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Bono warns the world against rampant piracy
I don't know if this kind of thing happens over in the UK (probably in the London Times, if anything), but it seems the New York Times has given Bono of U2 fame a one-off guest column in their paper. In it he has a bit of a mindless rant above the next ten years: cars, pollution, sports and then, out of frickin' no where: PIRACY. Citing, of all things, China's ability to quash online dissent, he claims it must be possible to curb online piracy.Bono, one of the most influential people in the world, has just dumped music piracy in the same kind of list that includes global climate change, religion and AIDS. "A decade's worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators," Bono says, claiming that Internet service providers are the ones coming away with the fat profits, not the music labels or the artists themselves. The thing is, he doesn't give any figures. Bono never gives any figures: he's simply against piracy. He's using the soap box that he's rightfully earnt through very good behaviour to attack music piracy. What an ape.
He claims that the only thing 'protecting' the film and television industries at the moment is the relative size of the files. How about the fact that people actually want to pay for DVDs because TV shows and movies aren't shit like most contemporary music? He's obviously never heard of iTunes or Hulu or any other successful digital-download or on-demand provider. Just go back to cranking out the repetitive, anthemic 'rock', grandad.
Comments
40
Subscribe to commentsArnieJan 4th 2010 10:24AM
The funny thing is that a large majority of artists earn most of their income from concerts & not album sales. Music piracy is actually making them popular in countries where english is not the first language and thus makes any concerts they conduct more likely to be successful.
CarneyJan 4th 2010 12:01PM
They're making their money from concerts now because they HAVE to, because nobody buys albums, because everybody's a music thief.
ArnieJan 4th 2010 12:07PM
Actually you are wrong, it was always the recording studios who made money of albums not artists. The cut on albums for even big artists is so small its worth ignoring.
BoxcarJan 4th 2010 10:39AM
What, did Bono not get the ten million dollar private jet he wanted for Festivus? I bet he got the crappy little two million dollar version instead. How can anyone expect him to save Africa if he has to fly around in that garbage?
The thing is, the people that are "hurt" by music piracy are the million selling artists. And, as Arnie pointed out, they make most of their money touring, anyway. Smaller artists, who one would expect piracy to hurt more, are actually benefited by it, because without piracy, these smaller artists wouldn't be heard by nearly as many people.
Sebastian AnthonyJan 4th 2010 10:46AM
I'm trying to stay away from numbers, because I don't know any better -- I would like to believe that small-time artists do better due to piracy, but I can't prove it :)
All I know is that, like Arnie said (and many others before him), most of a musician's income is from touring and merchandise, not album sales.
BoxcarJan 4th 2010 10:52AM
Sadly, I don't have any numbers either, so I guess I can't prove anything, but if it weren't for piracy I would never have heard of Bob Schneider (though he's getting a little more press lately), Glen Hansard (and the movie Once), or The Vincent Black Shadow. So, I guess I'm going by the fact that piracy has helped me discover some music I really like from non-mainstream artists.
r3loadedJan 4th 2010 10:44AM
Someone tell Bono about newsgroups - they're proof that people willing to pay for speedy access to high-quality music and films. They just don't want to pay the high prices that services currently charge.
Tbh, I didn't really expect better from him.
CarneyJan 4th 2010 12:12PM
Um, no. It's not about noble public spirited people who'd be willing to pay a "reasonable" amount for music, but are sorrowfully forced to turn to theft because of unconscionable high prices from the industry.
It's about thieves who are unwilling to pay any price at all.
Long before this debate ever began, or the technology enabling it emerged, I used to marvel that I could pay about a dollar a song for an album and listen to it indefinitely. I reflected that on command I could get this or that world-famous artist to sing or play for me, as many times as I wished. In point of fact I would have been willing to pay a dollar for each time I heard some of my favorite songs. Even that, considering the amount of work involved - composition, production, technical people, musicians, etc etc. - the price for music is incredibly low.
Sebastian AnthonyJan 4th 2010 12:17PM
There have been a few reports now of pirates actually spending more on music than non-pirates -- via live music, merchandise, etc.
Then there are things like iTunes and Hulu, which are doing incredibly well.
Piracy is definitely an issue -- but it always will be. ALWAYS. I don't think it's THE issue.
CamJan 4th 2010 11:13AM
Okay, I'm normally a U2 fan here, but this? This is ridiculous. And in the New York Times? Come on, really?
DafretyJan 4th 2010 11:44AM
I'd like to share this article, that is all.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8337887.stm
Sebastian AnthonyJan 4th 2010 12:08PM
Yeah, I think I covered that here on Download Squad actually :) Definitely an interesting statistic.
kojo87Jan 4th 2010 2:56PM
i go to the movies probably 3 to 5 times a month. Hollywood gets enough of my money. if i want to download Avatar after paying $15 to go see it in 3D i am going to.
TokolosheJan 4th 2010 11:50AM
Haha, fabulous post!
If the artists (even the ones selling millions of records) are making their money off touring, then where do the financial results of platinum selling records go? Into the pockets of share holders, that's where....
An elite minority who use musicians to make their money, while giving as little pay as they legally can to the janitor's, maintenance men, secretaries, accountants, CD manufacturing companies, printers, designers etc....
Anyway what's really funny about how the entertainment industry of America reacts to consumers getting wise, is that they act like piracy (which even as we speak reaches record highs), is crippling them.... Well I got another record high for ya: the 2009 box office all time record set for the US and Canada in the billions of dollars...
No one is suffering from piracy except the really rich elite, who can afford to share more than anyone else.....
Sebastian AnthonyJan 4th 2010 12:09PM
It's definitely an odd argument to make, that piracy directly hurts the artists themselves.
I'm sure it affects SOME people, but probably not the artist (assuming they really are talented of course!)
I'm sure people have lost jobs at record labels and the like, and we shouldn't forget them! It's not ALL about the artist :)
I doubt the rich elite are actually 'suffering' -- but if my piracy puts someone out of a job at EMI, that isn't necessarily a good thing.
NotRocketboyJan 4th 2010 12:07PM
"Bono, one of the most influential people in the world, has just dumped music piracy in the same kind of list that includes global climate change, religion and AIDS."
Sounds about right to me...
GCC... there's been accusations about the manipulation of the data, and it's going to happen no matter what people try to sell you something to 'fix' it... and it's being used as an excuse to make money and grab taxpayer money
Religion...full of made up 'facts', and yet, part of human nature... and it's also used as an excuse to make money and grab taxpayer money
AIDS... you don't have to participate for the most part, but some times, you can't avoid it... and it's also used as an excuse to make money and grab taxpayer money
Granted, the comparison to AIDS is rather unfair, but all four are used as a reason to make some rich, regardless of the validity of the the fix.
kevjohnJan 4th 2010 12:08PM
"Bono... has just dumped music piracy in the same kind of list that includes global climate change..."
Excellent! Now maybe there will be large groups of vocal "piracy deniers" forming to rival the climate change deniers. "Thar's no such thing as piracy, Avatar just made a billion bucks!"
kevjohnJan 4th 2010 12:09PM
Like the guy above me. :)
Rocketboy_XJan 4th 2010 1:14PM
Really? What did I deny?
EducationalGeekJan 4th 2010 12:37PM
It's called come up with your own F'ing compiler.
So sick and tired of these old age arguments that a company can't make it's product do what it wants. That's like saying GM couldn't cripple a part installed in a Ford vehicle.
Pure stupidity and people wonder why this country has gone downhill...........