Bloggers need to take some responsibility

The independent music sector represented by this magazine, in partnership with The Independent, is alive and kicking, but not that you would think so, judging by the continuing bad press for the music industry.

The recent blog-fest commenting on the industry’s suggestion to government that we should be granted the right to license the transfer of music from device to device (an obvious win for both the industry and the consumer, as it would finally resolve the conflict between technology and copyright law) was a mixture of rabid, self-righteous derision and hostility. There was a resounding and furious rebuttal of any idea that producers and investors should be paid, with a patronising nod to the artists’ right to be paid.

A recording needs many ingredients, of which the artist is one – the primary one, but not enough without a team. It takes a team – a song, a songwriter or writers, a publisher, a studio, record producer and engineer, and then there is often a whole group of people to make and prepare the record for sale. Tours and promotion take a lot more people. And all this is funded by someone’s time, money and energy – normally the record company.

So the type of one-sided, high-octane rhetoric which floods out of the blog world on news that the record industry is still alive and working towards solutions really has to be challenged by the large armies of people mentioned above who make the music and who are tired of being vilified by a small army of seemingly well educated people who really should know better (and, I believe, can see the blatant flaw in their own arguments) but who carry no responsibility for the damage they cause. “Pay the artist, pay the artist” rings so hollow, especially to all the artists who aren’t being paid a penny for their work, along with their colleagues in the music production and distribution field.

Blogging – especially about the music industry – is a form of electronic masturbation. It doesn’t need a partner, has none of the responsibilities of a relationship, no deals to make with anyone, and the only harm which can befall a blogger is repetitive strain injury. So – to the bloggers - time for an honest moment, perhaps? I await your blogs! You could even call this article blog-bait.

Alison Wenham is chairman and chief executive, AIM