James Blunt: Disconnecting Music Pirates is “Critical”
Written by enigmax on September 21, 2009An increasing number of British musicians are making their opinions known on the issue of illicit file-sharing. Despite Peter Mandelson’s proposals which ostensibly support the music industry, musicians are divided. Today it’s the turn of James Blunt, who feels the proposed “disconnection” legislation is critical to the industry’s survival.
“Sir, I want to put my hand up in support of Lily Allen. She’s asking British musicians to galvanise over a serious crime: the death of a great British industry — our music business. The world over, people are stealing music in its millions in the form of illegal file-sharing. It’s easy to do, and has become accepted by many, but people need to know that it is destroying people’s livelihoods and suffocating emerging British artists.”
These are the words of singer songwriter James Blunt in The Times today, in response to the opinions of Lily Allen published and republished a thousand times last week. Allen had taken a swipe at Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Nick Mason, the Pink Floyd drummer, after they came out and said that file-sharing is beneficial for artists.
Both O’Brien and Mason are members of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), which opposes plans by Peter Mandelson to disconnect persistent file-sharers, but they are becoming quite a problem for the rest of the industry.
The major labels, who hold the opposite opinion on the issue of unauthorized downloading, have been in intensive talks with FAC over the last week, trying to reach some sort of consensus on the way ahead. Somehow the music industry needs to show a united front to the government, but at the moment that seems very unlikely. Yesterday FAC said that so far they have failed to find a way forward with the rest of the industry.
“[The] power to demand suspensions of accounts is only achievable through a wide-scale invasion of personal privacy which we believe would result in a dangerous reduction in the rights to protection of the individual. Putting this power in place would reduce the civil liberties of every one of us in the country in order to afford a disincentive threat to a small minority of ‘egregious offenders’. We believe this would be both disproportionate and unenforceable,” said FAC in a statement.
FAC said that while it negotiated with the labels all last week, they cannot be moved from their insistence that file-sharers should be disconnected from the Internet. FAC says it is steadfast in its opposition to this route.
In an attempt to soften their edges and appear less aggressive, UK Music, yet another music industry umbrella organization, has removed the actual word “disconnection” from its press releases and statements. However, even a cursory glance at their current wording shows that this omission is purely cosmetic, instead stating: “…..Ofcom should be granted appropriate and proportionate powers as directed by the secretary of state.” Of course, Ofcom are the people that are being proposed to have the power to disconnect file-sharers.
So as FAC and the British public stand on one side, Peter Mandelson, the record labels and the likes of Lily Allen and now James Blunt stand on the other.
“At long last the Government is looking to legislate to protect the industry,” writes Blunt, while completely forgetting that the UK has some perfectly good copyright laws to deal with, surprisingly, copyright infringement.
“Peter Mandelson is looking to engage the internet service providers who, in my opinion, handle stolen goods, and should take much more responsibility,” Blunt continues, while forgetting that as a carrier, under the law ISPs have no responsibility for the traffic they carry or the actions of their subscribers.
“How this legislation pans out, and if it goes through at all, is critical to the survival of the British music business; critical to thousands of jobs; and critical to our ability to nurture and develop great musicians and the songs and albums that we would hope to listen to in the future,” Blunt concludes.
Bringing in draconian laws to scare the public into buying music is not the answer. Taking away people’s Internet is definitely not the solution. The labels need to realize this and instead provide some high quality all-you-can-eat music services at a price that everyone can afford.
And as UK ISP Virgin Media sends its message to the government that a “heavy-handed, punitive regime will simply alienate consumers” and that “persuasion not coercion” is the key to solving this illicit file-sharing ‘problem’, I’ll end with a few lines from martial artist and best-selling author Geoff Thompson’s book Watch My Back, as he writes about a gang trying to impose their will on others;
This crew had gained respect in the city, but it was respect born through fear; stolen not given. Respect is worthless unless it’s earned. Any half-wit can point a loaded gun and demand respect but it brings hate with it. Real respect encourages co-operation and understanding
Previously: German Youth Would Vote Pirate Party Into Parliament
Next: Pirate Bay Appeal Judge Faces Ban, Works For Spotify
163 Responses
disgusting
He’s a bit of a James Blunt.
Amusing.
This coming from the man who did this, check it out all…
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/i-bedded-james-blunt-then-he-dumped-me/story-e6frewt0-1111117853900
Of course musicians (under big labels) think file sharing is killing them, they hear it nonstop from people working for the labels. I hope they think about the situation a bit more critically, how their labels have failed THEM (and are costing them). Until then, it’s all quite humorous.
Check this out just what we need…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10598705&pnum=2
Blunt is cunt, Lily is a slut.
Both are shit ‘artistes’, listen to ‘em…pure drivel.
Blunt is ex-military…looked after the Quenn of ingland. Lily went to the same performance school as Duffy, Amy Whinehouse et al.
And still she came out shite?
Go figure.
Nick Mason & Ed O’ Brien are University educated guys, whose bands don’t suck. Hmmmm…
If you had a car and saw him, not one person in the WORLD including himself cannot say they wouldn’t step on the accellerator and run him over, then reverse to make sure the job was finished.
Lily Allen & James Blunt… your place in hell awaits you… on second though, cool guys go to hell…
Get a real job like everybody else. Rockstar life is only possible if you’re actually a rockstar.
Eh, nobody liked his music anyway. Who cares about what some whiny sissypants has to say.
My question to james blunt and others of his opinion is this…
Name one dam person who has lost there job because of filesharing? and that does not include the following 1: Crap bands and artists that would have failed even if music sharing had not existed. 2: Any downsized employees 3: Any job losses that can be directly liked to the current world wide recession.
