflect the changing attitudes of the people as well as the growing abilities of the internet, we should be able to keep the music industry strong and allow musicians to maintain fans without loosing income. 


Sources: 
David Lowery's opinions: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-08-20/free-downloads-music-copyright/57168614/1
Keith Urban's opinions: http://search.peopleschoice.com/music/country/keith-urban.htm

Do All Musicians Hate Piracy?

Do All Musicians Hate Piracy?:

One would automatically assume everyone hates being stolen from. People tend to report burglaries and carjackings. But what about when listeners steal from musicians, when they click ‘download’ on websites not quite as official as iTunes? Many would assume that all artists would be furious with their fans, and while some definitely are, for example Prince is well known for being strongly against piracy, many artists are claiming they are accepting of the way people obtain music in the modern day. 

Lady Gaga, for example, came out saying she is completely fine with illegal downloading and file sharing, according to Techdirt She recently told iTunes that touring makes up for the loss of actual music sales, “You know how much you can earn off touring, right? Big artists can make anywhere from $40 million from one cycle of two years’ touring. Giant artists make upwards of $100 million. Make music--then tour. It’s just the way it is today,”. 

But it’s not just Gaga! Shakira agrees, according to Daily Mail. “I like what’s going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music, … It’s the democratization of music in a way. And music is a gift. That’s what it should be, a gift.” Shakira is saying it’s okay for her fans to feel free to listen to her music without being forced to spend their money. She’s giving them the go-ahead to download her music and to think of it as gift from Shakira herself.

Of course I did not get the chance to speak with either Lady Gaga or Shakira themselves, but I did get the chance to interview a smaller scale local artist. Professional bassist Adam Saylor, is a member of the Boston based reggae group Soul Rebel Project, as well as the hip-hop/spoken word collective Left Over Wine. Despite not making millions off of touring like Ms. Gaga, Saylor also agrees that there’s not much morally or ethically wrong with illegal file sharing.

When he was asked if he knows if people download his music without first paying for it or not Saylor replied, “Yes, we give away free music, I’m cool with it. I look at it as it’s like the new way of promoting yourself is giving away free music. It’s like a digital flier.” On his opinion of the illegal downloading of audio files he claims, “… I don’t think it should be illegal.” He believes this despite the fact that if punishments for illegal file sharing were more severe he could earn much more money. Even though the Internet is how most people obtain their music, Saylor says “I make the most money out of teaching lessons at the Marblehead School of Music. Second is playing gigs.”            

Many people claim it is only okay to illegally download songs by wildly famous musicians, because they are so wealthy anyway they don’t need an extra dollar from that one iTunes sale. That it was only wrong to steal from musicians who aren’t big names in the media because illegally taking one of their songs is basically like taking a dollar from their pocket. But as Saylor has demonstrated these starving artists can find other more likely sources of income, like in his case, teaching, as they make their way up in the music world. I even asked, “But what about artists with no other source of income.” He replied simply with, “I don’t think it’s gonna change. Money is in playing live now. The only people making money on iTunes are the people with their stuff on the radio all the time. If you’re good enough, and you make yourself big enough, you’re gonna make money anyway.”

In short, no: not all musicians nowadays are completely against illegal file sharing.

                   Image Source A          Image Source B

Sources incase hyperlinks don't work:

  Gaga's homepage: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100524/0032549541.shtml

  Techdirt article: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100524/0032549541.shtml

  Shakira's homepage: http://shakira.com/

  Daily Mail article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1221639/Shakira-hits-Lily-Allen-illegal-downloading-row-claims-file-sharing-brings-closer-fans.html

  Soul Rebel Project: http://www.soulrebelproject.com/

  Left Over Wine:  http://leftoverwine.wordpress.com/

  Image Source A: http://www.neocolours.me.uk/viewpet.php?colour=pirate&pose=all&species=chia

  Image Source B: http://www.jeeto.com/store/product.php?productid=17210&cat=259&page=1