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Billy Bragg: "file-sharing isn't piracy, it's promotion"

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 8 Dec 2009 at 16:08

Billy Bragg has hit out at the Government’s plans to disconnect file-sharers, claiming “we’re in danger of persecuting people for listening to records.”

Speaking at a conference on the future of online content in London, Bragg claimed that disconnecting file-sharers would serve only to alienate potential customers. “The industry’s going to cut off potential fans for listening to music and sharing it around, and that’s not going to help artists,” Bragg told delegates.

“We need copyright to move from being about permission to being about remuneration. I think the industry needs to understand that this is not about piracy, it’s about promotion. We want the weight of law coming down on people who are selling our music illegally, not people who want to listen to a new song.”

I think the industry needs to understand that this is not about piracy, it’s about promotion

Instead of disconnecting file-sharers, Bragg claimed the industry needed to first make sure that customers could get to the music they wanted legally. “The problem is that streaming is still controlled by the labels,” he said.

“People want a specific Pixies track that’s not on an album, you can’t even buy it – and it’s mad, this is mad to me – the only way to get it, is to download the entire Pixies back catalogue on Bit Torrent, get the track you want and throw the rest away. That’s the problem with streaming, it’s still an attempt to control distribution, and that model is dead,” Bragg concluded.

Paying customers

Bragg's conclusions were disputed by Richard Mollet, director of public affairs for the BPI, who claimed the Government’s proposals would not affect the majority of paying customers. “The action in the Digital Economy bill isn’t working against the legitimate consumer, and that’s the whole point of it,” he said.

“It’s about the hardcore, who resolutely refuse to pay. Something has to be done, otherwise you’re basically asking legitimate consumers to cross-subsidise the actions of people who aren’t interested in these rules.

"We won’t stop everybody, that’s impossible, there’s always going to be techies who find their way through, but if we can get 70% of people who currently infringe to stop doing so, then the future is brighter for the creative economy,” he concluded.

The Government plans to start sending warning letters to file sharers in April 2010. If these letters do not reduce the activity 70% by April 2011, the Government will implement measures such as disconnections for persistent offenders.

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User comments

And when all firesharers are disconnected and record sales continue to fall?

What then?

A law to MAKE people buy overpriced and undesirable music?

By cheysuli on 8 Dec 2009

"file-sharing isn't piracy, it's promotion"

I am with Billy Bragg on this. If you alienate a whole generation of buyers then the industry is doomed. They said the same bout home taping in the seventies and eighties. Those that listened to music eventually bought artists that they liked. Overpriced music will never sell. Price it properly and it will fly off the shelves.

By Amnesia10 on 8 Dec 2009

How can anyone take Ricahrd Mollet seriously? I mean, "there’s always going to be techies who find their way through"?! For starters, who do you believe: Mollet, someone who says 'techies', or Bragg, who has clearly done some research, and understands the problem - and BitTorrent.
I'm still at school, and I can tell you that when people find a way to get round something, everyone does. It's not hard. It spreads like wildfire.
This problem has - has - to be solved by the record labels. They must find new income streams, think dynamically and laterally, and not stubbornly fixate themselves on past methods. Maybe ask some filesharers?

By digitalrebel on 8 Dec 2009

copy music

So lets see.Borrow a Mates CD and rip it.Rent a CD from the Library cheaply and rip it.record the music that is streamed to your PC and convert it to MP3 or WMA.WIFI tunes between smartphones.You gotta laugh at these cretins.It's like the boy who put his finger in the dyke to stop the leak.The Genie is out of the bottle ,boys.Get used to it.

By Jaberwocky on 8 Dec 2009

Is it just me or the original Napster in its time actually increased the sell of CDs worldwide? But then again, the music industry is not there to listen to the voice of reason, is it?

By Josefov on 8 Dec 2009

yes I've downloaded music from torrents but in the last 2 years I've brought more music than ever before.
Often buying CD's of artists 1st listened to via illegal downloads

By Speedy1974 on 9 Dec 2009

The BPI is interested only in the BPI. How much of the recouped money BPI have received from court action etc. has found it's way to the actual artist?......nothing.

The real criminals here are the BPI and the record labels who make up totally fictional figures of losses as a way to screw as much money out of the public as they can.

What's even worse is that they now have corrupt polititions like Peter (Mortgage Fraud) Mandelson on their side.

By shrek59 on 10 Dec 2009

Whether or not you agree with Billy Bragg, a bit more reciprocity of thought by the government (As if!) would be helpful. At the same time as tightening the laws on music file sharing, they are proposing changes to the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act, which effectively removes protection from digitised works such as photographs.

By Mahombi on 11 Dec 2009

What's good for the Goose...

The major record labels Warner, Sony BMG, EMI and Universal are on the hook for up to $6 billion USD in damages after being accused of pirating 300,000 tracks.

The report says that the labels continually make compilation CDs without first securing the rights to the music, simply putting it on a "pending list" to deal with later. That "later" has yet to come. So far, since the mid-80's, the pending list has ballooned to over 300,000 tracks.

Says David Basskin, the President and CEO of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd, via Michael Geist: "The record labels have devoted insufficient resources to identifying and paying the owners of musical works on the Pending Lists."

A group of musicians in Canada have now filed a class-action lawsuit against the Big 4, and the CRIA (Canada's RIAA), over illegal use of thousands of tracks.

“The conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers,” says the suit.

Each infringement can bring in $20,000 USD (on average), so multiplied by 300,000 the potential liability is $6 billion for the labels.

By cheysuli on 11 Dec 2009

Get with 21st century people

They lost money by being stubborn before... it will happen again... they just need to accept that they need a new model that meets the needs of the consumer... if they do that they will find that they can make lots and lots of money... but today, consumers want choice, flexibility, freedom... I think artists need to take the control back. Move to producing more work away from big labels... what they need is a site dedicated to this. something that will allow them to get off the groud, much the way mysapce etc... has helped people in the past but bigger more organised and collective...

By YELLOWBEARD on 14 Dec 2009

You can select individual files to download from a torrent, at least in uTorrent, billy is a noob pirate.

By storm311 on 16 Apr 2010

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