Grey Tuesday in the News

ONE THING THAT’S GREAT about the Grey Album is that it makes our arguments for us: as soon as people hear it, they know that it’s real art. So as EMI’s lawyers try to censor this record, everyone can see that they’re not trying to protect music, they’re just trying to control it. EMI is part of the major label monopoly: for decades they’ve controlled musicians, distribution, and the songs people hear on the radio. Until we can break that monopoly, they’ll continue to suppress anything that doesn’t flow through their system. And since that includes some of the best music being made, we shouldn’t wait another minute to force a change.

Press outlets are starting to pick up the Grey Tuesday story. MTV News discussed it in this music news roundup. And there’s a great piece in The Register, the British IT industry journal. We love their headline: “Music fans beg to buy music” (begging to buy non-major label music, of course). We also really like The Register’s editorial policy of consistently referring to the major labels as “pigopolists”.