Brit singer Lily Allen has taken a stand against Internet piracy, and she has also urged fellow pop and rock stars to follow suit before song-stealing destroys the music industry.
Allen, 24, fears record company bosses will drastically cut their budgets for new acts if the income from CD buyers dries up, and has called on other musicians to help her spearhead an industry-wide plan of action to stamp out illegal file-sharing.
And, in a post on her Myspace.com blog, Allen takes aim at stars like Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead, who appear to be applauding the pirates as members of the Featured Artists Coalition. “I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead don’t seem to think so...” Contactmusic quoted her as writing.
“The Featured Artists Coalition also says file sharing is fine because it ‘means a new generation of fans for us’ “This is great if you’re a big artist at the back end of your career with loads of albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artists don’t have this luxury.
“Basically the FAC is saying ‘we’re alright, we’ve made it, so file sharing’s fine’, which is just so unfair to new acts trying to make it in the industry. “If this sounds like I’m siding with the record bosses, I’m not. They’ve been naive and complacent about new technology — and they’ve spent all the money they’ve earned on their own fat salaries, not industry development.
“But as they start to lose big from piracy, they’re not slashing their salaries — they’re pulling what they invest in A&R (artists and repertoire). Lack of funds results in A&R people not being able to take risks and only signing acts they think will work... “I’m going to be writing (to) British artists, saying just this: File sharing’s not okay for British music. We need to find new ways to help consumers access and buy music legally, but saying file sharing’s fine is not helping anyone — and definitely not helping British music,” she added.
