As the music business gradually comes to terms with the digital age, Billy Bragg argues that artists should have more of a say in the industry's future

The internet is the ultimate broadcasting medium, pulling together all of the traditional methods of disseminating ideas and placing them in the hands of the individual. Not only can we now watch television programmes, listen to radio shows and read newspaper articles at the time of our own choosing, we can also create our own output and broadcast it to the world in blogs, videos, music files and Twitter.

For the next generation of artists, the opportunities to find new audiences have never been greater. You’d think the music industry would welcome these changes. Given their marketing muscle, they stand to benefit as much as anyone for the advances in technology. So why are the major labels involved in an unseemly act of protectionism in calling for fans who download free music files to be prosecuted by law?

The Featured Artists Coalition, which held its first meeting in London this week, aims to give the artist a voice in the decisions that are being made as our industry slowly comes to terms with the digital age. We want much greater transparency in the music industry so that we can see who is benefiting from deals that are being done on our behalf. And we are tired of being the patsy when it comes to the industry's dealings with the public.

The first decision that the FAC made was to speak out against the criminalisation of music fans who download tunes for free. Yes it does break the letter of the copyright law - but they don't get anything out of it but pleasure and I might get a new fan. Copyright law does not rest on ownership, but on whether or not the user profits materially from the use of a song. In order to be remunerated in the digital era, artists need to follow the money.

Billy Bragg is Director of the Featured Artists Coalition

Post your comment

Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website