In the few days since I posted about Matt Bellamy's chat with Lily Allen on Lily's Myspace page, it appears Lily's now defunct blog has been the target of a internet slagging match with absolutely no purpose or concept of the actual issue other than to find fault with Lily Allen's views and methods of putting them across.  The (Ex)Singer is all about speaking her mind, (probably a typical GenY trait) and she has actually raised some valid points.  It may have not been the most subtle of blogs but the issue remains nonetheless.

Q: What is all the fuss about?

A1: Lily Allen copied an article from Techdirt in order to emphasise a post without linking back.

A2: Lily has some Mixed tapes on her EMI website which she has no apparent control over.

Most of the comments on her blog were just damned rude and insulting and completely lacked any substance other than an all out flame war.

Instead of pointing out the issue with her copying, Techdirt appears to have gone on some self righteous public crusade against Lily whilst contradicting their views on piracy in general.  I think it is Ironic that Techdirt also sides with the comments of TorrentFreak who blatantly earn revenue from piracy and various piracy methods.

I realise nobody is a saint and media piracy these days is almost easier than buying a CD or DVD/BR - but here is a potential solution to the issue,  it appears the only way to tackle the piracy issue is to offer a direct competitor to piracy itself.  I don't believe online content distribution methods like Itunes is the solution either, it is just too restrictive.  What can work is something like the Hulu online content distribution website that streams TV Movies and trailers all for free yet at the same time is commercially supported.

There are many possible solutions to the problem, Matt Bellemy's suggestion that ISP's pay media royalties based on bandwidth allocation is also potentially viable.  ISP's may complain that it would raise their bandwidth pricing, but would they complain signing media distribution agreements in the same ilk as our current TV and Radio stations enjoy?

If you want to know what Lily's blog was like, here is the Cached frontpage just before it was taken offline: http://idontwanttochangetheworld.blogspot.com

It's Not Alright

Thursday, September 24, 2009

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090923/1409046297.shtml

i made those mixtapes 5 years ago, i didn't have a knowledge of the workings of the music industry back then, and my attitudes towards mixtapes have changed since then. As your article clearly states , lilyallenmusic.co.uk is an EMI run website, which is exactly why i don't acknowledge it (i think theres a link to it on my myspace(which i do run), thats purely because, my record contract states i cant sell my merchandise online anywhere else on the net  . i don't post on there, i dont even look at it. the record company run it. I'm not siding with the majors and i've always claimed that the labels have been naive, this is laughable, i agree and this proves my point. Anyway the snippets of songs you hear on those mixtapes are about 30 seconds to 1 minute in length, in traditional mixtape style, it is infringement, correct, but it's not my site, it's EMI's. i am not a hypocrite, i don't illegally download music, and i still think unauthorised file sharing is wrong.   Posted by lily rose allen at 1:49 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

NME link

http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/47472 Posted by lily rose allen at 6:55 AM 37 comments

Yo, some questions answered, i hope.

I think there is discussion going on, on this blog and wider. One of the things i'm trying to do is to get out what file-sharing does to new artists ,not answer every question about what might become law.

Loads of comments are angry about cutting people’s internet off permanently, but from what I’ve seen, no-one’s saying that. The governments proposal is for warning letters, then if they’re ignored, for “temporary account suspension”. And newsflash people, the ISPs do this all the time already if they fail to pay their bills or break their licenses. Also the government legislation is targeting uploaders – people that make music available illegally – not downloaders.

Loads of comments are from people that are convinced music should be free. It’s not free to make, so it can’t be free, can it? If you’re downloading all your music for free, some real music fan somewhere is paying for your music. Unfortunately there aren’t enough people paying, which is threatening new music. You don’t even need to be good at maths to figure that one.

The music industry’s not divided ,look at the letter from The Futureheads – members of the FAC , on here. We don’t agree on everything – SO! – we’re all creative people and are never going to agree on everything. We do all agree file-sharing’s not alright though.

p.s thanks to Alex for the grammar .

