Cost of Piracy

Cayocosta

Guy Dixon, in his article Music: A New Era of Selling Out for Globe and Mail takes a shot at EMI for seeking corporate sponsorship to help underwrite the development of its artists:

Guy Hands, who is now chairman of EMI after his London-based investment Terra Firma bought the company and its many sublabels ranging from Virgin to Parlophone last year, said yesterday that artists may be in for a new era of selling out, with his suggestion that bands could be sponsored like British sports teams: "Football teams have very distinct corporate sponsorship. Why shouldn't some of the leading bands have the same sort of relationships?" the Financial Times quoted Hands as saying.

Unfortunately - and as usual - nowhere is it mentioned that piracy has contributed greatly to this development, as well as the loss of thousands of jobs and the cratering of record company valuations.

Mr. Dixon writes as though these things are occurring in a vacuum.

With regard to fans being jaded; perhaps artists are becoming a little fed up with the notion of playing minstrels to an audience consisting in large part of spoiled brats that hold them in contempt and consider their work worthless.