Other than those can anyone provide a real source that shows people are actually losing there jobs because of it?
As a famous quote says:
“Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that.”
-Jay
so… on one side of the debate you have Radiohead and Pink Floyd. on the other is Lily Allen and James Blunt…
talk about night and day! but no wonder Allen and Blunt are worried. their careers are passing, fleeting things – they want to snatch as much cash from a gullible, media-led public as they can before they fade into obscurity.
I never liked his whingey tiresome music and I sure don’t like his politics.
Didn’t like his music before, now I don’t like his opinions either. Pah, I won’t even bother downloading his music now.
Nice quote at the end of the article there
#7 and #13,
++1.
Military officers, whether active or retired are scum. I wouldn’t pirate his shite music, even if he was to pay me.
Write or contact him (in a way his agent / reality filter can’t block out) and tell him that letting that sort of hot air out has lost him a fan/customer.
If there actually are any fans of him, that is.
As if we really needed any more reason to hate James Blunt…
I don’t feel concerned. These people sell washing powder, not music.
I’d say, let the major labels driven associations sue people who download their stuff, so at the end nobody will listen to them anymore.
At the moment sheeple download what they see on tv/hear on mainstream radios. When they have received a 10k+ fine, I’m pretty sure they’ll start to hate the show-business.
Probably the best way to destroy that business which has nothing to do with music nor art.
On my side I still buy lots of cds, nothing that will ever reach the mainstream; and I have the satisfaction not to finance those half criminal organizations.
As most people say, those fakes should get a job, so music could remain a passion and a form of art.
Artists make their serious money while playing concerts. CD sales more or less go straight to the producer.
He is just a puppet for his producers. I doubt he actually cares that much for pirating. If people are hearing their music, its good for the artists, regardless of where its from.
James and Lily are both spineless bottom feeders who just do as they are told. If they weren’t rich and famous, I guarantee they’d be downloading music.
Art should be available for everyone, I’m not letting some greedy producer get between me and culture.
I may not be a captain, but I am going down with this ship.
I think I might try something new… purchasing music from people who support P2P and not from the others.
Sounds fair
er talent anyone.
They have not got any!!!
do they produce the classics of the future I think not!!!
Blah Blah Blah
His nickname in the Army was ‘Cunty Blunty’ – enough said!
This argument is so ridiculously overblown (”critical to the survival of the music business”?) that a single counterexample is enough to break it (if there is anyone who does not need it, how critical it really is?).
@ Robin
I was just gonna say the same thing
I feel sorry for the guy he is digging his own professional grave LoL
Never even would’ve known who he was, if I didn’t see him on Top Gear. And after that I didn’t bother to even pirate him. Seems all the failing “stars” take anti-filesharing stance; well guess what – you are washed out, you’d be failing even if all file-sharers are gone.
Wouldn’t want to pirate anything by James Blunt anyway.
The only ones who fear sharing anything are people who don’t have what it takes to make it LoL
All i’m saying is, we the people, the secret shareholders of your music, just want an artist who will make us want to give you our money. We’ll even take care of distribution of the art for you, no cost to you, for everyone to judge. Until you can do it, we’ll listen to your music and watch your movies for free. Those artists who have already switched to the new business paradigm have seen the rewards and and found the transition fairly easy.. Join in… Get it done, artist.
@13 Damn right. I never liked that cunt and that freak anyway :)
The only reason I know James Blunt exists is I downloaded his album online and listened to it. In this case, I didn’t like it enough to buy it, but them’s the breaks!
“NeoStyles” is a TROLL.
It may or may not be the same person as “Reasoned Mind”
Do not encourage them by entering into debate; do not waste any time on them at all.
It’s quite possible that one or both of them are paid by the copyright lobby.
all we hear is how ‘the music industry and artists’ are losing money. typical, self-centered attitude. i want this (money) and i dont care who else loses out, as long as it isn’t me! what about the companies that will go to the wall when thousands, if not millions of people are disconnected from the net? how are isps supposed to survive with no customers? the internet is the future. disconnection and restriction will stifle innovation and technological advances. oh, but i forgot! that doesn’t matter. what wankers he and his kind are!
it’s true……..Nobody cares what that Sock Cucker thinks
who the fuck is james blunt?
Go cuck a sock, Blunt! It’s because of piracy that emerging artists become famous from — if they’re really good, I go and support them by buying the CD/DVD.
James Blunt : I’m still n the closet, as I secretly want cock, but I don’t understand that music pirates are Music Artists biggest income source via concerts.
I personally won’t buy an album but will pay to see them live.
Another load of crap by musicians who can barely spell their own name.
They basically want enforced consumerism and to do so, they invent casualties. Torrent downloads always mimic album sales and popularity, so there is never a little man that gets screwed. If you make shit music, you have the same right to be a musician as a banker that fucks up the economy.
These people are the same type that if given a chance, would sue you for losses if you quit your job and your replacement wasn’t as good as you.
The thing is Blunt is a worthless c*nt, as for Lily Allen woof.
but james blunt’s market is muesli snaffing, grauniad reading dipshits who always buy their stuff from itunes anyway because they aren’t aware of any other way.
he’s a donkey
“the isp`s handle stolen goods”
humm, lemme just go into my ISP`s office today and tell them that one…
wtf? this guy is just another suit who is a umm…a DUMBF**K!!
Torrent Freak is one of the main public faces of infringement and enjoys a well deserved reputation for showcasing the forward thinking that is state of the art for the majority of Pirates and those who support their cause.
I’ve been exhorting you to gather a respectable majority and take your ideas well organized to government. Blogs like this are what the influential minds in government read when they do their research into one of the important issues of our time.
