p2pnet.net News:- “MP3s are poorer quality … That’s part of why the record industry’s argument against file sharing is so ridiculous – nothing out there on P2P networks sounds as good as the original CD or vinyl record.”

That’s from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, quoted in a Wired News Q&A.

The Chicago band didn’t much like where their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was going under Reprise Records – Warner – and ended up streaming the album for free.

Result? Mainstream success.

And ————-

“Something interesting happened,” said Tweedy.

“We were contacted by fans who were excited about the fact that they found it on P2P networks, but wanted to give something back in good faith. They wanted to send money to express solidarity with the fact that we’d embraced the downloading community. We couldn’t take the money ourselves, so they asked if we could pick a charity instead – we pointed them to Doctors Without Borders, and they ended up receiving about $15,000.”

Nice.

And ————-

WN: What if the efforts to stop unauthorized music file sharing are successful? How would that change culture?

Tweedy: If they succeed, it will damage the culture and industry they say they’re trying to save.

What if there was a movement to shut down libraries because book publishers and authors were up in arms over the idea that people are reading books for free? It would send a message that books are only for the elite who can afford them.

Stop trying to treat music like it’s a tennis shoe, something to be branded. If the music industry wants to save money, they should take a look at some of their six-figure executive expense accounts. All those lawsuits can’t be cheap, either.

And ————-

WN: How do you feel about efforts to control how music flows through the online world with digital rights management technologies?

Tweedy: A piece of art is not a loaf of bread. When someone steals a loaf of bread from the store, that’s it. The loaf of bread is gone. When someone downloads a piece of music, it’s just data until the listener puts that music back together with their own ears, their mind, their subjective experience. How they perceive your work changes your work.

Treating your audience like thieves is absurd. Anyone who chooses to listen to our music becomes a collaborator.

People who look at music as commerce don’t understand that. They are talking about pieces of plastic they want to sell, packages of intellectual property.

I’m not interested in selling pieces of plastic.

WN: Your critics might say that it’s easy for you to say that, given that you’re already a commercial success.

Tweedy: I’m grateful that I’ve sold enough to have a house, take care of my kids and live decently. But that’s a gift, not an entitlement.

I don’t want potential fans to be blocked because the choice to check out our music becomes a financial decision for them.

===================

See:-
for free – ‘Music Is Not a Loaf of Bread’, Wired News, November 17, 2004

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