Storming The Base - Uh-oh, it's that ever popular music industry debate again...

So, for anybody who's been living in solitary confinement for the past month or so, the issue of piracy seems to be higher on everyone's agenda of stuff to talk about than ever before, be it SOPA/PIPA, the ACTA treaty, or indeed the abrupt shutting down of MegaUpload, It's a topic that everyone has an opinion on, and nobody seems to be in the least bit ambivalent about.

Storming The Base, the rather awesome Canadian distributor of all things industrial have, in their latest newsletter, weighed in with a couple of points which I think are worthy of mention and further discussion. In particular, there's a nod to the idea of "Black March", the 'buy nothing' month which has gained traction in social media almost overnight:

"Here's a wild idea: for the month of March, don't buy a CD, don't buy a digital download. Abstain from movies, books, or the radio. Buy no media. Come April, we might just blackout Storming the Base in response. But don't expect us to come back on April 2nd."

And you know, in spite of the less than pleasant tone, they're absolutely spot on here. The only entities such a scorched-earth action will harm, are in fact the people we want to help: The indies. The little guys. The businesses and projects born out of bedrooms and run through no small amount of passion and dedication, and in particular, those who don't have nearly as much cash in the bank as the big players. The major labels and the 'entertainment industry' at large will see this kind of action as a blip on their balance sheets, shrug it off, spin the statistic as indicative of the 'catastrophic damage' piracy is causing them, and then use it as an excuse to tighten the screws with ever increasing vehemence. On the other hand, what was a blip to the big guys could very well utterly destroy indie labels, indie distributors, and potentially a number of other outfits that, like it or not, our niche little genre relies on for sustenance. And that, my friends, would be a fucking travesty.

Another, and without doubt, a more contentious matter that STB tackle in the letter, is the demise of MegaUpload, the incredibly popular file hosting service that just got massively cockblocked by the FBI. STB welcomed the news, stating "it is sheer ignorance to pretend that Mega[Upload] and similar services are not mostly used to share pirated content", and that "bloggers jump to [Kim Dotcom's] defence and with their free hand download and share the new :wumpscut: album".

While these are all valid points, I feel that STB has missed a trick in this discussion. Namely, that although it can indeed be argued that services like MegaUpload can, and do host pirated content, this should not be conflated with immediate guilt on MegaUpload's part. MediaFire is used for hosting pirated content. As is RapidShare. YouTube, Vimeo, Myspace, Facebook, Photobucket, Flickr, SoundCloud, PasteBin, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress and thousands of other services are rife with pirated and plagiarized material. But these sites not only have many legitimate legal uses, but can actually be used in the favour of artists, musicians, and countless people working in the creative industries, because of the very same axiom that inherently allows piracy - the ability to host content.
The reason the demise of MegaUpload has angered so many cannot be solely attributed to people not being able to freeload the new Wumpscut album - it also sets a dangerous precedent. While the overall effect in this instance may be a net positive for labels and musicians, it also paves the way for further clampdowns, potentially on sites that serve as useful tools for their clients. Imagine a music scene today without any streaming or downloadable music... Pretty grim, isn't it?

Eitherway, the newsletter makes for a very worthwhile read on the matter. STB have been around for years and know their shit about music and the industry, and make some very good points in the article. Also, they put on some sweet deals (currently 15% off all Caustic swag), so get signed up!

http://www.stormingthebase.com/