So today we get a variety of derivatives of:
Blunt is cunt, Lily is a slut.
Thanks for that. And nicely done. No one reveals the shallow, lowlife morass that is the Pirate Party better than the very pirates themselves.
I hate Lily Allen. She an obnoxious arrogant bitch! And her music is pure crap.
James Blunt is an annoying wimp. I can very well see the world exist without these two…
James Blunt sucks.
Does not want to pay UK Tax’s but wants to have a say on UK Law.
I think if an artist wants copyright in a country they should pay all their income tax’s in that country.
And if they want cover in more than 1 country then they should pay income tax in each place.
Without that they should shut up
No representation without Taxation
Artists should know by now – the only ones making money from record sales are the record labels and the publishers.
The reason their acts were chosen in the first place was to make the industry rich, not themselves.
You want to make money?
Get on tour and meet your fans!
21st century rules apply.
Grow up and get with the program.
so anyone read this little gem?
“I don’t make any money out of recording. I don’t make any money out of record sales at all. I make money out of touring and ‘syncs’ – publishing, you know, my songs being put on Grey’s Anatomy, things like that. I don’t make money at all from selling an album which is probably why I feel so angry about having do to all this promotion, because I’m not earning money out of it. Someone else (is) and
they don’t have to live with the lasting effects.
Lilly allen in an interview..
http://news.qthemusic.com/2009/01/lily_tells_q_radio_of_anger_at.html
Soooo, are pirates ruining the livelihood of these millionaires or are the Record Companies…
if i dont want my house burgled, i have to try to take preventative measures, not rely on someone else. if i dont, and i get burgled, all i would get from the police and the insurance company is ‘tuff shit mate! you should have locked the doors and windows!’ if the music industry doesn’t want people to download and ultimately share the stuff, dont put it on the net in the first place! and certainly shouldn’t expect others to do the prevention for them. reduce the price of disks and file sharing will dramatically reduce as well. put out albums with good tracks on, instead of just a couple and the rest of them being crap! allow downloading of albums at sensible prices, with no drm on, at lower than shop bought prices. after all, the likes of Sony sell and expect people to buy, the equipment that enables the music to be put on to disk so are already making profit.
She told QPM presenter Samanthi: “ There’s no point in going into music if you don’t write your own stuff because you’re not going to sustain any kind of income and unless you really want to tour because that’s the only way you’re going to get any money.”
good old floyd think you for yor surrport.
notice a difference here ?
pink floyd the best act their ever has been, and james blunt the usual shirt off same old talentless tat.
your an idiot
your an idiot
its true.
james you seriously must have something wrong with you share is the besting that ever happened to music, it going back to it roots before fascist laws like patent and copyright.
music existed before copyright and will again.
so carry on taking your clothes off james you prostitute its the way you will ever sell any of your “music”.
SAVE THE WORLD
copyright and ip are killing people forcing high cost for drugs that cost pennies to make.
to hell with imagery property and the same with blunts crap.
james blunt a praise prat and a parasite.
blunt your a cock. i hope you and your industry suffer the same fate as Aolf Hitler.
Who the fuck are those Lily Allen and James Blunt and why should we care? No, seriously, I’m not British and it’s first time I’ve ever heard these names.
But I bet everyone knows Radiohead and Pink Floyd.
So let dinosaurs go extinct… in obscurity.
Artists. Yeah. Right.
Everything that is shouted in
a microphone is art. From Art-ist.
Doesn’t Blunt have enough
money, so he can just quit?
SO he could even rest his soul,
and would not have to talk about
things that seem to complicated for him.
It’s no surprise that this statement comes from someone who only produces utter crap that is engineered to maximise his record company’s profit. Apparantly, he has no grasp at all of how this very attitude has been killing music for the past decades.
Wake up, James. Music should be art, not a product. If music has any actual value at all to you, you should be happy that people are listening to it, regardless of whether your record executives approve of the method they choose.
You cannot modify society to meet unreasonable expectations. If you learn to accept that and you try to be of intrinsic value to music fans, you might find that your success exceeds what you were aiming for.
LOL I wrote a paper on james blunt in school…
I may add this story to my blog
http://microfreaks.sosblog.com/index.htm
To call James Blunt a “musician” is a bit of a stretch isn’t it?
What these morons seem to ignore is that disconnection means exclusion from social life, everyday activities, work and so on. So if I steal an apple from a store I should be locked up in my house not permitted to leave or talk to other people? Is this 14th century Saudi Arabia?
James Dumb
Change the way you consume music.
If it doesn’t have a CC commons license don’t listen to it, doing that you can change the world it is that simple LoL
Jamendo FTW.
love the comments. exactly what I think, yarrr!
Also reminded me of when Trent Reznor came to my country with a concert. He said “go ahead, download my shit for free since you can’t buy it for a fair price in you shithole”
He was angry at his pimps at the time. Now he’s a free man.
People like JB, AW or LA are no artists.
They are nothing more than disposble label whores on drugs.
As soon as they are worn out, they get dumped.
In a manner of speaking, the labels are just corporate pimps.
And since i do support neither prostitution nor drug addicts, my money goes to anywhere else but the “music business”.
I agree anyone who even considers downloading any of this sorry excuse for a musicians music should be disconnected.
@ Reasoned Mind
Have you even bothered to read all the posts on this topic, or just the ones that you so cleverly painted as “a variety of derivatives”….
Reasoned Mind:
Could you ask your fellow corporate trolls to stop making those types of “gutter language” post if they offend you. I,m disappointed the torrent freak crew have not yet exposed your attempts to portray here that all filesharers and their supporters are illiterate oiks, by publishing the list of IPs you all post from, I,m pretty sure they will be found to have originated from a range owned by the recording industry or one of its sattellite parasitic organisations.
