This is Lizy's Blog.

The music industry and SOPA

Just FYI to all of you out there who wonder what is going on inside major music corporations these days.

Obviously I don’t support SOPA, but my concerns over this letter that Mr. Urie (who I used to work for- indirectly) sent out to all his pals in the industry is based on more than my objections to his politics.

Mr. Urie: do you really want the world to know that this is how you are spending your day? Do you really want to give the music industry—which already has a reputation for being evil and clueless—“credit” for being a driving force behind this legislation?

It is such a huge source of sadness to me, everyday, to see the industry behaving in such a reactionary way. These types of emails, which are clearly motivated by self-preservation as opposed to any kind of ethical or moral or even practical considerations, do way more harm than good. Word gets out and the world hates you even more and steals even more because they want to stick it to the man even more than they already did.

Moreover, now all the young tech guys and probably some of the old tech guys (they work at companies like Facebook and Google- maybe you’ve heard of those companies?) hate you. Maybe they pretend they don’t on the golf course or over dinner, but most of them actually do hate you. And the ones that don’t, they’re members of the old guard just like you, destined to retire within the next ten years and to be replaced by younger people, eager to exploit both the creative and revenue-generating possibilities the Internet offers people with a little imagination. And besides the tech people, now all the young people, passionate about music and intersected in being part of the process hate you too. And they think you’re a clueless old fart and they DON’T want to work for you, and really, can you blame them? They will go and bring their passion and talent somewhere else, somewhere it can flourish, where the future is viewed as something new and full of potential instead of a worse, less successful iteration of the past 50 years.

I can look past your attempts to disguise this self-interested plea as concern for everyone else (though really the veiled threat about people losing their jobs is sort of appalling) if you stop this! Stop it right now, and focus on the reality of a future that is, for better or worse, not the one you had envisioned or planned for. I DON’T support stealing but I DO support having a good relationship with my (your) clientele. I DO support finding the silver lining. I DO support innovation. I DO support working with my contemporaries to build a better future. I DO support compromise, change, and evolution. And I DO support privacy and access to information. Therefore I cannot support SOPA. But I would like very much to support you, and all the artists whose interests it is your responsibility to protect. Isn’t there any way for us to work together here? I’m listening.

blog comments powered by Disqus
  1. laughterkey reblogged this from girlsgonegoldberg
  2. girlsgonegoldberg reblogged this from lizyrules
  3. lizyrules posted this