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