The problem with Pirates

No not the "Yarrr" kind, but the other kind.  The ones that use bit torrents or p2p networks to lay their hands on as much free music as possible.  Those ones.  The problem as I see it is it is just not necessary anymore.

Commercial music has now effectively and finally stopped being a product and started being a service.  It is not something that people go out and buy, rather something they interact with, the thing that brings it to them instead.  Be that iTunes, last fm, yahoo radio, spotify or whatever,  people just plain don't use music in the same way they used to, times have changed.  No they have, go check, I'll wait.

See? I know! it surprised a lot of other people as well!

Now perhaps I should explain my position on piracy.  My position is this:

It is bollocks.  Everything about it, both the act itself and peoples reaction to it.  I have also been guilty of both.

I grew up in the 80's, the land that taste forgot, a place that is somehow remembered with starry eyed nostalgic wonder but I can tell you the 80's was crap from beginning to end full of horrific political decisions, pointless wars, the stupidest clothes you have ever seen, awful music and this logo everywhere:

Like properly everywhere, you could not move for it at the time.  I can remember this very clearly and in 1985 I was six lets not forget!

Now just as Live Aid did not cure famine (you're right bono; i'm glad it's them and not me to!) Home taping did not kill music.  Instead it fostered thousands of music fans who grew up to be adults that bought music whilst the next generation were busy ripping it off.  Just like we were.  I know this because I was one of them.  I had boxes and boxes of tapes with which I had ripped off from friends or the radio.  And then when I grew up (stop laughing at the back there!) I went out and in the most part bought them on a multitude of formats.

Then along came the CD and everybody made uberbajillions, lived in their mansions made of cocaine and whores and when mp3 came along got the fear and hid their heads in the sand in the hope it would go away.  Didn't though.

Then a whole bunch of stuff happened that everybody is very familiar with by now and there is no point going over again and if you have no clue what I am talking about a) really? you sure? b) read THIS it is excellent and should fill you in on some of the stuff you have missed.  It is also both an informative and amusing read.  Although you really should pay more attention you know, then again you should probably read more to so either way is good.

So now we find ourselves on the cusp of a new decade and things are very different to how they were two years ago let alone ten (I say two because it's not all that different to last year, just people are aware of it now).  So what needs to change now?  You do. If you are still pirating music, if you are still using p2p etc then you have to ask yourself why.

There are now countless alternatives to p2p/bit torrents which are both free services (there's that word again) to the consumer and pay the artist and rights holders as well.  They are convenient, available online, offline, on desktop machines and mobile platforms.  The only reasons I can possibly think of to not use these services instead, and I have given it some thought, are as follows:

1. You didn't know.  Well if you are reading this, now you do.  Although I do find that hard to believe.  If you can work p2p etc out i'm sure you can work out google to.
2. You are an idiot.  Kind of self explanatory that.  Somehow you judge your own self worth by how much music you have.  Well done, have a cookie.
3. You use p2p/bit torrents to download films:  well yes there is as of yet equivalent, there is no vidify or e-drive-in and perhaps there should be.  Perhaps youtube should host films and pay money to the owners in the same way they do for music videos, personally I think they should.  I am still going to the imax to watch Avatar mind!

So to the stubborn pirates I say this:

Stop it, just stop it.  There really is no need anymore.

& To the Industry I say this:

Well done, instead of hiding your head in the sand you've got on board this time around.  About time to. But don't be complacent there is still plenty to do.  There will in the not to distant future be developed a hard drive that is portable and big enough to hold every single piece of music ever and we will all have one.  And you need to be ready for that.

Why I PERSONALLY love it that RATM are Xmas number 1

So before I explained what I believe to be the more objective reasons as to why I think it is a good thing that RATM are Xmas #1.

Now however a more personal touch.

Reason 1) Boredom

I live in the real world.

It is a lovely place but dear god other peoples taste sucks.

Now I haven't listened to the radio since Mark Radcliffe did the morning show on BBCR1 and I don't even get TV reception let alone watch it except for DVD's.  I do however exist.  What this existence means is that I am bombarded with pop music from every angle and despite not really having much to do with popular culture I can not get away from it.  It is the soundtrack to the films, the incidental music in sport, the tune blaring out of the car at the lights, the song in the pub.  It is everywhere.

And I am bored of it.

But I get over it and get on with my life.

But I do enjoy every now and then forcing other people to listen to something I like.  This is why I own a stupidly loud stereo and upon occasion, when I can't take the sound track to wicked or something having a donk placed on or near it anymore my neighbors receive both barrels from the more aggressive end of my taste in music Currently Dying Breed by Five Finger death punch.  It doesn't change their taste in music or stop them being annoying as hell in the long run but what it does do is remind them I am here.

