Here is an adjunct article for the debate on the Kindles and all...
Since Išm a fan of Bonnie Prince Billy I got interested in the article and I
find some relevancy towards the discussion wešre having with respect to
publishing
From Guardian UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/15/illegal-file-sharing-promo-copie
s
Montois
ulture
Music
Downloads
Hell awaits for illegal file-sharers
Threatening reviewers with damnation is just one tactic being used by
musicians in the battle against illegally uploaded promo copies
Will Hodgkinson
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 October 2009 22.25 BST
Article history
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy decided annoying reviewers was the best way to stop
them uploading promo copies of his album
In the war against albums being illegally uploaded on to the internet before
they are released, David Tibet of the underground band Current 93 may have
struck a minor, if resounding, victory. "This is a promotional CD,"
announces a little girl on the promo copy of Current 93's new album Aleph at
Hallucinatory Mountain. "Anyone illegally selling, copying, uploading or
downloading this material is condemned to eternal hellfire. Happy listening,
God is love." Then Tibet a devout Christian with strong views about the
impending apocalypse intones "murder" over a guitar riff heavy enough to
terrify Satan. It makes you wonder whether a casual upload is really worth
being cast into Hades for.
The hosts of file-sharing sites may have worked out how to counter legal
threats, but metaphysical ones are much harder to factor. And although he
admits there is an element of (forked) tongue in cheek to the announcement,
Tibet stands by its grim warning. "Illegal downloads are making it
unfeasible for bands like Current 93, who put out their own material, to
continue," he says. "One loses a little of your soul when you exploit
someone in that way. Once your soul has gone, you are in hell."
If you're not willing or able to cast damnation on your potential audience,
there are other options. Will Oldham, the cult American singer who performs
as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, decided that the best way to stop reviewers from
uploading his 2009 album Beware was to annoy them as much as possible. Each
song is interrupted by the following announcement by Rian Murphy, co-founder
of Oldham's US label, Drag City: "you are enjoying a promotional CD of
Beware by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy." This was sometimes given in a German or
Scottish accent.
"As far as effectiveness, [the announcements] kept Beware out of the hands
of digital bootleggers until it was actually released," says Murphy. "The
reaction from press was mixed, as you might imagine. Some reacted harshly,
either refusing to review the record or reviewing [the announcements] and
panning them. We asserted that this was an issue for our survival under the
current technology."
Oldham's friend Bill Callahan put trumpet parps all over promo copies of his
latest release, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, but unfortunately they
made the album better, which was never going to help. Fellow US singer Cat
Power's label, Matador, took to chopping 30 seconds off each track on
promotional CDs of her last two albums, something the label has also done
with Yo La Tengo's recent albums.
There are more conventional ways of stopping file-sharing, such as sending
out watermarked CDs that can be traced to the recipient, or emailing
reviewers links to streaming music that can't be downloaded. The listening
party is popular for big artists: journalists are invited to record company
offices to stand around, somewhat awkwardly, as they are played a
forthcoming album but can anyone really review an album based on one
hearing, under those conditions? The White Stripes issued vinyl-only promos
of their 2003 classic Elephant, partly because of Jack White's belief that
any journalist who didn't have a record player didn't deserve to hear the
album anyway. The electronic duo Autechre tried the same trick with a
cassette tape but journalists really didn't have cassette players any more
by then and the trick backfired.
Ultimately, the war on file-sharing has to be a moral one, and the
announcement on Current 93's album highlights the fact that anyone illegally
downloading it really needs to think long and hard about the implications of
stealing someone's creative efforts before it's too late. "The announcement
may have a certain dark humour, but it comes from my spiritual and religious
convictions," says Tibet. "Ultimately, nothing is free; we pay for
everything we do in one way or another. I'll be atoning for various sins at
the Judgment Seat, but the illegal downloading of other people's music won't
be one of them."
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