the silent majority

Posted by Joel Tenenbaum

A friend of mine has done some research.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (one of my fav. bands) encourages his fans to “steal” his music:

“But Reznor, a self-confessed illegal downloader, has been campaigning to have CD prices reduced since May when, on the band’s website, he noted Year Zero sold in Australia for $34.99, compared with an Avril Lavigne album costing $21.99.”

From Washington Post:

“This silent majority [of artists] is the central focus of a new survey on Internet file-sharing, which discovered a significant sentiment: Most artists don’t view unauthorized swapping of music and movies as a threat to their livelihood, even if many think it should be illegal…Across the board, artists and musicians are more likely to say that the internet has made it possible for them to make more money from their art than they are to say it has made it harder to protect their work from piracy or unlawful use.”

Emily Haines, from the band Metric:

“What are your feelings on piracy, internet or otherwise?

“You’re working for the police and the pirates.” Can I just say that? I have only piracy to thank for the fact that I can show up at a concert in Caracas and have every kid have made a handmade Metric t-shirt and know all the lyrics to all our songs. There’s been an unofficial monopoly on music that’s been long overdue to collapse. And I still have faith in people…”

Cheers,
Joel