I have no idea who either of those performers are.
When I checked Wiki for fast “who the fuck are they?” kinda thing, it didn’t look like either one had many hit songs.
These two are one hit wonders with higher ambitions because they are celebrity darlings and have won some industry awards. Mind, industry awards are effectively adverts for what you’re supposed to like but maybe somehow just don’t.
I just don’t too.
James Blunt punches babies in the face. True story.
Hmmm…
Technical difficulties? I posted and got an error that I was posting too quickly and should slow down. This is my first post here in weeks. And now I see that my post is awaiting moderation.
What gives?
why are people calling them ‘artists’??
they are SINGERS.
huge difference.
‘oh oh i write my own shit’
well thats what it is. SHIT.
SHE WAS JUST ANOTHER USELESS CUNT ON MYSPACE, WHO USED TO SELL ECSTACY.
JAMES BLUNT WAS A SOLDIER FOR FUCKS SAKE.
THESE PEOPLE SHOULD REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT THEY HAVE, I GOT FUCKIN NOTHING.
SO IMMA WATCH THINGS WHEN I DONT HAVE A LICENSE TO WATCH IT.
NO GUILT no NOTHING.
THESE TWO PRICKS ARE MILLIONAIRES.
fuck’em
now imma listen to in rainbows :)
This is great news and a great article, well done TF.
I am quite delighted by this, despite that total lunatic Reasoned Mind’s opinion.. we are making very good heady way in destroying the industry.
Keep talking reasoned idiot.. we are winning and your just another loser in moms basement.
:D
so 2 shity pop “stars” have a problem.
so jimmy had a 1 hit wonder with a crap song and died off.
lilly allen is just a chav.
really who would actually waste bandwidth on their crap.
you cant blame piracy because you shit record flopped
I’ve seriously in my life heard only one James Blunt song, and it kinda sucked IMO, and who the fuck is Lily Allen?
Overall I give this news article a 2/5.
James Blunt Fat C*nt
Look, just because I’m an upper classed mummies boy, doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion!
Oh and by the way, I wonder how many Models you’ve have had in your pants!
I RULE!
Love James
xx
What does he want to do by saying that? People are not going to go to his concerts and buy his stuff anymore :P he’s gonna make a lot of friends lol
PS: His music sucks anyway
Blunt is cranky because in a grassroots music scene, his album never would have gone anywhere. It had to be shoved down the world’s throat by an industry that thrives on money rather than talent. Fuck em!
“brings HATE”
i can feel the hate already
who the f is James Blunt?
never heard of him
Funnily enough, Lily Allen was on my short list of “when I get some extra money, buy something of hers” list because I did really like her last album. I think I might have downloaded Blunt’s album at one point, don’t even remember, I do remember iTunes giving away a single; regardless, I never liked any of it enough to keep for free let alone buy – it all went in the recycle bin ages ago. Now Ms. Allen can go the back of the line and see if her turn for a dime from me ever comes up (doubtful, plenty of artists I want to support who don’t open up their mouths and say stupid things).
Most recent artists should realise I’d not have a clue who they were or if they were any good if not for file sharing, and any sales they get from me will be because of file sharing, not in spite of it.
I don’t have much money, but most of my discretionary funds goes to music, and almost every single bit of it goes to music I’ve discovered through file sharing. While I’d rather the system allowed me to pay something for all the good music I find instead of paying full (over) price for only some of the music I find, that’s infinitely better than paying nothing at all, which is what they’d be getting if there was no file sharing for me to find and listen to them.
James as long as your name is still James Blunt and not James Blut
it will be fine! :-) lol
no I’m just kidding!
I really agree with you that artists ARE NOT GETTING THE MONEY THEY WOULD GET IF PEOPLE WOULD BUY ALL THE SONG THEY DOWNLOAD but the fact is that they are not prepared to buy all those song and pay like $2.00 for a single song! and “illegal” file-sharing is easier than “legal” downloading, but you don’t need to choose a side you can also find a FAIR solution for example: every human that has a internet connection needs to pay like $6 per month because they CAN AND MAY share culture/files all that money goes to the people that have the right to have it!
I am a pirate 2 but don’t think I’m a thief. I just don’t believe in tyranny and so I don’t believe in copyright anymore!
Jasper100
share-
it’s faire
that phil collins hes a cunt as well does,nt like file sharing
According to Wikipedia:
Allen claims to have grown up with her mother in a working class environment, living in a council house environment for most of her childhood.[16][17] This seems at odds with the fact that she attended some of the UK’s costliest public schools; Allen attended 13 schools in all, including Prince Charles’s junior alma mater, Hill House School, Millfield, Bedales School
At age seven, Blunt was enrolled at Elstree School, Woolhampton, before continuing to Harrow School (Elmfield House) on an army bursary.
Anyone still think they need our sympathy?
While were on the subject, isn’t it sickening how many ‘working class’ artists turn out to be well connected toffs.
Oh man…this is funny… “our music business is in jeopardy because of millions of 1 or 2 tracks off an album, that no one would’ve bought anyway.” this is rich, really before this whole digital age came around they where using tape cassettes..so it doesnt matter what piracy will exist.
second of all back in the day I didnt spend money on almost any music…so yes I heard your song but I wasnt buying anyway…
these days I find artist and download the album and will by it if I think its real good….or just keep it and maybe play it evry once in a while or tell other people about it therefore bringing your ass more buzz and publicity (for free), or even delete. So think about it that way even if you lose out you still win. Look at the 50 cent interview on CNBC. He understands that even if it is pirated it cant be stopped cuz it will always exist, but the people pirating it are making it a success and will be the ones at the concert or talking about it to their friends just bigging him up to appear and do other things in other industries and markets.
