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Royal(ty) Rumble : U2 v. ISPs
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A lot of you have probably read or heard about U2 manager Paul McGuinness heaving a charged monologue towards ISPs at MIDEM this week.
Long story short, McGuinness wants ISPs to be held accountable for the data they pass, and wants a cut of the profits they make.
I have to admit, the idealist in me wants to be able to flame every last one of his accusations as bald-faced money-grabs - and some are - but I’m completely torn.
On one hand, the image of the manager of one of the most successful bands in history extolling wisdom to a room full of salivating managers of lesser-known bands about how he’s getting screwed in the pocketbook really makes the vomit rise in my throat.
Lefsetz, in fine form, draws a parallel between this episode and Metallica speaking out about illegal downloading years ago. While both U2 and Metallica have valid arguments, they have to understand just how much sympathy the common man has for a multi-millionaire bitching about his finances.*
On the other hand, I agree with the assertion that record labels have utterly failed the artists by not keeping up with technology, and continue to hurt them every day they stick to their antiquated guns and refuse to adapt to a new age. It cannot be said enough, the old model is broken, and to keep playing with it is counter-productive and a little pathetic.
I am equally torn on the issue of ISPs. Per FCC regulations, there is a distinct differentiation between “ISPs” and “content providers.” Common Carrier law states, essentially, that the Postal Service is not responsible for what’s in the mail, and a phone company is not responsible for what is said during a phone call. For an ISP to spy on every packet of information that goes down its pipes creates a disturbing moral dilemma, and I have to believe there must be some alternate solution to stopping illegal file-sharing.
However, ISPs do profit when the bandwidth they provide is used for illegal activity, just the same as they profit when it is used legally. Is it fair for a share of that profit to go to the people who have had their intellectual property rights compromised? I don’t know. How do you put a value on that? More importantly, how do you set a value without intruding the privacy of an ISP’s users?
McGuinness also states that the ISPs “built multibillion-dollar industries on the back of our content without paying for it.” Because, as you all know, the only thing on the internet is music - illegal music at that.
Where McGuinness really lost and angered me, though was with the following statement:
“I’ve met a lot of today’s heroes of Silicon Valley. Most of them don’t really think of themselves as makers of burglary kits. They say ‘You can use this stuff to email your friends and store and share your photos.’ But we all know that there’s more to it than that, don’t we?”
Now, I get it, people put illegal music on modern MP3 devices. Like the Zune, or the iPod… wait a second…
You mean like this classy little ‘burglary kit’ right here? The one that U2 and, by extension, Paul McGuinness, directly profit from? You mean there are people out there with illegal songs on an MP3 player that U2 licensed their name to? Shame on those Silicon Valley tech-inventors and their evil devices!
Sniping aside, I want to hear what other people have to say about these issues (that means you). Is there a way that everybody wins? I think maybe only if all sides redefine their definition of “winning.” A couple $Mil has got to be enough for anyone… right? [ms]
Chris Alpiar says:
2/1/2008 -What Paul McGuinness really is saying is a voice for all of the artists out there, not a greedy money grubber.
As a professional composer and performer who isnt in the top 1% of success and MTV rock monsters I am THRILLED that someone with clout is making these issues be vocalized. Its not the U2s and the Mettalicas that suffer, its the indie artists, score composers, and working musicians that are being destroyed by the wide open not even attempted at regulating illegal downloading of all kinds of media, including music, song & albums, films, art, scores, etc
Thank you Mr. McGuinness for bothering to talk about the issues that are a nuisance to you but are life threatening to thousands of us!
I also was a dot com boom programmer and I was an original pre-IPO member of InfoSpace and I understand the tech side very much. I will say that what happened is a natural evolution of technology and human nature. Clicking on files and getting that intellectual property of another person was SO EASY and since it was just digital it felt to have to real value. But we all listened to those MP3s and watched those quicktime movies. And we LOVED the fact that we could stuff a 200 gig firewire drive to the brim with all the music we ever wanted to listen to and not pay a dime. If you didnt do it on some level you are probably either a priest or someone without internet
And so Mr McGuinness is saying lets not blame individuals and human nature, but something MUST be done about this and soon before we lose many facets of modern art and culture to the destabilizing and deflation of its economy.
Its no joke and its not like yea yea whatever, its like EMERGENCY *DINGDINGDING* EMERGENCY. Right now the AFM (musicians union) performance fund (which is the fun for retirement and emergency funding for professional musicians) is about to die, because it is based on CD sales. There are *countless* programs similar to this that are dead or dying quickly because of illegal downloads.
Certainly non-”mainstream pop” art forms like non-synthesizer orchestral film music, among many others are going to become extinct and then fade away completely the farther this goes without being checked.
There absolutely needs to be legislation that forces ISPs and tech companies to create technology to stop non-paid-for illegal downloading of music, film and art. This would be relatively very easy to create. All it needs is ubiquitous agreement and cooperation from all sources that host and transmit data.
Without it our world is going to become a shallow grey world without culture and professional art. That is a place I don’t want to live in.
Matt says:
2/1/2008 -Chris-
Thanks for the input. I guess my point about “the U2s and Metallicas” was more that it’s got to be difficult for the public to sympathize with a millionaire. I realize that these millionaires are ACTUALLY trying to stand up for the artists who really are getting screwed, but I don’t think the average person sees it that way. Admit it, you and I (being in the same business) are nigh-invisible to the people who hear our stuff on TV every day. I don’t think this is a problem that a star-studded Farm-Aid event is going to solve, it needs to be dealt with by the people behind the scenes.
BS says:
2/1/2008 -Now that is refreshing. Another major label artist/manager complaining about “illegal” music being downloaded. Get over it. Artist actually are not losing as much as they think they are. The major labels are crying because THEY are losing money. The majors had it good until Napster came along. I don’t know how many kewl new bands I discovered during that time, but it was a lot more than I would have if I didn’t. Yes, I’ve downloaded music. Four words; from Russia with Love; and if I like the artist, I will go out and buy the record; if not the album, I’ll catch them on tour and buy a T Shirt that cost twice as much as the CD, which, coincidently, goes right to the artist.
The majority of record contracts do not favor the artist, they favor the label. It’s like Vegas, the house always wins. I don’t have the facts & figures to back this up, nor the time, but if the artist want to give me a couple of million to do so, I’ll make it happen.
WIth the dawn of the internet and iTunes, you can completely bypass the old model and do it yourself. IOTA or Royalty Share to name a couple can easily get your music up digitally or you can do it yourself. The CD, sadly to say, format is on the way out. I prefer the CD, and spending a couple of hours in a record store searching for new artist, but I know that today’s kids grow up with the iPod and that’s what they want; the hottest new Hanna Montana track from the comforts of their home. Just click and it’s there.
But you can’t blame ISPs for whats going on anymore than you can blame the USPS or UPS for shipping Humane Growth Hormone to MLB players/trainers. It was a delivery system for an illegal act carried out BY SOMEONE ELSE. I don’t see anyone calling Barry Bonds’ mail man before Congress.
So, bottom line, abuse the internet to get heard and get Apple to put out a limited edition iPod of your band and you too can complain about how 50 cents more in your pocket will help you make a better 3D movie.