--Previous Message--
: Well, well. As we pointed out when the Megaupload shutdown
: happened yesterday, the company had recently named top producer
: (and husband to Alicia Keys) Swizz Beatz as CEO. Swizz knows
: tons of artists who respect him, and it seems that some of the
: biggest names in the business are pretty pissed off that the US
: government shut down Megaupload. First there's Diddy, who put
: out a couple tweets pledging support and telling him to never
: stop.
:
: But what's a lot more interesting are the very direct statements
: from Busta Rhymes, who is clearly pissed off at the US
: government claiming that Megaupload is a criminal operation.
: Putting his tweets together, he states:
:
: 1st of all I am soooo proud of my brother @THEREALSWIZZZ 4
: being apart of creating something (MEGAUPLOAD) that could create
: the most powerful way 4 artist 2 get 90% off of every dollar
: despite the music being downloaded 4 free...
:
: With labels and companies doin' deals with Spotify and many
: other companies like it who doesn't give us shit continue 2 do
: what they do and blatantly show us how much they value the
: artist with doing deals of such disrespect and lack of value 4
: our content...
:
: I am proud 2 stand next 2 my brother @THEREALSWIZZZ and
: fight the good fight...Our freedom is truly being f.ucked with
: in a very significant way and I strongly suggest 2 all artist
: especially the 1's Swizz repped 4 comes out & reps 4 him!!!
:
: F.uck that I say it again...I'M PROUD OF MY BROTHER
: @THEREALSWIZZZ #GREATMIND!!
:
:
: There's a key point in all of this that we missed in our earlier
: analysis about paid accounts at Megaupload. In the indictment,
: the government seems to assume that paid accounts are clearly
: all about illegal infringing works. But that's not always the
: case. In fact , plenty of big name artists - especially in the
: hip hop world - use the paid accounts to make themselves money
: . This is how they release tracks . You sign up for a paid
: account from services like Megaupload, which pay you if you get
: a ton of downloads. For big name artists, that's easy: of course
: you get a ton of downloads. So it's a great business model for
: artists: they get paid and their fans get music for free.
: Everyone wins. Oh... except for the old gatekeeper labels.
:
: In fact, this is part of the ecosystem, especially in the hip
: hop world. It's why the artists also support those hip hop blogs
: that the RIAA insists are dens of pure thievery. The artists
: release their tracks to those blogs, knowing they'll get tons of
: downloads - and actually get money. If they do deals with
: labels, they know they'll never see a dime. Putting music on
: Megaupload is a way to get paid. Working with a gatekeeper is
: not.
:
: And yet... Megaupload is the criminal operation? Seems like the
: actual artists know otherwise.
:
: What Busta is pointing out is that services like Megaupload -
: while it may be run by some sketchy individuals and probably
: crossed the legal line in some cases - are actually a great new
: business model for artists, while also being the future of
: distribution . It's a great way to distribute, make money, and
: let fans get the works for free. And that's why the major labels
: are so freaked out by cyberlockers. It's not because there's so
: much infringement on there, but because it's a system whereby
: artists can get paid and can better distribute their own works
: to fans... without signing an indentured servitude contract with
: a label, which never pays any royalties.
:
: Did Megaupload break the law? Perhaps. But it seems clear that
: the real fear on the part of the RIAA and the major labels is
: not so much about that. It's the recognition that such a
: distribution and payment system undermines much of their reason
: for existing , and takes away their ability to control artists.
: A smart label would learn to embrace these things. But we're
: talking about the major labels here, and so instead, they run to
: the US government - who clearly knows nothing about the way
: modern artists monetize and distribute music - and lets them try
: to paint a picture of just how "evil" services like
: Megaupload are.
:
:
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