To me this happened on a national scale over the weekend.  Nothing has changed, nothing will change but we've just reminded people that we are still here and when we can be bothered (nothing says alternative community quite like apathy folks) we are still a viable commercial market and yesterday and for the rest of this week all those people who usually, albeit inadvertently perhaps, force their woeful music on me, have to listen to something I like instead.

We all know that Pop is worth more money than Rock on a day to day basis, hell that's why I got paid more money Roadie'ng for five, Steps and the Brits than I ever got paid working for Slipknot, Disturbed or leftfield but we are still here and we still have cash to spend on music we like to.  But very briefly it wasn't

Prediction:
Pops songs however will have a more rocky "edge" to them this summer just like they did when Limp Biscuit and Korn were big.

Reason 2) Inspiration

I can think of two moments in my life when suddenly things just made sense. Like proper epiphanies.

a) Alien - Whereas I had seen slightly grissly and "nasty" films before this point (usually round a mates house whilst their parents were out, I will always love robocop for this exact reason).  Alien was the first time I was proper scared out of my gourd watching a film and in love with it at the same time.  Just amasing.  From there I most certainly developed my love of horror films.

(Simply red - shit)

b) Smells like teen spirit - Nirvana.  I was, of all things, on a PGL holiday in france, being taught french (in a desperate attempt by my parents I suspect to boost my still to this day woeful language skills before my 13+ exams) and at the end of the week was the worst disco thing I have ever been to in my life.  But in amongst the simply red and ub40 right at the end was smells like teen spirit.  And it properly blew my mind and was the start of a life long love affair with alternative music.





Maybe just maybe, someone heard something they've never heard before last night and it changed their life.  I like to think so.

Prediction:
Someone's life was enriched and forever changed for the better as they heard something that spoke to them for the first time.

So yes I know it doesn't matter and that "kicked puppy" Joe will be #1 next week, but personally I love the fact that RATM were Xmas #1 just like I loved it when Lordi won Eurovision, or when Iron Maiden had the Xmas #1 in 1990.

When Alternative becomes Pop, I smile.  But don't worry normal service will be resumed shortly and you can have you're saccharine induced music back in the charts and we'll all climb back under our rocks.

Ho ho ho merry Xmas.


On a vaguely related note I am a mature(ish) student studying Music theatre and Entertainment Management and last year my class went to a metal club as part of research for one of their projects.  They spent the whole night cowering in the corner as perfectly normal people went about having fun to music they like.  One of my class even confided in me that at one point they genuinely feared for their safety.  It is so far my favourite memory of last year and hilarious.

Why it did matter

So a lot has been said about how Rage Against the Machine's Xmas number 1 doesn't really matter, and in many ways it does and in many it doesn't.

I've read this morning lot's of arguements about how it's all a bit twee or all a bit RAWK or a bit sweary. About how Joe looks like a kicked puppy and how Sony win either way or the inbuilt irony of doing exactly what they were told to. Blogs have been lighting up over the past few weeks about how childish and silly it all is, once more the blogosphere has been bombed with the same topic. So what's one more to throw into the mix?

So I am going to ask you, just for a moment to ignore one key detail and I admit it is a key detail, but I would like you to ignore it anyway. Ignore the fact that it was Rage Against the Machine.

Yup that's right, if this appears to be the single largest bone of contention in most peoples arguments, then just for a second ignore it. This isn't hard to do as last year we (And I can say "we" as one of the people trying) attempted to do pretty much the same against Alexandra Burkes #1 with Pantera's Cemetery Gates as it was the 5 year Anniversary of Dimebag's sad death. Pretend instead it was KLF's what time is Love or The Mondays or anyone for that matter.

Would you still be having the same reaction you are now, then?

I know I would.

I would still be happy that people did something and just for a single moment stood up and said "actually I don't agree with that". It could've been "By the rivers of Babylon" by Boney M and I would've been punching the air in glee and blogging about it this morning.

Why? because it's good to remind people every now and then we're still here. This won't change anything, it's not like next year it won't be x-factor at Xmas number 1. But just for this year we shook things up, only a little, but we did.

Lastly I want to leave you with some numbers

Ratm for xmas number 1 facebook group: around 600k members and 502k record sales so approximately 83% of group bought one?

X-Factor final votes: approx. 4million (according to itv website) sales: 430k

Approximately 10% of x-factor voters buy the single?

See you next year for the KLF campaign