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Please support the artists!!! :(:(:(
| quote: | Britney Spears is not that innocent when it comes to her cash flow.
And Madonna, Nelly, P. Diddy, Sheryl Crow and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott feel the same way.
So they, and a boatload of other music biz stars, are taking to the airwaves in a series of new TV spots dissing Web piracy.
The commercials are bankrolled by the world's top record labels, who say they've lost millions of dollars at the hands of illegal music downloaders. In fact, some experts cited by the Recording Industry Association of America (the labels' chief lobbying force) say that as many as 2.6 billion music files are illegally downloaded each month on pirate sites such as Kazaa, Morpheus and Gnutella. Record execs say this has led to a major drop in CD shipments of the past year.
All this adds up to a big bite out of artist royalties. And dammit, they're just not gonna take it anymore.
"Would you go into a CD store and steal a CD?" pleads Spears in her spot, which first aired yesterday at a congressional hearing on music-piracy legislation. "It's the same thing, people going into the computers and logging on and stealing our music."
"We really look at it as stealing, because to us it's either black or white," raps hip-hopster Nelly in his commercial. "Either you pay for it or you don't. And you're not paying for it."
The multimillion-dollar ad blitz is the handiwork of a new coalition of record companies and industry groups called Music United for Strong Internet Copyright (MUSIC), which also is lobbying Congress for stricter laws and is working to promote paid alternatives such as pressplay, MusicNet and Rhapsody.
The full campaign will roll out in a few weeks, complete with commercials and print ads. A full-page ad in Thursday's New York Times asking "Who Really Cares About Illegal Downloading?" was answered by the signature of 90 stars, including P. Diddy, the Dixie Chicks and B.B. King.
Not everyone is on board with this anti-song-swapping plan, particularly, well, the pirates themselves. They think the problem can be solved with simpler licensing laws, rather than pricey copyright infringement lawsuits and multi-million-dollar ad campaigns.
Cory Doctorow, outreach coordinator for the Electronic Frontier, a San Francisco-based technology advocate that is helping defend Morpheus parent StreamCast Networks against copyright-infringement charges, told Knight-Ridder News Service, "Every time, looking back in hindsight, we can see that ultimately, each new medium made it easier for people and artists to communicate with each other. It resulted in a larger, more vibrant entertainment industry."
And even the downloaders themselves are defending their rights to free music after years of shelling out big bucks for 8-tracks, tapes and CDs, and they don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the millionaire rock stars looking to protect their bank accounts.
"Yes, my friends, the artists are hurting badly. It is estimated that many of them will only make $100 million or so this year. They are starving and will soon be homeless. Eminem moving back to Detroit with his mother. Britney Spears moving into a car. And Elton living in the trailer...Here is how you can help: Just be willing to pay $20 for a CD that should sell for $7 and you can make for $4," writes one Afton Okla in the alt.general newsgroup.
But as long as the cash isn't flowing, the musicians plan to keep pleading their case. They'll even beg if they have to.
"I understand why people download music, but for me and my artists, this is our livelihood," Puff Daddy implores his fans in support of the campaign. "When you make an illegal copy you're stealing from an artist. It's that simple. Every single day we're out here, pouring our hearts and souls into making music-what if you didn't get paid for your job? Put yourself in our shoes." |
-From MSN.com
lol...what a fuckin joke...
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they can't stop it. so wutever.
