21st Sept 2009

Lily is our Leader

I want to put my hand up in support of Lily Allen. She's asking British musicians to galvanise over a serious crime: the death of a Great British Industry - our music business.

The world over, people are stealing music in its millions in the form of illegal file-sharing. It's easy to do, and has become accepted by many, but we need people to know that it is destroying people's livelihoods and suffocating emerging new British artists.

The music business is made up of thousands of jobbing musicians, producers, mixers and engineers creating and shaping popular music and culture, but illegal file-sharing is cutting off the income from their work.  Without the revenue from the music of their established artists, record labels cannot fund emerging musicians. They'll just re-master the Beatles albums again, because they can't afford to put an amazing new band into a great studio to record something that may surpass Sergeant Pepper's.

At long last, the government, led by Peter Mandelson, is looking to legislate to protect the industry. He's looking to engage the ISP's, who in my opinion handle stolen goods, and should take much more responsibility. How this legislation pans out, and if it goes through at all, is critical to the survival of the British music business; critical to thousands of jobs; and critical to our ability to nurture and develop great musicians and the songs and albums that we would hope to listen to in the future.

Finally, I'd like to say that record companies are not the evil empires you have been told they are. They are made up of ordinary people who are trying to make a living, pay a mortgage and feed a family. They are, more often than not, fans of music who want to get the music they love out to you. Together, we all make up the Great British Music Industry, that needs people to know that file-sharing is not alright and is asking for your support.

James