Piracy Is The New Radio, Says Neil Young​

Wed, 01 Feb 2012
Music News

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Neil Young has been making music for nearly 50 years, so we have to assume that he’s an expert at the topic.

Speaking at D: Dive into Media, Young discusses the state of the digital music business.

While the singer is concerned about the fact that many people share low quality MP3′s, he’s not falling for the argument that piracy is killing music.

“It doesn’t affect me because I look at the internet as the new radio. I look at the radio as gone. [...] Piracy is the new radio. That’s how music gets around. [...] That’s the radio. If you really want to hear it, let’s make it available, let them hear it, let them hear the 95 percent of it.”

The comparison to the radio is interesting as that has been one of the biggest promotional tools of the music industry in recent history.

But it wasn’t that loved at the beginning of last century.

In the 1920s the music industry blamed broadcast radio for their woes, as revenue dropped during the great depression.

Times haven’t changed much.

 

I like your take on this. I agree that the internet is the new radio,but would add that it is also the new t.v., movie theatre,and any other old media format. That's why Congress and big media outlets are crying.
their old model is dying before their eyes and they haven't a clue. the internet is ruled by us. Young 15-40 something's that don't want the stale force fed gruel that's on offer.
they can't make a decent TV shoe,movie,or album,IMHO. The internet is something they don't understand. we communicate at lighting speed,and they are still scratching their heads trying to figure out how to set the time on the VCR

 

Brilliantly said, djkmc.

Thanks for posting this, light59. Neil's take on it is right-on.

 

When studio's stop making content, when soft devs stop making plugins, software... because no one is buying it anymore...

what will you be downloading?

Ruled by... us?

Yeah right...

We are about to enter an age of entertainment mediocrity if everyone under 40 thinks they are entitled for free, what others have busted their asses, and sacrificed their time and lives.. to produce.

 

And there it is..............

Both sides of the argument, Rock and a Hard place springs to mind!

 

I think we reached entertainment mediocrity some time ago. I wonder what's beyond that...

 

I agree fully with you on that ... But i would like to leave a question on the air to see what you think (not just you but anybody here)

It's for long time now (6, 7 years or maybe more) that all the tools able to bring about the free downloading of all "what others have busted their
asses, and sacrificed their time and lives.. to produce" are on air. Kazaa, eMule, Azureus/Vuze, BitTorrents, Transmission, and so on, so on, can be
downloaded freely from well known shareware/freeware servers like cNet, Softonic, and so on ... up to now. Even they check the software for it be
free of virus or any malware!.

And recently i saw a video in youtube saying that some of this well known servers have connections with well known corporations like CBS, Sony, and
so on, which i don't know if it's true ... but if it happens it is true what are "they" talking about in fact ? ... Anyway, it's like with drugs, they put dealers to jail but not producers ... and it happens that they know
very well who produces the drug and where it is produced. Or it's like the politic's corruption all around the world which is not punished at all ... but of course "they" punish the poor wretch because he or she
has not payed a fine, and "they" seize their bank accounts, salary for that.

Are you not tired to see that those who are always punished are us poor wretches ?

At one time, in a beautiful summer day i was in a train going to BCN (spain) and it happens that i was reading a book on C++ which came from US and in the back cover one could see the prices in US dollars
but also an small adhesive ticket with the price in spanish pesetas i payed for it (there was no euros at the time). It happens also that sat in front of me there was an US American woman that i saw that was looking
fixed at me, and eventually she couldn't stop from saying to me ... "Is this the price you paid for this book ?", to which i said "yes!", to which she gave in return a "well then, do you know that you're paying twice the
price in US dollars ?" ... "mmm?".

So, what is we are talking about ?! ... Are we not in need to go a little bit far than a simple "We are about to enter an age of entertainment mediocrity if everyone under 40 thinks they are entitled for free" ?

Thanks for listening! - Kind Regards!

