Chart Topping Musician Thinks File Sharing Is Great

from the very-helpful dept

So, while the MPAA is sending around industry folks to teach one-sided lessons in schools, Edinburgh University has decided to bring in a chart topping musician to discuss his view on file sharing. It turns out that Alex Kapranos, of the band Franz Ferdinand, thinks file sharing is great. "To be honest I'm all for song swapping online. Downloading music from the internet is something I do myself and something that I'd be keen to encourage." He blames the recording industry for coming down so hard on file sharing without realizing how it can be beneficial. In fact, he credits file sharing with some of the band's success: "When Franz Ferdinand played a gig in New York for the first time, a lot of people there already knew our songs and were singing along. It was amazing because our album wasn't even released in the UK at that point, never mind the US. Without the internet, we never would have had that reaction. For us it has been global word of mouth that has helped our progress, not hindered it." He also seems to understand that file sharing not only isn't going away, it opens up new possibilities for musicians: "The internet to me is like the radio, it's a way of hearing new songs and going to a shop to buy them. It can also whet your appetite to go out and buy a single or album you previously wouldn't have gone for. I don't think it is damaging musicians at all. Downloading music is as revolutionary an invention as the gramophone and I'm all for it." Glad to see a few more musicians understanding the potential of file sharing as well.

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