No Rock And Roll Fun

THEY THINK THEY'RE INTERPOL: Jay Berman, head of the IFPI, has made his Christmas message, outlining his anti-technology strategy for 2004. Let's slip inside and see what he has to say, shall we?

FPI and its National Groups have spent the last year waging an intensive public information campaign on the issue of online music - both legal and illegal. Our educational tools range from music coalition websites to PR initiatives, projects at schools and colleges - and ultimately, to lawsuits against major infringing uploaders. Our campaign will only intensify in 2004 - and the need to communicate our message effectively has never been more important.

Interesting choice of language - "waging an intensive… public information campaign We've always been lead to be believe that campaigns are conducted, wars waged - but it gives some insight to the mentality of the International Record Labels that they always see the music fan as something to be attacked. Don't you know there's a war on?

Nice also to see the implication that lawsuits are the last resort - we're sure that writs have been flying about since long before they got Britney in to mouth the "it's like stealing a CD from a store, or maybe some coins from a blind man…" line in those ads.

Every campaign has its key messages. Let me suggest what ours should be.
Key Message One: Making available copyrighted music without permission on the internet - that means the bulk of all file- sharing - is illegal in practically every country of the world. Those who ignore this legal reality may have to face the consequences. Whether there is a profit motive or not is totally irrelevant. The publicists of unauthorised file-sharing will suggest this is a grey area. It is not a grey area. It is clear under international law, including WTO rules and the WIPO Treaties. Lawsuits on a large scale have so far been restricted to the US; this 'fightback' will almost inevitably have to take place internationally as well.

Wooah… back up there, bloke. "The bulk of all file sharing" is unpermitted music files - are you sure? Apart from anything, doesn't this contradict "National organisation" RIAA's claims that the file sharing networks are full of kiddie porn? Take that out, the spoofs, the music files being shared with full knowledge and consent and the millions of files which have nothing to do with the entertainment industry, and you're starting to get quite far from "the bulk."

But thanks for suggesting that file-sharing is an easy and effective way to buck the remit of the WTO - it seemed the only advantage was easy access to Hanson tracks and Kelis videos, but now we know we're sending a message to the WTO, it's not just fun, it's political.

And let's not forget how "successful" lobbying in Canada had just made file-sharing into a very grey area indeed in that country, and throughout the world at large. A very big, tantalising gray area.

Where do the record companies who are always pleading poverty keep finding money for these futile legal campaigns, by the way? And should we take this as a pissed-off, American dominated international music body trying to pressure the slightly more PR savvy European trade organisations into following its lead so the RIAA doesn't look like the only bunch of sods taking its customers to court?

Key Message Two: There is a legitimate online alternative for consumers. The success of Apple iTunes in the USA, now joined by Rhapsody, Napster and others, is pointing the way for the rest of the world. In Europe, services, like Tiscali, MSN and Wanadoo, and traditional retailers such as FNAC, Karstadt and Virgin are offering an online catalogue of more than 300,000 tracks. There are some 30 sites in Europe where consumers can buy downloads, 'tethered downloads' or subscription services. Companies like Wippit and Playlouder show the emergence of legitimate peer-to-peer services.
IFPI is at the vanguard of this development. The groundbreaking international webcasting agreement finalised in November will create a licensing one-stop shop that has been warmly received by webcasters and collecting societies. For the first time in Europe, a small but highly competitive legitimate online music sector is evolving. It is documented on the pages of our www.pro-music.org website, and it is fast-growing. I confidently expect Apple iTunes, Amazon, Napster and others to launch their own services in Europe in the first half of 2004. There are also technical platforms at national level, such as Phonoline in Germany - offering huge new online catalogues of local repertoire. More encouraging still, surveys are clear that consumers are prepared to pay for music online. Numerous surveys indicate that one third of all internet users will pay for music.

Is "tethered download" a new industry term? Doesn't that sound like an offer anyone in their right mind would run a mile from - hardly suggests freedom and consumer sovereignty, does it? It's like McDonalds giving you the choice of take out or Imprisoned Consumption.

