Response to the 'Internet Debacle by Janis Ian'

Recently I was introduced to an article that Janis Ian wrote about 'file-sharing' and music back in 2002, in an article called "The Internet Debacle". You can find a link to the article here.

After reading the entire article presented by Janis Ian about the debate regarding ‘free downloading,’ I would say for the most part that I agree with her opinions. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is doing a tremendously poor job in addressing the issue of file sharing, and are just further estranging the general consumer from the industry as a whole. Check out this ridiculous situation right here. To date an organization has been created to out rightly stand up against the RIAA and their misguided attempts to stop file sharing (Anonymous.) Personally I can understand the vehemence which the RIAA has been approaching the situation, because they are operating from an old school model. Labels are notorious for gouging the artists as well as the consumers with their contracts, and pricings of product, which screws the buyers. However all this aside, someone needs to at least have an opposing voice against utterly blatant file sharing, and the possible chaos that could ensue. It sucks that the voice of the industry had to come from a rusted dinosaur like the RIAA who are, as Janis pointed out, using skewed tests in favor of their own ulterior motives, which is just to forward the ‘record’ industry’s agenda, NOT the agendas of the artists.

I feel that Janis is right that free downloading is not as harmful to the artists and the industry that the RIAA would like all of us to believe. However, I’m also of the mind-set that free-downloading isn’t totally innocent either. Having some of your catalog available for free for exposure is a lot different than your entire life’s work available for free to the public to ravenously devour without paying for. I totally understand the argument that having your music available for free allows you to get greater exposure, and expand your fan base, and that enterprising artists are making use of this. I think my main point with all of this is just making sure that an artist still has control over what they want ‘to be free’ to the public, but it should never be against their will. It is kind of the same thought-process as the creative commons licenses that are out there – it makes the song/piece of art/photograph available for free, gets the artist exposure for themselves, but it is in the end their choice still. Janis in the end of the article did agree with me on this point when she pointed out, "Please note that I am not advocating indiscriminate downloading without the artist’s permission. I am not saying copyrights are meaningless.”

I like that Janis pointed out that the RIAA instead should have addressed many of the issues prevalent in the recording contracts that artists get screwed in. Even though it doesn’t directly relate to the general topic of the article with file-sharing, these are important problems that are in the end really harming the record labels and their relationships with the artists. I think that by eliminating the ‘shelving’ of albums, the indentured servitude, and the fact that artists cannot retain the rights to ‘out-of-print’ albums, this would greatly improve artist-label relations. Furthermore, if an album can’t become ‘out-of-print,’ people wouldn’t have to be scouring the file sharing networks to try and download that really old Fela Kuti album, or those out of print London String Quartet recordings. At the very least, the artists should be allowed to promote the records themselves.

I don’t think that the world would be better off without labels though. Microsoft, Apple, and many of the major digital distributors of music right now would never step into the shoes of investing in any random band to develop them. No company would be properly set up or see the value in a business venture like this. That is why labels are still relevant and always will be. They provide capital for artists to fully develop their craft, and connect them into the industry and the business in fast ways that a completely independent artist would have a hard time doing. Granted, labels aren’t for everyone – and there are plenty of artists out there that are surviving just fine without ever laying a finger on a contract. But a world without labels too isn’t the answer.

With respect to file-sharing, the labels need to let go and focus on fostering good relationships with their artists and their customers, since they have done a fine job of estranging both at this point, and are obviously hurting because of it.

-Andrew Joslyn