Look people will still write music paid for it or not – if they love it. Music is a passion and will continue without the fat cat record labels skimming off the back of the artists. As for emerging artists they can still emerge via youtube and variuos internet sites. The fat cats are just worried about their revenue stream and not the music.
James Blunt is a parasite and a moron and his stuff is crap.
Does he really thing that people are downloading his shit?
There is no way to prevent people from sharing files between each others.
We need a big discussion about this but any discussion is impossible as long as the corporate terrorists are on the ground.
The priority is to get ride of these corporate terrorists and criminals including this James Crap guy!
We don’t negotiate with terrorists.
All this bullshit about ‘piracy’ killing the British music industry…
Have they never considered that the British music scene is stagnent because the vast majority of ‘artists’ suck?
PS: Nice to know that even musicians like Lily Allen and James Blunt have little understanding of the situation. You guys just keep pumping out shitty records for your labels, like good little pets.
Reasoned Mind I though you were supposed to be at school by now.
You professional RIAA trolls are poor liars.
The entire industry is a pack of liars and criminals like you and obviously you are not very bright.
This is not surprising and this is why we have to get ride of this industry.
Unreasoned! Do not work for them!
opennap calling
server is running well.
Put a block on people searching for
lilly allen bullshit..its not music,
as for blunt, no fucker downloads that shite here anyway.
Strictly commercial, non-artistic musicians such as Allen and Blunt are purely in it for the money. As a result they’re blind to all other factors besides their cash flow. If they could shift their gaze for just a moment they’d realise that a lot more money is going into indie labels due to the musical awareness filesharing offers allowing downloaders to experiance a wide variety of music not just what’s shoved into our faces by the charts.
I see these two artists as petrol pump attendants and since most petrol stations are self-service then they are obviously not needed anymore.
Allen was discovered on my space, so it was allright to share the music for free then but not now?
Blunts music was banned from several local radio stations cause it was to depressing!!
How much extra are these two idiots being paid to say all this nonsense? Paul daniels would say “not alot”
BTW who @TF is blocking posts from my IP? Is there a reason for this?
An interesting blog responding to lily allens original outburst
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=494560997&blogId=510867699
Freedom of Information.
You can’t have freedom of information, as information technology and the internet allows, and also have businesses around built on the basis of controlled distribution of information. You can’t roll back the clock, I.T. is here to stay, and short of a fundamental change across the board in ALL technologies capable of information exchange, you’d better get used to the idea that old business protocol is no longer viable. Pick a side, but you can’t have both.
Adapt, or die.
I think James Blunt should have a look on the trackers, only one torrent I could find has over 100 seeds, most of the rest are dead, lol.
Try a similar search for Pink Floyd or Radio Head :)
I don’t think James is losing much money via downloading, he is just a spoilt pop-star spitting his dummy out because he has already faded into the distance!
James Blunt, corporate tool. Sharing music is a symptom not a cause. In a world where the rich rule it’s not surprising that the little people download shitty songs so they might enjoy themselves after the 9-5 slave drudgery and have money left for taxes,food,electricity and all the basic human rights.
james blunt ..enough said really, but, these pee-ons are all the same the minute they get a bit of cold hard cash….psuedo socialists!
He’s just pissed off that his sales have dropped off because no one is buying his crap. The truth is he is a one hit wonder, and in my opinion he is a no hit wonder.
He has no real talent so naturally he has to blame it all on piracy.
No real talent = no sales
Get over yourself James and live in reality..
Q:How much money does Elton John have?
A: Elton is estimated to be worth in excess of 500 million.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money_does_Elton_John_have
Doesn’t sound like he is hurting. And yet this man wanted to take down the internet in his own words to stop music piracy. They aren’t making enough money. Right? Its all greed and lies.
James Blunt is a pile of godawful shit, he would do better to make music that wasn’t depressing shit
Strange, he talks like his music is actually being downloaded, which is not.
Then again, no one is buying his shit which goes to show his losing a hefty lot of shit.
So his opinion really doesn’t mean anything actually since his losses doesn’t really “cut” it.
Quite amusing actually.
As I read it, Blunt says make the ISPs more responsible, not disconnect the individuals.
It seems we get very angry when told we’re stealing music. Is that because we are guilty?
@Reasoned Mind.
Would you like to back up your claims that it’s members of the Pirate Party who are posting the abusive language? Perhaps you could name the individual members you believe to be behind the ad hominem attacks on Mr Blunt and Ms Allen, and then those members could sue you for libeling them.
It’s precisely your kind of obvious disingenuous linking of childish knee-jerk posts found on a blog’s comment page to the quite serious political force that is the Pirate Party in it’s various individual national guises, that makes the people here see you for the shill you are, and ultimately turns the majority of people against the money-grubbing tactics of the music industry as a whole.
As both an artist (formerly with a major-owned label, hence victim of the system) and a member of the Pirate Party, I can wholeheartedly say that, you sir, talk through your ass about the subject. When you yourself have been both ‘owned’ by a major and also independently released your own music, perhaps you’ll have some kind of perspective grounded in reality that a direct personal comparison allows oneself. Until then, speak not of that which you know nothing, or accept that your paymasters are doomed to failure, because they failed to adapt to the changing marketplace and let Apple and Amazon take the initiative in online distribution channels.