What's amusing, of course, is the Record Industry claiming to be "at the vanguard" of a force it's spent the last five years trying to turn in its tracks, as if Saddam had clambered out of his little hole saying "I was amongst the first to welcome the American occupation of Iraq; why, it was virtually my idea."

Key Message Three: Internet piracy means lost livelihoods and lost jobs, not just in record companies but across the entire music community. For those who think the 10.9% first half sales fall in 2003 does not speak for itself, look at the other evidence. Artist rosters have been cut, thousands of jobs have been lost, from retailers to sound engineers, from truck drivers to music journalists. Surveys in five major markets - USA, Canada, Germany, Japan and the UK - show that internet copying and file-sharing is reducing CD sales significantly more than it is promoting them.

Which surveys? Is this the same UK where CD sales are growing? The kindest thing we can say about this is it's a radical interpretation of the text. How can the world fall in sales be attributed solely to the Internet anyway - where does the counterfeit CD industry come into this? Or do fake CD sales magically account for exactly zero percent of the drop in CD sales? Why would it be that the crappy performance of Universal Island be due to internet filesharing, when the rest of its parent company was crumbling due to really bad management? The purging of artist rosters at EMI was also surely down to mismanagement, wasn't it, and cost cutting not connected to the internet download issue. Which Scandinavian country was it where EMI cut its entire roster, after a couple of years of acquisition of indie labels there? And, above all: the music that's selling is mostly local artist stuff, the sort of music that travels poorly - Chiswick has little use for the Dixie Chicks, Canberra can't do much with Will Young and Kelly Clarkson becomes toxic the moment she passes out of US airspace. Frankly, music is moving in ways the international labels can't cope with, and their offerings are failing to whet the appetite of the audience. That's where your sales falls are coming from, not some chap with an I-Mac. (We know, we keep saying this, and we'll keep saying it until they stop making the ridiculous allegations.)


Key Message Four: Our industry is fighting back - by making a vast music catalogue available online, by a swathe of educational projects and, where necessary, by resorting to the law. In 2003 we have made huge progress in raising awareness of the issues surrounding online music.

See, they really do think people are thick - that they haven't realised that if they download a Flock of Seagulls track off the net, Mike Score isn't going to get any money as a result. The legal downloads help, and have demonstrated there are millions of people who were happy to pay for tracks all along, they just never had the opportunity because the record labels were worried if you could buy a Radiohead track online, you might play it your friend down your telephone line and bring their whole industry to their knees. So, they've finally worked out that offering fairly-priced, versatile tracks in a secure environment, and people will tend to rather give them the few bob than spend hours cursing Kazaa for dropping. And yet: the music industry thinks they are educating us.

In the USA the music industry was forced to resort to hundreds of lawsuits against major uploaders - a move which has doubled the level of consumer awareness of the illegality of unauthorised file-sharing. Internationally, the education campaign is just as proactive. The pro-music website, launched in May 2003, has brought together a diverse coalition of music sector interests; we have issued thousands of copyright brochures to colleges and companies in over 20 countries; we have sent mass quantities of instant messages to infringing uploaders in several countries to warn them of the illegality of their actions. These four messages - despite the evident problems we have in our music markets today - add up, in my view, to a positive picture. We will never eliminate piracy altogether. Rather we must reduce online piracy to levels where legitimate online services have the space to develop on their own.

Ah, poor Music Industry, "forced" to resort to legal action - who could have been bullying them into doing that? Were record bosses' wives laughing at them when they went home, snapping "be a man" like the Tsar's wife? There's a slight curiosity that these legal actions came so soon into the life of iTunes, don't you think? Rather than waiting to see if legitimate downloads made a difference to the amount of copyright "theft", they jumped straight in with the briefs. Good job they're not doctors: "Well, Mr. Smith, we're going to see if the new drugs help restore some feeling in that leg, but while they're taking effect we're going to amputate it anyway." Of course, this way, any drop in files zipping through Kazaa can be claimed for the might of the law (and justify all the cash the labels pour into the RIAA and IFPI) rather than put down to the surprise that people would rather pay for their music if they can.

This migration from pirate to legitimate music on the internet is now happening. IFPI and our National Groups are playing an integral part in making that happen and we will step up our efforts in 2004.

Oh good. Let us know how you get on, will you?