Before we go making generalizations about the Irish or something else that might be perceived as offensive, we'll just say that Philly Byrne, frontman for retro-thrash Dublin band Gamma Bomb, is as bold and uncompromising as his music.
We've heard musicians admit that there's nothing that can be done about filesharing and that ticket sales and merch that are keeping them off wellfare, but this guest blog from Byrne marks the first time an artist has written us to support what many regard as illegal downloading. Read Byrne's blog and then leave your comments whether you agree with him or not:
Here's a confession: I download music.
I copy albums from my friends. I mess with my iPod's software to use it as an external hard drive. I use torrents. I scan blogs for rips of records. I cram my USB port with illicit musical booty and run cackling into the night. I, ladies and gentlemen, am the music fan of the 21st century.
Not only that, but I'm also a struggling musician, a fledgling recording artist on an indie label with only two albums to my name. I know as well as my friends at the label that record sales (both mine and those of other artists) keep the music industry show on the road, but still, I'm a filthy, swindling downloader. I'm fine with it though, because I believe that downloading music for free isn't thieving. And like it or not, I'm in step with most modern music fans when I say that.
Reading Mudvayne's Chad Gray's blog on illegal downloading on this site, I couldn't help feeling like I'd heard his spiel about musicians getting shafted before. Chad's analogy of a man (read: band) making a fine wooden chair (read: record), only to have the chair stolen (read: downloaded) out from under him, was a striking one, but it's an oversimplification.
If a musician's job was as simple as "make disc, sell disc, win," record companies wouldn't have latched onto the "360 degree record contract" (that's the one where they get a cut of t-shirt sales, licensing and live fees, kids) more than 10 years ago. Nor would they have released CDs, which allowed people to get their hands on their masters in movable file form back in the mid-'80s. That was an admission that music business models now mean more than just money from wax.
Chad made a good point when he mentioned Radiohead's "honesty box" experiment. When one of the world's most popular bands' fans will only pay £3 ($5) on average for their album, what's the use in fighting people who want your niche, indie label, corner-genre product for free? As long as they hit the shows and buy the coasters, who cares? Let them have it!
In 1988, tours were conducted to sell albums, now the albums sell the tours. It hasn't been an easy shift, sounding a death-knell for limo-class living on the road, but I believe it's for the ultimate
good of fans. And the fans are always right. For musicians, there's still gold in them there hills, but not
necessarily in the CD shelves. Free music culture has pulled the record out of the spotlight. Bands
now rely on the two things that have always been the coolest aspects of rock and roll: live shows and band t-shirts. They need you to attend their shows, so they play better sets, sober. They need you to wear their shirts, so they design cooler new ones all the time. Your favorite band has to be more hands-on, because they need you. Everyone wins.
It's time to adopt a healthier attitude to downloading, because it's not going to stop. Maybe it's time we embraced it for what it is -- the final liberation of music. But hey, maybe that's just me talking as a poor young musician – come back in 10 years and I'll probably have my butler throw you off the
roof for even mentioning the "D"-word.
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