I hear talk of ‘lost jobs’ cause by piracy, once again parroted by James Blunt. This is a fallacy, when the real reasons for the job losses are a fall in physical media sales brought about by the increase in perfectly legitimate ‘legal’ (ie: lawful) downloads. No demand for physical media equals no need for the massive manufacturing plants to produce them, no need for the physical distribution networks to get them out to the retailers and no need for the high street retailers themselves. This reduces the number of outlets selling physical media thus reducing choice to the consumer, and in turn drives more consumers online for the wider variety of musical genres and available back catalogues. It’s a downward spiral and no amount of demonising ‘piracy’ to shift the blame is going to prop up a failing business model.
Even if all non-permitted P2P sharing of copyrighted music was to cease now, the ‘music industry’ (which in reality means the major labels, not the actual industry which includes live music and independent producers/performers/promoters) would continue to shrink. Perhaps it wouldn’t shrink quite as quickly, but it would still shrink as it saw more and more of it’s distribution shifting online. The labels need to get a grip and accept their own responsibility for missing the boat on this one – end of story.
Strangely, in these times of ‘piracy’ purportedly ‘killing music’, attendances at live music events are way up on previous years, despite the world being in the grips of recession and people making general cuts in ‘frivolous’ spending resulting in the industry as a whole enjoying bigger profits than ever for the past 12 months. What does this tell you about your straw man arguments?
james blunt – want to know why you are selling records? because your music sucks and you’re a whiny little bitch. work on fixing these problems first before you start blaming others for your shortcomings.
Who’s James Blunt?
“Peter Mandelson is looking to engage the internet service providers who, in my opinion, handle stolen goods, and should take much more responsibility”
You can’t hold the ISPs responsible for the actions of others. They’re not even breaking any law. It’s also, ultimately, not technologically feasible for them to police the content of data packets that traverse their networks, as something as simple as basic encryption, or a proprietary encoding format, can render any ability to identify content void.
Only the talentless hacks are worried that the music industry will collapse from file sharing. I own more CDs than anyone I know, and half of them are ones I originally found online. But I wouldn’t download James Blunt’s music for any purpose other than to immediately throw it away in protest.
It’s shit, and he knows it. He’s just afraid of people finding out *before* they buy it.
This guy’s an idiot.
Ah, he starts right off with the normal “filesharing is theft” propaganda. I wonder how much his label paid him to do this, because he’s speaking from their mouth.
Funny. I’ve never once heard of an artist or band that went under because of filesharing. Whose livelihood is it destroying again? In addition, sharing helps emerging artists because more people will be exposed to them. Perhaps if these industry types could think in the long term, not just the short term, they would see sense.
Okay, so whenever someone robs a bank and uses a Dodge car as their getaway vehicle, we need to penalize Dodge for not taking ‘responsibility’ over the use of their product? No, I don’t think so. That’s exactly what he’s proposing here, and it’s ridiculous. Alternately, when someone hacks a website, let’s blame IBM. When someone kills someone else, let’s blame the gun manufacturer. People can’t possibly be responsible for themselves, can they?
This, at least, is correct. If tougher anti-filesharing laws pass, expect to lose a good chunk of your customers.
Two problems with this statement. One, Blunt is assuming that were filesharing legalized, everyone in the industry would suddenly be out of work. This is untrue. It’s okay to sell copies of a work, but to restrict the public into using only your copies is the wrong part. People obviously still buy music despite the existence of filesharing. If it were legalized, people would still buy.
Two, this argument is more an appeal to emotion than an appeal to sense. Blunt is asking for us to feel sorry for the truck driver who will lose his job because there’s less music to ship. Big deal- it’s not like truck driving isn’t a profession (for lack of a better term) that is specific to the music industry. He can get another job elsewhere. The mere possibility that a legislative move will cost jobs is not a reason to deny it. Legalizing filesharing would benefit everyone, and the fact that it might negatively affect a very small percentage of the population, while certainly not a good thing, isn’t enough to counteract the good of sharing.
@Lily
“It seems we get very angry when told we’re stealing music. Is that because we are guilty?”
No, we are not getting angry, we just hate fuckheads.
No, we are not guilty, we just live by our own merits.
No, we are not stealing, we are copying.
Buying CD’s is becoming strange, they’re like floppies now. Where do I insert them? In my netbook? In my touchscreen phone? My next laptop won’t have CD-ROM either. It’s an obsolete format of digital storage. But if you want to support the artist you like you have to buy this garbage. You know what, media distributing companies? Shove it.
“People can’t possibly be responsible for themselves, can they?”
It’s not P2P at fault, and actually, 4nd, they can. And are.
About 30,000 or more have been responsible to their actions if we remember correctly. :-)
And the bigtime players? The entitled arrogants? Jammie was first. Daniel Dove is doing 15 years in jail. There are pending cases all over the world in almost every jurisdiction (including TPB of course) and Joel Tenenbaum is merely the latest. And if 3-strikes becomes the norm, expect a lot of people to be held responsible for themselves and piggybacking wireless to become the penal equivalent of counterfeiting.
Anyone who thinks online digital ransacking goes on uncontested forever?—destroying all current digital industry and every potential hope of any future one?—— so we can protect our “precious” privacy? So you can abuse your precious privacy again and again?
lol
wow I’m cool cause I can make neat looking quotes!
Everybody these days are loosing money in one way or another. I am pretty sure a lot more will be jumping on the bandwagon too, to cut people off that is.
who would pirate james blunt music its shite
It starts like a million other songs, but this one starts with a bubobodo~
@reasoned mind and his 4chan level trolling
Trolling a news blog…
You’re a real shut in, huh?
why does james blunt get a say? i think hes just jealous that nobody wants to pirate his terrible music
hi:i went out yesterday and i baught a cd and the only reason is because i downloaded the music from the net and liked it.the thing that pisses me off is the dam cd cost $30 now that is a redickless price to pay cor a cd,and these people wander why we download every thing but i will continue to suport ONLY the music that i like by buying only their music after i listen first and see if it is worth it or not
Remember how in Terminator 2, the T2000 gets seriously damaged and starts morphing between its different disguises?
