Songwriters, Copyright, and Filesharing

NICHOLAS HAD AN INTERESTING email conversation with the head of a songwriter’s association last week, and we think it’s kind of an interesting look at how some of this stuff gets debated. It’s not comprehensive or even very methodical– it’s just a little back and forth, but it gets at some key issues. Songwriters are an important ally to convince: they’ve been screwed in a whole bunch of ways by the major labels but they also have a lot of nervousness about the changing industry because they’re some of the only creative people that actually get paid in the current system. We’re sure that they’ll get much more money if filesharing is legalized and monetized, but that’s hard to swallow for a lot of people. Our long-term challenge is to create the resources and information that can make a solid case to musicians, songwriters, and indy labels, while weakening the major labels ability to stop progress.

“I’ve been a professional writer for 20 years and have no great love for record labels but at least they do…”
Read the conversation here