Frontman to File-Sharers: Steal Our Album, Help Bury the Label
Written by enigmax on October 09, 2007Revolver Magazine called them part of “The Future of Metal” and they reportedly “destroyed” the second stage at Ozzfest. Now frontman of the band ‘Throwdown’ is calling on file-sharing fans to take action: “If you wanna really support a band, steal their album….help bury the label.”
For a record boss with piracy on his mind, it must be a nightmare. Rather than being able to bask in the glory of a record breaking punishment for a petty file-sharer for evermore, the very people the label claim to protect – the artists – turn round to the label and stick in the knife. Hard.
The frontman of hardcore band, Throwdown has done just that. According to Punknews.org, Dave Peters (seen here on the far left) wrote a letter to Santa Monica-based industry watcher, Bob Lefsetz. Peters told him:
“I play in a metal band. We have sold around 200k records across 3 releases. We’re not ‘huge’ by any stretch but do alright and live off (and ON subsequently) the road. Fans and friends ask me all the time how I feel about “stealing music.” I just told someone yesterday “I have a hard time seeing it as stealing…when I don’t see any money from cd sales to begin with.”
Bob Lefsetz, ex-entertainment business attorney and author of the “The Lefsetz Letter” email newsletter, covers important issues right at the heart of the industry, including the declines of the record label and physical music formats such as the CD.
As the world increasingly ‘goes digital’, some people still insist on using terms that only describe the physical world accurately. One such word used to erroneously describe downloading is ‘theft’, but clearly no-one has had their property stolen and Peters agrees: “What are they actually TAKING from me?”
Indicating his displeasure with the industry he goes on:
“If you want to squeeze an opinion on theft out of me, ask me about the dude that grabbed our tshirt off the table tonight in Detroit or better yet.. ask me about record contracts.”
..and a message to the file-sharers out there:
“I encourage our fans to acquire our album however they please. The philosophy I’ve adopted is that if you’re supporting disc sales, you’re keeping the old model around longer…the one that forces dudes like me to tour 9 mos/year if they want to make ends meet with a career in music.”
Ending with a final insult for the record business, Peters hits a sweet note that will likely resonate with many as they reflect on the record labels future usefulness:
“If you wanna really support a band, “steal” their album….help bury the label….and buy a tshirt when you show up at their show and sing every word.”
Throwdown’s latest album, ‘Venom and Tears’ came out in July and is, of course, available via BitTorrent.
Previously: BitTorrent More Popular Than Ever, Releases Triple in a Year
Next: Anti-Piracy Lobby Wants Pirate Bay Secrets from Swedish Police
40 Responses
I would, if i was into metal …
Well, the honor goes to other bands and labels then. :)
copycats… I believe I read about NiN saying the same at a concert.. and that was a few weeks ago on slashdot…
Brilliant!!! Best point I have heard in a long time. It is no secret that the labels do not “share” their profits from CD sales to the bands that actually create the music on said CD’s. Support the bands by buying merchandise! That is where they make their money to live!
soon enough small bands and groups are going to jump onto this bandwagon of giving some of their shit away to get some publicity.
‘Headline – BandName gives away nth album away FREE’
It’ll be ‘buy our first album and get the second for free’ or something.
Well ill be downloading that.
http://digg.com/tech_news/Frontman_to_File_Sharers_Steal_Our_Album_Help_Bury_the_Label
when l release my dance/trance/electric music album/mix, that l was 100% Happy with,
very important to me
it was alwayz going to be via torrentz, haha into ppl’s homez
even b4 it could be in the shopz ! h@ll l’d even do the cover/cd art myself and include 2 jpegs lol so u could print at home lmao. l’d leave a statement that ‘IF’ ‘IF’ ‘IF’ they would like to send me some cash , then they can ! ha lol. any amount they want hehe ,& if not then so what ! omg l might fucking starve now , what fukcin shit is that!
l make toonz up for the enjoyment of,
purely & simply. not for da fukcing moneyz ! time they allz did the
S A lVl E !!!!!!
hell l could even call the album z fixation or some shiz !
what in the HELL did ^that guy just say? speak english, you incompetent twat. ‘z’ does not = ’s’, “da” is not a word, and for the love of god, you should never find yourself using the phrases, “lol” or “hehe” for the sake of your little masculinity remaining.
read a book.
I totally disagree with you wtf?. l give up with this mess is da roxorzsocks! wtf? is just trying to hold us back in the stone age… like the music industry.
Listen you wtf idiot , of course l can write competantely. ( had to lokk that up oops ! ‘look ‘ sry ) It means – in a competent capable manner.wtf we are not at school now ! l can write the way l fucking please. ok , l mean, like you are going to stop me, right ?
So sit down and be a good little boy/girl , you fool ! hahaha lol lol lmao. What the “Fuk” you are for a totaly Lamer and Noob?!? alwayZZZZ wanted to repeat that after seeing it somewhere !