That’s kind of like what’s happening to Reasoned Mind. He’s had his ass handed to him so many times he can’t even keep his own multiple troll personalities straight anymore.
And now he’s stuck in this sad partial state between Reasoned Mind, NubCakes, and Neostyles.
I guess because he’s been outed so thoroughly as a liar, it’s like, why bother really even trying anymore? So he’s just letting all his persona run together since even he can tell he doesn’t have any credibility left with anyone anymore.
While praying his bosses don’t notice that he couldn’t virally market his way out of a paper bag at this point.
LOL if artists went on a concert tour they could quickly make up all the money they lost due to piracy!
whos james blunt? sounds like C*nt
Out of that 30 dollars mate, about $29.95 goes to the recording company while 0.05 cents goes to the artist. So ask yourself who is really ripping the artists off?
Sounds like James Blunt is smoking some bad chronic. Pun intended. HA! HA! blunt…..
Ridiculous to think they can stop the future of technology, which is inherently bound up with file sharing.
Their actions are based on fear, fear of monetary loss, which consequently has not been quantified. On the contrary the reverse is true, in it that from what I have read and researched is that file sharing helps promote budding artists and the industry overall.
Scroogle Scraper, ftw: http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm …so google cannot timestamp your searches and couple that information with your ip address.
Torrent Freak rocks
MAFIAA AND RIAA CAN GO TO HELL
i love torrentfreak
Shut the fuck up Reasoned Mind
if Lilly and James were to breed, we might just have a problem–shit guyz!
Lol; Lilly ’snooze music’ Allen vs Radio head and Pink Floyde.
Maybe the reason you’re not making as much money anymore is because people are not so easily badgered (ads pretty much everywhere) into buying top 10 crap anymore. We can get our music from anywhere we want now, and not from a music store that has 1 rack of ‘hard rock’ (which appears to encompass anything from black metal to hardcore punk to psychobilly) and 10 racks for ‘chart toppers’. WTF.
Good to see the FAC with some common sense. The profits of the few should never out weigh the rights of us all. Death of the music industry, what shit. More like, death to people too lazy to think fresh.
EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT! ONE HIT WONDER SEEKS TO EXTEND HIS FIFTEEN MINUTES… when its already minute 17.
I’d burn my james blunt cd but I pirated it! Screw you James Blunt.
Anyone notice it’s only shit bands & singers who are down on piracy? o_0
Deep down, James Blunt knows that we, the corporate people are making big bucks through piracy.
But you know, we will never admit it anyways.
Truth is we, the corporate people are greedy hypocrites. Call us morons, faggots if you wish. But the ones with the money is us. So haha at your face.
No worries, James Blunt. No one could pay me to download your music, let alone do it out of my own free will, let even more alone actually paying for it.
Already feeling sory for buying his CD. Will not happen again!
the death of a great British industry — our music business.
There is your biggest problem, they see it as a business.
James Blunt is a fag with 1 fucking song that sucks and Lily Allen isn’t any better.
Luckily anyone downloading james blunt can’t be called a “music”pirate.
Pirates or no, Y’all are stupid. The only artists that will support the piratebay, are the ones in the lower rungs of the music industry..those who whould not otherwise be heard,if the pirates didint copy their work..Same thing with movies..independent film makers support piracy, bcoz, thats the only way they can get the word out. But when it comes to the higher rungs, where a lot of money is involved, people are made aware of the releases through TV and media. piracy is really killing them. Top artists loose hundreds of thousands of dollars bcoz of piracy. Stop living in a dream and wake up.. James blunt makes millions..so piracy hurts him..my uncle Joe who sings at weddings for 50 bucks a shot will be happy if someone copies his work and makes him known outside of “farmville”..Thats the difference…Now stop acting like y’all are here for “sharing is caring” and for internet neutrality and shit like that..Shutting yer eyes dont make it night!..
LET THIS USELESS INDUSTRY DIE !
Blunt is an @sshole, a big one. The music industry is bloated with money.
James Blunt and Lilly Allen kiss each other on the pile of customer’s money … but still keep bitching around?!?
Nah, what we need is for these muppets to fúck off and stop producing “music”.
Instead, let artists populate the art form. Real artists with a message and a purpose but who aren’t scared to do gigs, manage themselves and use merchandise and royalties (actually working hard daily, engaging in business) to profit from.
If you’re going to spend 2-3 months in a studio… and think that’s enough for you to deserve to be set up for life… then YOU are the problem because you think you deserve a ridiculous amount of pay for a minimal amount of effort… which is just greedy.
Look at his lyrics… I just did and it’s pathetic…
Disconnecting those that propogate meaningless drivel for no reason except profit is far more important that disconnecting those that wish information to flow freely.
Blunt’s music is mostly inane “love” songs, sharing his worthless shít is an insult to the p2p networks that it is available on.
Nuff said, I’m out…
Good god I hate that little snivelling whiner James Cunt. And Little Allen, fuck you!
I’m going to download your crap today, not because I like your shortlived dribbel, but because I CAN! Then, I’ll burn your shitty songs on a 100 CD’s, label them “Homosexual DanceHits vol 1-2″ and lob them over the fence at a local school!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
You know folks, I’ve had a change of heart. I believe a law should be passed to disconnect Blunt, Allen and other whiney “artists” from the music industry.
I just realised I’m a right James Blunt, so I’ll shut up.
