Well, sort of. What is really happening is that one person got targeted by the RIAA, charged with the hideous crime of downloading seven songs! They demanded that he pay the ludicrous amount of $500 in order to redeem himself. He refused, of course, the songs themselves aren’t worth near as much. This was in 2003, and now, six years later, the case hits the courtroom.
So what does this have to do with the wonderful people in Radiohead? Well, they decided that something wasn’t quit
e right, and agreed to testify against the almighty RIAA! This isn’t the first time that Radiohead has declared war on the music industry. They were one of the first bands that let people decide what they wanted to pay for their music, and made entire albums available for public downloads.
Recently they co-founded the Featured Artists Coalition, a congregation of artists who will no longer stand for the industry speaking out on their behalf without conferring with them beforehand. Can you say open warfare? When you throw in the album “Hail to the Thief,” you can’t but grin at the effort that these guys are putting into pissing off the industry. I hope that more people will decide to follow Radiohead, because even if they are big, they probably can’t take down the industry on their own. The Featured Artists Coalition is a brilliant incentive, and I sincerely hope that the case against the RIAA is won. Now if The Pirate Bay would win their case too, the music industry would be seriously damaged, which can only be considered a good thing!
You can read more about this at ITavisen! Beware though, it’s in norwegian!
Song of the Blog: Bodysnatchers
Sincerely
Bjørn