@|-|4> l agree with you too !
[quote comment="184116"] l give up with this mess is da roxorzsocks! industry.[/quote]
phraZe !
Bah, punks’ve always been for music sharing.
[quote comment="184134"]Listen you wtf idiot , of course l can write competantely. ( had to lokk that up oops ! ‘look ‘ sry ) It means – in a competent capable manner.wtf we are not at school now ! l can write the way l fucking please. ok , l mean, like you are going to stop me, right ?
So sit down and be a good little boy/girl , you fool ! hahaha lol lol lmao. What the “Fuk” you are for a totaly Lamer and Noob?!? alwayZZZZ wanted to repeat that after seeing it somewhere !
phraZe ![/quote]
isn’t it past your bedtime?
oh please can l ? ! l wanna play longer,
l agree with mr fucking english lesson,
yours sincerely
what a mess this is
u-typez
I stole all their albums, but can I give them back. They weren’t very good.
[quote comment="184150"]Bah, punks’ve always been for music sharing.[/quote]
QFT
you signed the contract, didn’t you? if you didn’t like the terms, then why did you sign? there must have been some perceived value or you wouldn’t have signed!
Bah!
I think the person with the name of “l give up with this mess @ wtf” has been reading a bit too much I Can Has Cheezburger and it has all gone to his head.
kthxbye! …..
Artists feel free to post your music and bury your label here.
http://www.rocksites.com
@RIAA Soldier
I agree with you. I think you should sign a contract with me. You’ll get to fuck for the first time, and I get your soul. Deal?
Hey! Don’t bitch about it! It’s a perceived value!
eight year olds dude!
I got to say I’ve always loved naive statements by bands. So you have to tour 9 mos out of the year to make a living…thats your job!!! What makes you think anyone of us want to go to our 9 to 5 jobs 12 mos of a year while you party all day and rock out to people at night. Enjoy the fact that you can make a living like that you fucking ingrates. I swear I’m so tired of reading about bands that cry because they’re not making millions of dollars for writing a shitty record. Throwdown is not even Throwdown anymore seeing as how they can’t even find a surviving member from the original. Maybe one reason you don’t see anything from the record sales is because you spent too much money at the studio and haven’t sold a record to recover that. 200k record sales over 3 releases is pathetic and you should consider yourselves lucky you even have a label to call your home.
I’m torn between the kickass message and how much I hated this band when I saw them…
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Throwdown is not metal. Where does this wanna-be toughguy get off saying it IS metal?
Hey Newton, you useless sack of shit, why don’t you actually go listen some decent fucking music? I’m sorry that your favorite band isn’t promoting stealing and sells a shit load of records because 12 year old teenie-boppers listen to them, but for some of us, hardcore is fucking life.
Get the fuck over yourself…yes, throwdown’s music has gotten progressively shittier with their lack of original members, but the fact is that they’re working their asses off to bring the music to their fans. Touring the country in a van and only charging 10 door covers isn’t exactly “living like a rockstar,” is it?
Get off your fucking soapbox and wake up to realize that your useless, uninformed rants serve no purpose other than to piss off alot of people that could probably kick your ass. Go ahead, tell Throwdown that they’re ingrates to their faces…
No, better yet, go to a Throwdown show and tell a skin or edge kid in the pit that Throwdown is a bunch of fucking ingrates.
Haymaker was a damn good album.
[quote comment="184297"]Hey Newton, you useless sack of shit, why don’t you actually go listen some decent fucking music? I’m sorry that your favorite band isn’t promoting piracy and sells a shit load of records because 12 year old teenie-boppers listen to them, but for some of us, hardcore is fucking life.
Get the fuck over yourself…yes, throwdown’s music has gotten progressively shittier with their lack of original members, but the fact is that they’re working their asses off to bring the music to their fans. Touring the country in a van and only charging 10 door covers isn’t exactly “living like a rockstar,” is it?
Get off your fucking soapbox and wake up to realize that your useless, uninformed rants serve no purpose other than to piss off alot of people that could probably kick your ass. Go ahead, tell Throwdown that they’re ingrates to their faces…
No, better yet, go to a Throwdown show and tell a skin or edge kid in the pit that Throwdown is a bunch of fucking ingrates.
Haymaker was a damn good album.[/quote]
@ foo,
then what is it? Or does it not fit your definition of metal?
It’s metal anyway you wanna look at it. Shut up and stop being an elitist fag you douche.
Side note, glad Throwdown is stepping on this. Many metal bands don’t earn shit and live off their bus (read Guitar World interview with Shadows Fall). Hope they find more success on this road.
Well we’re all being fucked over three times a day by our employers aren’t we?
It’s either the fact that you work too much or you don’t get enough money. People almost never receive fair compensation for what they do.
The only difference in the music business or better for the bands is that they, thanks to the internet, have to possibility get rid of their employer, do their usual work and still get better pay in the end.
