Technology is not piracy





This opinion is one I really haven't formed yet, so as I speak 
about Napster now, please understand that I'm not totally 
informed. I will be the first in line to file a class action 
suit to protect my copyrights if Napster or even the far more 
advanced Gnutella doesn't work with us to protect us. I'm on 
[Metallica drummer] Lars Ulrich's side, in other words, and I 
feel really badly for him that he doesn't know how to condense 
his case down to a sound-bite that sounds more reasonable than 
the one I saw today.



I also think Metallica is being given too much grief. It's 
anti-artist, for one thing. An artist speaks up and the artist 
gets squashed: Sharecropping. Don't get above your station, kid. 
It's not piracy when kids swap music over the Internet using 
Napster or Gnutella or Freenet or iMesh or beaming their CDs 
into a My.MP3.com or MyPlay.com music locker. It's piracy when 
those guys that run those companies make side deals with the 
cartel lawyers and label heads so that they can be "the 
labels' friend," and not the artists'.



Recording artists have essentially been giving their music away 
for free under the old system, so new technology that exposes 
our music to a larger audience can only be a good thing. Why 
aren't these companies working with us to create some peace?



There were a billion music downloads last year, but music sales 
are up. Where's the evidence that downloads hurt business? 
Downloads are creating more demand.



Why aren't record companies embracing this great opportunity? 
Why aren't they trying to talk to the kids passing compilations 
around to learn what they like? Why is the RIAA suing the 
companies that are stimulating this new demand? What's the 
point of going after people swapping cruddy-sounding MP3s? 
Cash! Cash they have no intention of passing onto us, the 
writers of their profits.



At this point the "record collector" geniuses who use 
Napster don't have the coolest most arcane selection anyway, 
unless you're into techno. Hardly any pre-1982 REM fans, no 
'60s punk, even the Alan Parsons Project was underrepresented 
when I tried to find some Napster buddies. For the most part, 
it was college boy rawk without a lot of imagination. Maybe 
that's the demographic that cares -- and in that case, My Bloody 
Valentine and Bert Jansch aren't going to get screwed just yet. 
There's still time to negotiate.

Somewhere along the way, record companies figured out that 
it's a lot more profitable to control the distribution 
system than it is to nurture artists. And since the companies 
didn't have any real competition, artists had no other place 
to go. Record companies controlled the promotion and marketing; 
only they had the ability to get lots of radio play, and get 
records into all the big chain store. That power put them 
above both the artists and the audience. They own the 
plantation.



Being the gatekeeper was the most profitable place to be, 
but now we're in a world half without gates. The Internet 
allows artists to communicate directly with their audiences; 
we don't have to depend solely on an inefficient system where 
the record company promotes our records to radio, press or 
retail and then sits back and hopes fans find out about our 
music.



Record companies don't understand the intimacy between artists 
and their fans. They put records on the radio and buy some 
advertising and hope for the best. Digital distribution gives 
everyone worldwide, instant access to music.



And filters are replacing gatekeepers. In a world where we 
can get anything we want, whenever we want it, how does a 
company create value? By filtering. In a world without 
friction, the only friction people value is editing. A 
filter is valuable when it understands the needs of both 
artists and the public. New companies should be conduits 
between musicians and their fans.



Right now the only way you can get music is by shelling 
out $17. In a world where music costs a nickel, an artist 
can "sell" 100 million copies instead of just a million.



The present system keeps artists from finding an audience 
because it has too many artificial scarcities: limited 
radio promotion, limited bin space in stores and a limited 
number of spots on the record company roster.



The digital world has no scarcities. There are countless 
ways to reach an audience. Radio is no longer the only 
place to hear a new song. And tiny mall record stores 
aren't the only place to buy a new CD.


Page 4