Posted by lily rose allen at 6:48 AM 119 comments

The opposition-Link

I emailed the person that runs this site and asked him if  i could publish his piece here. he hasn't got back to me so, i'll just post a link to his site. makes for interesting reading and some good points.
FYI I set this blog up as a way of getting peoples voices heard, i'm not opposed to putting up letters disagreeing with the anti-piracy stance or the proposed legislastion as long as they are not personal jibes directed at myself. I am just standing up for what i believe in and i want to listen to peoples thoughts/opinions on the matter. Slagging me, my music and my so called "family connections" off, and calling me a government puppet is not going to get anyone anywhere, so stop it. I think people assume we artists are a lot richer than you think we are, please bear in mind this doesn't have anything to do with me or my wealth. Just so you know, I have not renegotiated my record contract and have no plans to make another record (applause). I do however remain a fan of new music, so this is not some selfish crusade. The days of me making money from recording music has been and gone as far as i'm concerned, so i don't(at this point) stand to profit from legislation. except future purchases of previously recorded material(which wont be much).
anyway heres that link

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

Posted by lily rose allen at 4:26 AM 36 comments

Paddy McAloon - Prefrab Sprout

I came across a real life example of this last week on route to an interview in Durham in a taxi. The driver told me he downloaded music illegally but only in small amounts and thought because of that it was ok. When we reached our destination, I gave him  3/4 of the fare and said "now you know how your actions affect me!". True story. I've read about the thoughts of the FAC and have decided they are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, where the hostages start to side with the terrorists. Their point is like Jack Nicholson deciding people in rep should perform for free.  I wholeheartedly support any moves which help stop illegal file sharing"

> Paddy McAloon 21.9.09.
> Posted by lily rose allen at 4:23 AM 18 comments

Stephen Street

I've been banging on about this for years in various interviews and always felt that my opinion wasn't as 'cool' as some musicians and journalists felt who thought that the internet was great liberator from "the Man" i.e (the big bad music business). Well now they are beginning to realise that this once great industry in this country is on it's knees and is need of some kind of protection.

As you may know I have made a career of working with up and coming new guitar based 'alternative' bands over the years and sometimes those groups (the Smiths, Blur, The Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs) were able to build up a fan base who actually bought their records and CDs and therefore made it viable for their Record Companies to take up their options and advance them recording budgets for the next Album, continue giving them tour support (because most acts do NOT make money from touring, not enough to live on anyway) and generally keep promoting them across the world).

That unfortunately is all coming to an end with this current situation where people do not value music and think that they are entitled to it for free. Less money coming in equals less money being spent on recording. Great Recording Studios are closing down the length and breath of this Country, Producers and Engineers are scratching around for work, Studio Managers are having to cut their rates to entice Labels to use their services. What was once a great industry, second only to the USA is looking desperately weakened.

You may have noticed I used the word 'Career' above. I know some bands try and be super-cool and look down their noses at  'Careerist' bands (the Cribs spring to mind here) but fuck yeah, it IS a career it's not supposed to be a hobby! The guy who works in a bank all week and plays a bit of guitar at the weekend, or the student who dabbles with 'garage band' on his laptop between classes might regard it as a hobby. But most acts I work with are trying desperately to make a proper go of it and become established enough to make a living from it. The Cribs are on their fourth album with Johnny Marr joining them on guitar. I think we can safely say that Johnny and the Cribs has made a career out of music can't we!?

I have been saying for a while now that the only people who have made great financial gains in recent years are the Internet Service Providers (often boasting how great and fast their broadband is for 'downloading' music)! Well now it's time for them to stop handling 'stolen goods' and start spending some of that money they have made on administering and policing the web. It's time now for the Government to work alongside the Record Companies, Publishers and managers to stop the constant eroding of the value of music before it is too late.

Rant over!

Regards to Lily

Stephen Street Posted by lily rose allen at 3:25 AM 18 comments

Alesha Dixon

I , like many other musicians am totally against illegal downloading or file sharing, i feel it is no different to theft. Musicians, producers, and record companies all invest time and money into producing music, so they do deserve to be able to see a return on their investment, otherwise how can we continue to present great music. It is very easy for some of the more established acts to say that it's fine to file share, easy to say when you have already sold lots of records and made a lot of money. But what about the bands and artists just starting out? Someone needs to invest in them, be it themselves or record companies in order to get their music out there for us all to enjoy. The internet plays a huge part in promoting music nowadays through streaming etc and that is great as it gives us all access to music we may never otherwise hear, but there does need to be restrictions on how this is managed, and the first restriction must be to stop illegal downloading. This argument has been dragging on for some time now, but it is time to resolve the issue and deal with it in a sensible way. Posted by lily rose allen at 1:13 AM 22 comments Older Posts Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

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