TowerOne.com

Outrage! Michael Arrington has branded Britons as ‘..having all the crazy-stupid ideas about how to screw up the music industry’. Surely not sir? You are a cad of the first order sir and I challenge you to a duel. Pistols at dawn. Outside right now, the honor of the British nation is at stake.

So what has caused this great champion of capitalism to insult the very soul of Britishness? Apparently Billy Bragg (you remember him, the socialist musician with a face like a bloodhound at a funeral whose extensive back catalogue includes such musical classics as ‘Tank Park Salute’, ‘Sulk’ and ‘There Is Power In A Union’) has said that Bebo should share some of its buy-out windfall with the musicians who have posted their music to the site.

“The musicians who posted their work on Bebo.com are no different from investors in a start-up enterprise…Now that the business has reaped huge benefits, surely they deserve a dividend.”

photo credit: p_c_w

He also argues that the social networking sites are adding to the declining sales in the music industry by encouraging free streaming and downloading.

Predictably, MA has come down on the side of the capitalists, leveling that Billy is talking a load of old bollocks (I paraphrased a little here). MA’s counters Social networks have absolutely nothing to do with the decline in music sales. The fact that recorded music can be reproduced at a zero marginal cost is why music sales are declining.

He goes on to say that Recorded music is nothing but marketing material to drive awareness of an artist.

Gentlemen, sometimes it is better to keep ones’ mouth shut and have everyone suspect that you are a fool rather than open it and show everyone you are. Certainly damning the entire British nation on the strength of the words from a single demi-musician seems a tad harsh.
Until dawn then Michael.