International News
Steve Angello's artist album
Get ready to add another name to the ever-growing list of collaborative albums,... [more]
Steve Bug chimes in as the great file sharing debate rages on
Created On November 23rd, 2009 by daverh
to listen to their music now on 
Being the upstanding stalwarts of the interwebs that we clearly are, it’s with a keen eye that ITM has been following the twists and turns in the illegal downloading saga. This year alone we’ve seen the US government slap Kazaa savvy grannies with exorbitant fines, British authorities threaten to cut off file-sharers internet, as well as a handful of artists offering their take on the situation, like Big Day Out pop starlet Lily Allen, who slammed illegal downloaders for forcing artists into label debt.
Well the great file sharing debate is continuing to spiral forth, and the latest artist to pipe up and enter the fray with their opinion is none other than Poker Flat wizard Steve Bug. The German producer recently spoke out on the issue of file sharing, criticising other artists in support of downloading by saying “if you think it’s ok that 20,000 people download your music for free, then you should pay the labels to release your music!”
Yet Bug’s recent comments are in stark contrast to the findings from a recent Times Online study, which set out to discern if artists had indeed suffered during the file sharing boom of the last five years. The Times piece seemingly rebuffed Allen and Bug’s remarks, finding that in the wake of illegal downloading, artist revenue has actually increased substantially.
According to the report, although recorded revenue going to record labels has noticeably declined since 2004, artists (at least those in the UK) have enjoyed greater revenue streams, firstly from PRS revenue – who collect money for music played in public – and through the live arena. Indeed, live performance revenue has risen sharply (for both artists and promoters) in the last five years, with artists taking in nearly double the amount of cash they did previously.
The figures – which you can see over here – seem to reflect what many have been saying about the file sharing dilemma, that whilst it may spell trouble for the big labels, it could indeed be a good thing for artists. One need only look at an artist such as Girl Talk, the mash-up maestro who essentially gave away his last album Feed The Animals when he asked fans to pay what they like for the record. With a myriad of uncleared samples on the record, the record would’ve been a label’s nightmare, yet Girl Talk efficiently bypassed that system, spread the material in a far-reaching manner, and now tours relentlessly around the world, including Australia where he’ll rub shoulders with Ms Allen herself on the Big Day Out tour.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see where the file sharing storm rolls onto from here, but as always, inthemix will be following it closely.
hailtothechimp says...
Girl Talk isnt an artist, he doesnt write his own music and is pretty irrelevant in this argument. He didnt pay for clearance or royalties for Feed the Animals so of course he benefited from releasing it as a user pays model as the profits of sales went directly into his pockets, not the artists he ripped off. The only person benefitting from the release was him !
Neil UPP says...
Girl Talk blows
DaSchmooze says...
Well said hailtothechimp. Agreed whole heartedly. The doubling of PRS revenue is the doubling of something that was almost nothing anyway. It by no means covers the lost sales revenue... not even close.
eddy96 says...
Arrrrr!
GrEnNo says...
so when do artists get paid anyway due to big downloading sites such as itunes and beatport. they all make the money and the artists make nothing, i know artists who havent seen a cent from beatport or there label.
Edstacee says...
The reason the PRS revenues have gone up is that artists have to get out on the road and tour more..good for the fans I guess. Downloading free or illegal music will never stop..it's something that needs to be accepted by the irrelevant major labels, clutching at straws to keep their revenue coming in from this source. And yes, Girl Talk is nothing, with a cracked copy of Ableton, anyone could easily do that. Hope Lily smacks him in the head!
toilet trained says...
Re: steve Bug, I think small label owner/DJ's like Steve Bug would feel the negative affects of file sharing more astutely than say commercial artists...what drove interest in DJ's is not their open advertisement, but their exclusivity. you could go to Dj's to hear music that you would never hear anywhere else, especially DJ's who also ran their own labels...the number of blog torrents uploading brand new releases, before they even hit beatport, means this is no longer the case. I mean, in the end, if there is no commercial impetus to release good music, labels will all fold, and everything will be open source, everyman selling their wears, and it will be impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff completely
attatae says...
Girl Talk's music also helps the artists he mashes - free publicity. His mashes do not compete with the original track, so an artist would seem silly not to want their track used on his FAMOUS album. Better than ads.
attatae says...
Girl Talk IS an artist! Shame on naysayers. I would like to see any detractors go out and put together an album in the mash spirit, and get on all the Top lists like he did. You won't, because its hard. Any artist just channels human consciousness and sculpts it. Same with any artist. Are they fakes just because they speak in English, using words people use before? They have to start all the way from scratch? According to you yes. That is silly.
webgott says...
VERY interesting, that Times article. As for Steve Bug - come on, it's been years since "The Last Resort" and his label just hasn't released any successful albums/EPs since that.
taylor williams says...
The major labels are just greedy. Yes they arent making as much as they used to but they still make a lot. Lily Allen can shut up. I dont usually mind her but she isnt the most talented person in the world and im sure she's set for life now after only 4 years in the music industry. If the independants are losing out then thats a different story. I always thought that most people who are into smaller niche genres of music would want to support their scene so didnt think illegal downloads would affect them too much but maybe im worng. I buy all my music for DJing from Beatport as its the best way for me to support the labels/artists I like.