the Featured Artists Coalition

WolfAtTheDoor · 09-28-2009, 05:50 PM

The Featured Artists Coalition is comprised of members of bands such as Radiohead, Keane, Coldplay and Travis, and, to cut a very long story short, they aren't that offended by us fans downloading their music free of charge and having our way with it.

"The focus of our objection is the proposed treatment of ordinary music fans who download a few tracks so as to check out our material before they buy," it read. "For those of us who don't get played on the radio or mentioned in the music media – artists established and emerging – peer-to-peer recommendation is an important form of promotion."

Now, I have illegally downloaded in my time as I can only assume all of the members of the MB community have, and I have also bought a hefty amount of CDs, gig tickets and general music related bric-a-brac. I understand that illegal downloading could be seen by some as killing the music industry, what with artists not receiving the funding that they would, say, twenty years ago. I also understand FAC's viewpoint that the birth of the internet and filesharing has, in a way, helped new artists to gain success that they would not have been able to had it not been for the odd album illegally being passed around the web.

But y'know when you might get a bit of hassle at school, and a bigger kid would stand up for you, and you'd feel even more embarassed because you couldn't stand up for yourself? It only takes a quick scroll through their myspace to notice that their top friends is almost entirely comprised of recognised artists. Franz Ferdinand, Robbie Williams, David Gray, Kate Nash, and, most worryingly of all, renowned political hypocrite Billy Bragg. (I'm sorry Billy, I really am.) So this 'big kid standing up for little kid' routine, instead of heartwarming, is somewhat bittersweet. Pushing artists who I can only assume live in mansions on the moon to be the focal point for a group that is trying to loosen the grip on illegal downloading is somewhat invalid, as regardless of whether filesharing continues or not they will all still be as rich as they were to begin with. This is a fight for those little bands you find on myspace who have not changed their label status from 'unsigned' for the past year and a half.

The Featured Artists Coalition is a good idea, executed by the wrong people.

View Poll Results: What d'you reckon?
Necessary - Big Bands = Big Promotion	0	0%
Unnecessary - Big Bands = Big Ego	1	100.00%
Voters: 1. You may not vote on this poll

09-28-2009, 05:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
WolfAtTheDoor ironing your socks Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: I'm in a rocknroll band. huh. Posts: 396	the Featured Artists Coalition The Featured Artists Coalition is comprised of members of bands such as Radiohead, Keane, Coldplay and Travis, and, to cut a very long story short, they aren't that offended by us fans downloading their music free of charge and having our way with it. "The focus of our objection is the proposed treatment of ordinary music fans who download a few tracks so as to check out our material before they buy," it read. "For those of us who don't get played on the radio or mentioned in the music media – artists established and emerging – peer-to-peer recommendation is an important form of promotion." Now, I have illegally downloaded in my time as I can only assume all of the members of the MB community have, and I have also bought a hefty amount of CDs, gig tickets and general music related bric-a-brac. I understand that illegal downloading could be seen by some as killing the music industry, what with artists not receiving the funding that they would, say, twenty years ago. I also understand FAC's viewpoint that the birth of the internet and filesharing has, in a way, helped new artists to gain success that they would not have been able to had it not been for the odd album illegally being passed around the web. But y'know when you might get a bit of hassle at school, and a bigger kid would stand up for you, and you'd feel even more embarassed because you couldn't stand up for yourself? It only takes a quick scroll through their myspace to notice that their top friends is almost entirely comprised of recognised artists. Franz Ferdinand, Robbie Williams, David Gray, Kate Nash, and, most worryingly of all, renowned political hypocrite Billy Bragg. (I'm sorry Billy, I really am.) So this 'big kid standing up for little kid' routine, instead of heartwarming, is somewhat bittersweet. Pushing artists who I can only assume live in mansions on the moon to be the focal point for a group that is trying to loosen the grip on illegal downloading is somewhat invalid, as regardless of whether filesharing continues or not they will all still be as rich as they were to begin with. This is a fight for those little bands you find on myspace who have not changed their label status from 'unsigned' for the past year and a half. The Featured Artists Coalition is a good idea, executed by the wrong people.