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Another Major Musician Supports File Sharing
from the slowly,-but-surely... dept
Just as everyone (outside of the recording industry) knew would happen, people are beginning to realize the other side of file sharing: that it's one of the greatest distribution and promotion tools ever created -- and it doesn't cost musicians a dime. Once people realize that their music, by itself, is actually a promotional vehicle rather than the end product itself, suddenly file sharing networks look like a gold mine, and the latest to realize that is famed musician Steve Winwood. Winwood and his label released a song and some videos from his latest album on a variety of file sharing networks. The results, his (independent, of course) label say, have been wonderful. This really is a toe-in-the-water kind of experiment. He only released one track, and it includes a little advertisement for a TV show at the beginning, which probably gets a bit annoying for anyone who wants to listen to the song more than a few times. So, this isn't a full endorsement of file sharing, but it is a start. Amusingly, the RIAA who usually can't shut up, has no comment on this example that proves what they say isn't necessarily true.
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This proves what now?
Since when has the RIAA been opposed to copyright-holders releasing promotional samples of their material? I'm pretty sure that the recording industry has always loved giving away various kinds of promos for free, as well as generating revenue by tacking advertising onto their promos - so what kind of comment should we expect from the RIAA on behavior which they've always condoned?
As I understand it, the RIAA's crusade is against the illegal distribution of copyrighted material by people who are NOT the copyright-holders, which makes this article kind of irrelevant.
That said, I admit that it would be impressive if Winwood's label were to announce that they're releasing his entire catalog as MP3s, including all of his new material before its released, with no embedded commercials, that everyone is free to redistribute them any way they choose, and that they expect this to lead to a dramatic increase in the sales of his CDs. Anyone want to bet on when that will happen?
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