You roll out of bed every workday morning, take a hot shower, get dressed, chomp into some fruity-nutty breakfast bar, and wash it down with a half a pot of black coffee as you watch the carnage on the morning traffic report. At 7:30AM sharp, you get in your car and desperately battle the legions of rush hour maniacs, just to get to a place where you'll spend the next eight or so hours grinding your way through your daily work routine, always looking ahead to the following weekend. You repeat this process day after day, and at the end of the week your boss hands you a decent paycheck for your time and trouble. You'll crawl back after a wild weekend to the same old routine, knowing that this gig is going to pay the bills, and it'll help keep you from slipping into the ranks of the homeless.
Now, what if your boss told you at the end of your workweek that he really appreciates all that you do for him, but that he just doesn't feel like paying you this week because he wants to save some money? I'm pretty sure at that point you'd be fighting the primal instinct to give your boss the biggest WWF Smackdown he's ever seen! You may even get a gun, stick it in his face, and demand to be paid NOW!
How dare someone ask YOU to WORK FOR FREE!
Every day millions of folks share illegal music downloads, and by doing so, they ask hard-working recording artists and music industry employees to work for free. The infrastructure that supports today's recording artists has been decimated by the scourge of music piracy and illegal digital file-sharing. Stricter laws have helped slow the pillaging, but every day a new loophole seems to pop up from the depths of the criminal Internet cesspool. The pond scum that develops new strategies for illegal file-sharing are the same fine folks who steal identities, hack into your private databases, and sell your life secrets to the highest bidder.
Before the plague of illegal file sharing, artists could build promising careers on the foundation of their first hit single. It's gotten to the point where even having a #1 hit song doesn't even guarantee that you'll be working the following year. If folks knew what kind of work it took to bring them the music they love, they might see things a little differently; but I guess I know deep down inside that this is just wishful thinking. Unfortunately, selfishness is a major component of human nature, and I really don't think people even care about who they're hurting by stealing music. They won't stop downloading illegal music until they're certain that by doing so, they would completely wipe out their PC operating systems and hard drives.
As a BMI writer/composer and indie recording artist, I've tried to stay positive about my future in the recording industry. I've sacrificed a lot, and paid my fair share of dues to try to eek out a living in this business. I've reached the level where I know I'm competitive in the industry, but because the product I'm creating is being devalued by mass piracy, the future of my music career is looking rather bleak.
I'm very frustrated every time I see another website that offers unlimited free digital music downloads. Many of these sites don't even notify artists when their music is being downloaded for free, and many make it the artists responsibility to contact the file-sharing website to stop the free downloading of their songs. This practice makes it impossible for the artist to make any income by selling THEIR PRODUCT AND PROPERTY through other legal distribution channels. In my opinion, it should be illegal for sites like Bearshare and others even to possess digital copies of an artist's songs in their servers without prior authorization from the artist or record label.
I agree that music file-sharing can help with the promotion of new artists, but I want it to be MY decision when and if I want my property to be offered for free to the public for that purpose. I hope people can see this issue from the perspective of the artist, and understand that artists and writers also have bills to pay and families to support. I think most artists are willing to make compromises that make music affordable for everyone, but we also have to bring home a reasonable paycheck at the end of the week, just like everyone else.
Do you work for free? Please don't expect us to work for free either. Thank you!