File sharing feels some love


John Snyder (president of Artist House Records, a board member of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and a 32-time Grammy nominee) and Ben Snyder: Embrace File Sharing or Die

The reason why the RIAA is screaming bloody murder about little ol’ MP3 is because it means that they are losing control. People are making their own individual choices, and they aren’t going along with the program of manipulation that has always limited those choices. Now that they’re making choices, industry executives and politicians are shocked…

…NARAS should be the “think tank” of the music business, not an enforcer or a PAC. What we have here is the potential to become a leader in the new frontier of intellectual property rights, artists’ rights, consumers’ rights, the future of music, and the power of the art itself. I say let’s seize the day. In my opinion, there is a vacuum of leadership with respect to these pivotal and crucial issues and NARAS should step in and fill that vacuum. It is a golden opportunity.

Also, yesterday’s LA Times included a short, somewhat superficial op-ed in favor of p2p by singer Janis Ian: Don’t Sever a High-Tech Lifeline for Musicians

Andrew Raff @andrewraff