I'm glad Noah Bradley is in a position where he's ok working for free, and maybe it's different in this business...but as someone who spent more than a decade in the music business, I can definitely tell you that it's not just piracy in the grand perspective.
Piracy has not only fragmented the music industry into a landscape where record labels can only afford to sign ready-made artists guaranteed to sell (pop music, mostly), but it has also created a whole generation of people who feel entitled to having everything for free.
Not only that, it has created a landscape where you are required to be not only a good musician, but also a good marketer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, tour booker, etc...this used to be covered by record labels, who were much more willing to take risks before torrent piracy emerged.
The result is elitism: only the geniuses who's ability is very good in all these fields have a chance to break through. The fantastic band with amazing songs that don't know how to record or release material, stand no chance.
There is also this weird image of record labels as being run by greedy bankers (I assume this image has been invented to morally justify stealing their property), but everyone I met through the labels I was signed to in my day - and the people I still know in the music business - are all very passionate people that love music.
So anyway. It's not just piracy. It's what piracy brings out in people, and it's what piracy stands for. Noah Bradley isn't a victim of piracy: he's telling his readers that they can grab his work for free. They aren't pirates, they're just paying what Noah asks: $0.
I'm glad Noah Bradley is in a position where he's ok working for free, and maybe it's different in this business...but as someone who spent more than a decade in the music business, I can definitely tell you that it's not just piracy in the grand perspective.
Piracy has not only fragmented the music industry into a landscape where record labels can only afford to sign ready-made artists guaranteed to sell (pop music, mostly), but it has also created a whole generation of people who feel entitled to having everything for free.
Not only that, it has created a landscape where you are required to be not only a good musician, but also a good marketer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, tour booker, etc...this used to be covered by record labels, who were much more willing to take risks before torrent piracy emerged.
The result is elitism: only the geniuses who's ability is very good in all these fields have a chance to break through. The fantastic band with amazing songs that don't know how to record or release material, stand no chance.
There is also this weird image of record labels as being run by greedy bankers (I assume this image has been invented to morally justify stealing their property), but everyone I met through the labels I was signed to in my day - and the people I still know in the music business - are all very passionate people that love music.
So anyway. It's not just piracy. It's what piracy brings out in people, and it's what piracy stands for. Noah Bradley isn't a victim of piracy: he's telling his readers that they can grab his work for free. They aren't pirates, they're just paying what Noah asks: $0.