Bands Join Forces to Battle British Government Over Piracy Laws
Ben Leach, Telegraph: Blur and Radiohead are among a host of bands calling on the Government to abandon proposals to cut off the internet connections of people who illegally download music. They said plans announced by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, to suspend the internet accounts of those who engage in filesharing will criminalise a whole generation of their fans.
The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a new group set up to represent the interests of recording artists, which also includes musicians from Pink Floyd, argued that despite the damage that file sharing does to sales of their records, it can also encourage people to buy concert tickets and merchandise. Ed O’Brien, the Radiohead guitarist, said: “My generation grew up with the point of view that you pay for your music. Every generation has a different method.
“File sharing is like a sampler, like taping your mate’s music. You go, ‘I like that, I’ll go and buy the album’. Or, ‘you know what, I’ll go and see them live’. What’s going on is a huge paradigm shift.”