 

This proves that piracy doesn't hurts the musicians, but helps to promote them. But I also think that piracy doesn't hurts the music buisiness too, it just indicates that present time entertainment industry is in deepest crisis. After a new model of business have been introduced, the piracy will dissapear.

 

YES! ... After all, probably "they" would like to know that i have not downloaded any music since i have Spotify (nor i have captured any song from them
with the well known COMERCIAL tools there exist to do it).

All in all ... EVERYTHING ISN'T BUT A BIG LIE! ... which unfortunately most of us believes in (or need to believe in for own security ... not were the case that
we were to lose our cushy lives full of lies in ourselves and others).

Glad to see we're doing the best to leave a better world to our sons! ... JA!

"What a wonderful world this could be", says the song - Kind Regards!

 

I disagree with neil young. For the top 40 the radio is even more important that ever for pop music. They almost dictate what is popular and will sell tonnes of records!

They pick stuff based on who passes on the radio plug, those radio plugs come direct from record labels that pick records based on their hunches from online social media.

This is where mediocrity lies and the system for music is even more controlled online by record labels than at any time. You don't choose to find good music, instead record labels post it to blogs and downloads to social media and any outlets they can! Seriously you have to go out of your way to find an artist that isn't being promoted in underhanded ways. It's akin to insider trading.

At the end of the day the general public don't have good taste and the current state of pop music proves it. Also TV which is just as shit, I mean where have all the original programs gone? It's just repeats of shit that was crap the first time round.

I'm a strong believer in forcing finer tastes on those with none. For example DJs that play new music and educate have longer and more fulfilling careers than your pop bitch club DJ.

 

I think the big issue is price,, companies are tryin to make you spend hundreds even thousands for their plugins,, when a major label artist still charges around 15 bucks for a cd or download that they spent hundreds of thousands to produce and promote.. I don't think you should have to pay 100 bucks for a sample cd or 400 bucks for a soft synth... I do buy a lot of my plugins,,, but thank god there's filing sharing so I can actually try a full version before I buy em...

 

Can we assume, that "the general public don't have good taste" because its taste is formed by other people? This means that people can choose only from a limited source. In other words, we only can get what we are allowed to get (from radio, TV or so on). But from the web we can get what we really want. Thus, the taste changes for the better.

I hope the general public will never have a "perfect taste", because everyone has own preferences, neither perfect nor poor but personal. The main idea in the natural diversity of tastes. I believe that forcing can only causes depletion of tastes.

 

The public not having good taste isn't an opinion, it's just pure numbers. The world isn't full of great footballers there are only a few brilliant ones. The same with music you cannot rely on the tastes of the general public to totally design entertainment. It's up to creatives to create amazing things and everyone else to sit there and enjoy. As soon as the moron in the street tells you it's not what he wants you shouldn't abandon the creative vision.

Unfortunately today pop sounds like carbon copies of the last record. There are very few artists who creative like they used to.

The Beatles famously lost fans when they started to experiment and explore eastern sounds, but in the end it's those records that where a journey to even better music in the end!

I'm telling you now the majority of people have bad taste, and good taste needs to be forced upon them. It most certainly is not the other way round. Every bit of graphic design would be designed with comic sans if the public chose. It's not right.

 

i think the real music nowadays is PERFORMING ON STAGE .. don't make CDs .. that's how the new game begins ..

 

I kinda view this whole deal as the repercussions of what happens when Record Labels/artist fail to produce what the public wants. Piracy is wrong according to the law, but there never was a law that protected us (the general public) from them providing us with crap. I mean, where was the law when we rushed down to the record store to buy an album only to get home and find that it was 80 to 90% garbage? To me, file sharing is a direct result of people saying I'm sick of that. JMO.