“It’s easy to do, and has become accepted by many, but people need to know that it is destroying people’s livelihoods and suffocating emerging British artists.”
haha are you fucking kidding me? File-sharing has it made it easier than ever for an emerging artist to prosper. The only thing it does is make the filthy rich artists and little less rich. Live with it.
Also, do they seriously think that by dissconnecting those who “pirate” will want them go out and buy music or movies? Think about it? The British government is fucking retarded. gg when 50% of your country is dissconnected from the rest of the world.
Lily Allen is alienating the online community that made her famous. If it weren’t for us, she’d still be a whiny little English nobody with a keyboard.
I will tell you what’s critical. Stopping James Blunt from releasing another CD.
Dear James Blunt & Lilly Allen ,
I wouldn’t listen to your garbage even if YOU paid ME….
Of course disconnecting users from the net only achives loss sales from all the other online businesses the user uses and also all the potential users of that connection which could be 5 more family members.
@106 (4nd):
Don’t call it propaganda, and don’t immediately oust him for being a label person. By doing that, you’re charging your own words and making your own argument sound less believable.
It’s also called an “ad hominem” argument, I believe. This logical fallacy takes the form of, “This person’s a corporate shill so his opinions aren’t welcome here.”
The standard industry answer: “That’s because you never hear about the artists that go under.”
It’s beneficial!
It’s poison!
Here, how about this…oddly enough, the TRUE people like Trend Reznor and NIN seem to manage just fine, while the turds that only get promoted by heavy rotation, music television hype and teenie mags seem to suffer a whole lot more.
Maybe it’s not just the media and laws that determine the amount and effect of piracy, but the fans suited to the artist?
What I’m really trying to say…if you make and represent sh*t both in music and in person(sorry, never liked Blunt or John), well, surprise, you’re just not gonna cut it.
If you’re as true to your consumers as you are to your music, well, then you won’t be peeing yourself over whether or not you get rich from what you do in the first place.
In the end, piracy might just end up serving the true meaning of Karma: those who are deserving without wanting, will achieve, while those who only do to exploit are demolished.
Indeed.
My apologies, it’s of course Trent.
He just kept up well enough with the digital age for my subconscious to even let him go with the Trend.
The trend is your friend.
Booya.
I say never again will I purchase a music anything. I say the Industry Is Dead already it just hasn’t been told. Not another penny. File sharing free-that is no copy right restricted materials if its not given I don’t want it. Got that free is the one and only price from now on. I threw my radio away and sold my TV. I hope the RIAA and MPAA ream the industry good I hope they spend every cent left in the useless pursuit of stupidity. I will not be a target, they will not gain from hysterical Idiocy, No rapprochement I declare that RIAA and MPAA their laws that were bought with the money that existed in your pockets and are now contrary to the interest of humanity. Therefore anyone that supports this industry is guilty of the same and this includes “illegal” downloads I consider the downloading of any MPAA or RIAA clients materials as a form of promotion of these materials I say this must die and be removed from the history of man erased complexity as it is now every file copyrighted is poison in the system that MUST be removed as fast as possible for the integrity of the system and safety of users because of the MPAA and RIAA criminalizing the copyright. Those who know the what and why of what I speak must realize the extreme measures are being used and it will only get worse. Free is the only freedom left. Remember the Enemies of Humanity and do not support them or download their material in any form IT IS POISON POISON POISON.
As a musician, I do believe that copyright is important, though I do not believe that “music pirates” should be disconnected. I have pirated music, and I think it’s ridicules that people even listen to the rich people that complain about piracy. For small musicians, music piracy is more often a good thing because your music is actually getting heard.
These two “artists” haven’t worked a day in their lives. My god, just like waitresses or other services that I do not tip for, I say this: IN THE FREE WORLD, NOONE IS POINTING A GUN AT YOUR HEAD AND SAYING: SING, AUCHTUNG, SING!
I mean honestly, you don’t like it? FIND SOMETHING ELSE, thank GOD we broke away from your horrific UK. I hate eurotrash so much, and that is all you are Blunt.
Allen? I’d pee in her butt.
There is no way I would buy music unless I heard it first. James Blunt is a one hit wonder, and for good reason. I’m just glad I didn’t buy his CD.
@154 one hit wonder…well said…I´d never buy that cr*p
The guy sounds like he’s breathed too much helium.
I played James Blunt music to my cat. I couldn’t believe it when sooty got frisky and started mounting a chair leg. Comunication – thats what it’s all about.My cat likes him. There is a little hope for the warbler, after all.
Bloody amusing alright…
Notice how only shitty artist that don’t sell records to real audiences always complain about Pirates. F’Off Mr Blunt and perhaps you should smkoe one!!!
Blunt is cranky because in a grassroots music scene, his album never would have gone anywhere. It had to be shoved down the world’s throat by an industry that thrives on money rather than talent. Fuck em!
hahaha truer words have never been spoken. if only everyone would realise this hahahahaha
The industry dies because it refuses to evolve.
And the new artists actually depend on file sharing to get rolling…
Those people fail.
James Blunt shouldnt actually have a say. On the Ed2K network his songs are represented by one fan……. that has one copy of each of songs available that no-one is cued to download……..
What James should be saying is “Hey you p2p bozos, what’s wrong with my music that makes you NOT want to download it……”
The music industry is becoming a thing of the past because great singers and song writers are becoming things of the past. Real talent is very rare now and has become contrived, manufactured and repetitive. A hand full of greedy people are partly to blame – we all know their names. Some of them run X Factor and Pop Idol. Why do you think there are so many classic songs being brought out again and again for all the no hopers to make do with.
Who the f.. would dl a james blunt song anyway ? I Think he is being a bit optimistic there
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