But how many band-sites have you seen lately that offer the latest album for download and ask for nothing but a donation in return? I didn’t see a single one… please correct me if I’m wrong here.
So why is that?
Well, how do bands get our (the consumers) attention… we listen to them on the radio we hear their stuff on TV and all that crap. And who controls whats played there!?
What we need is a huge independent well know music distribution network like last.fm was supposed to be but surely enough the music industry isn’t that stupid so they just buy out everything that comes close to being a threat.
With the money we shove in their asses by buying cd’s and letting them rip off artists.
How do you get out of that circle!?!
I’ve known several small bands that had all their CD profits eaten by the publishers.
Even classic writers were ripped off by their publishers – go look what happened to Poe – first his wife, then he, got sick and died, unable to afford doctors while his publishers were selling hundreds of thousands of copies of his works.
It’s quite clear that it’s the publishers who are the crooks and that they’ve bribed the politicians to help keep them in business.
Dear Strom…I’m sorry you feel the need to resort to insults to get across your point. Kind of sad actually, but anyway…as far as your point goes. You can make all the assumptions you want about me and what music I listen to or represent. In fact if you want to know what I listen to, I’ll give you my Last.fm name and you can look it up for yourself. But the fact of the matter is that they chose their lifestyle and decided that not working a corporate desk job and touring in a van was a better lifestyle. So why should they get compensated anymore than the rest of us who work 365 days a year with no vacation. The fact that they get to travel the country on someone else’s dime in a van for 9 months and then take of 3 months to sit in a studio and spend someone else’s dime yet again to make a record, and then complain about it is audacious to me. And I’ve done it before…I’ve gone on tour before, so I know the lifestyle and it only really sucks when you start to get older and want to settle down with a family, so don’t start accusing me of shit you have no idea about. And next time you decide to fire away at “a useless uniformed rant”, don’t use a useless uneducated one to back it up. You actually said nothing in your response except to attempt to insult me and then threaten me. I mean, come on, honestly, did you seriously just threaten me over the internet? And I’m sorry that I’m not as scene as you, so next time I do see Throwdown, which I can honestly saw will probably be never, since selling 200k records over 3 releases can only go on for so long before a label realizes they have a loss on their hands.
Tell him man. Everybody working a real job for a living are the true heros of this country anyway. Tired of crybaby bands that don’t make the millions they want. So what if the industry helps them into the racket but takes most of their cut. That’s what happens when you make a deal with the devil, don’t people know?
http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/c/System-of-a-Down/LT_talent=1013482/Steal-This-Album/CD/LT_sku=22289/?rlabel=columbia&sms=ast-systemofad
Nuf said!
strom, get over yourself. Everything you say is true and yet you manage to sound selfrighteous about it and make the message unpleasant and unpalatable. Even though I agree completely.
So typical of straightedge. A bunch of kids wanting to feel tough and strong.
Freak you are becoming like Slyck. for every genuine filesharer there are 6 comments by **AA insiders
you gotta decide on an editorial policy. it is not ok that i come here listen to a great story then have to read the shitty comments
the old argument “if you dont agree with me then you say i am anti-p2p” they always rely on is BS. freak you know what a filesharer is and wants:
1. technology
2. freedom
3. no BS
anyone arguing in your blog comments for the “established order” is FREAKING OUT OF LINE delete it
can you say “marketing ploy”?
“[the industry buissness model] forces dudes like me to tour 9 mos/year if they want to make ends meet with a career in music.”
Oh, that’s so sad. He has to drive cross-country singing songs for three quarters of the year to pay his bills. Why, if things get any worse, he might have to work all four quarters of the year to support himself like some sort of filthy prole.
Cry me a river, “dude”.
Try working on the road sometime, it’s a lot harder than your regular 9-5 job. I know, I’ve done both as a PC Technician, and as a company rep. Driving 8-9 hours and then doing a full days work, crashing for a few hours, and then driving again isn’t good for you. Most truckers can tell you just how hard it is, and the crud they take to make it possible.
9 months touring to make a living, that’s a year and a half of your close to home job bare minimum on stress.
I am a debut artist who’s just recorded one of the most expensive debut albums in recent history.
Like the artists mentioned in this article, we have just released my debut album as a FREE HQ Mp3 download.
It was a tough decision for us to make because of the vast amounts spent on the album. We had two of the biggest record producers in the world work on it…. at Peter Gabriel’s Realworld studio and at Abbey Road studio in london.
Despite all that, we recognise the massive potential the internet and free albums in particular offers. We launched last friday and have already had 1000’s of DL’s all over the world.
We are hoping that people like the album enough to come to a show, which is where hopefully my bread and butter will come from.
Come over and download for free.. it takes 2 minutes to DL because we have a dedicated server.
http://www.jackrubinacci.com
Thanks
Jack
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