 

Well everyone is Ëntitled"to their opinion. I work my ass off too. Probably work harder Physically than the guy sitting in some comfy office chair in a well ventillated area. I put my life and health on the line everyday to try and help people and my body suffers. Now......Does that make downloading {Kéd} warez right?, no. But I Assure you my friend the content will never cease, nor will the plugs. And as long as the guys who work for these company's are dissatisfied with MGT, they will continue to leak, crack, distribute and so on. IMHO. But im just a schmuck, so what do i know. We all work hard, we all struggle to pay bills. I think when we get back to the fundamental human aspect of caring for one another and "SHARING" with eachother, that we can all enjoy life more. I'ts like the kid with the best toy's who wants friend's, but only to be able to say MINE! MINE!MINE!.....anyway I'm still waking up so excuse the sermon.......carry on......

 

On which basis are you judging what is good taste and bad taste, if i may ask ?

Oh, i see ... now you want to do what they are trying to do with us ... Which is: impose your OWN taste on others which have not the same tastes as you.

Good!!! ... You still think that you choose! ... Weeeell ... Who brings you the options for you to choose ?!

Kind Regards!

 

"One Reason", I'm not going to say you're wrong in your assessment of our demographic, but considering your feelings on the subject of entitlement, don't you think you might be "happier" posting to a forum such as KVR? Here you're talking to a variety of people I would assume are of many age groups, but act like juvenile delinquents in a candy shop, drooling at the opportunity to "steal" another piece of software or music cd/track, and they'll use any excuse like "demoing" to justify their theft. You're not going to make anyone here feel guilty, and if you're stealing shit yourself for any reason, whether it's to "demo" or whatever, you're obviously feeling guilty yourself and trying to ease your conscience and/or adding to the "problem" if one actually exists. From everything I've read, the juries still out on whether or not stealing/sharing/demoing software is bad for the respective industries. Personally, I believe the whole concept of making money out of art is pure horseshit. Once money enters the picture "art" is lost and everything becomes commerce. It seems that commerce is where your head is at now. As long as you keep this attitude, you'll be a victim of the bitterness you exhibit in your posts to this forum. Good luck, mate. Hope you get yourself turned around.

 

nah, im not bitter about anything, and yes, I download stuff like everyone else.. but I dont do it in a cocky manner as if somehow I am encompassed in absolute entitlement as I see being spouted by some here.

I myself have my own work, ripped off, warez, shared for free, I dont like it, but I would be a hypocrite to complain, so.. I take what I need, and I dont complain when it is taken from me.

What I dont do is run around with " I want and will take.. and am entitled to anything I want for free, cos my generation is so much more clever than yours" tattooed on my forehead.

I am basically openly honest enough with myself and others that this, is, in its simplest form, stealing and I, as well as the rest of you, are, basically thieves.

I'm not trying to justify it in any way... I just hate the growing collective entitlement mentality that has permeated the planet... as if people are PROUD of it.

Maybe one day we will all again be prosperous enough to buy everything we use. I suppose a lot of what I feel is a general indictment of the political climate that is fostering worldwide entitlement.

Nothing i would like more than to see the free markets reign again and for everyone to get back to having pride in working for a living and paying their own way.. as opposed to just taking.. because they can.

peace.

 

Ah, now I get ya. Sorry about coming off a little heavy-handed; tough morning. I agree with your post above, especially the last sentence. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how a planet with quickly dissapearing resources can hope to gain back any semblence of prosperity. I mean, yeah, there is a never-ending supply of "data" flowing into the ether, but basically data isn't tangible, and most people don't respect data as having much value, no matter how much time and effort it took the developer to create it. Most people figure that after the initial app/song/movie or whatever is created, it's out there in the ether like the air we breath....free. Plus, most people figure they can't build a Ferrari, but if they wanted to put out the effort, they could pick up a few ebooks and learn software developement on their own.
Somehow, I think the whole intellectual property rights perspective has to change. Maybe, it should work like it does with certain artists who produce their creations on canvas (with the exception of hacks like Kincaid); once it's initially sold, that's it; no more continuing royalties. I know there are exceptions to this, but goddamn, something's got to change. Passing insane laws and prosecuting people in a major way for what are really very petty "crimes" is not going to get the job done. We can already see how much dissatisfaction and downright hatred for the present system this is producing, and how much harm it's creating for everyone involved.