Hi friends, attached below is a recent press release from Apple and the band U2. Apple and U2 are giving the bands new album to over 500 million iTunes Store customers worldwide. Its available from your Purchased page on iTunes and in your music library, ready for you to listen now. Never before have this many people owned an album — let alone on the day it was released. This is a big moment in music history. And youre a part of it. Learn more about accessing your album, watch the ad and get more U2 albums at limited-time prices. We are all free to have our own opinions on this. Personally I feel sad. Sad that it is celebrated this big moment in music history of giving away free music. This is a financially feasible choice for a band like U2 as they have a big revenue from their tours and made a lot of money from previous albums when their audience did buy albums. I know many independent musicians and artists who are struggling to make a living today when their music can be downloaded or streamed for pennies or for free. Have you ever gone to a lawyer or a gardener or the cinema or the dry cleaners or a petrol station or a hotel or a therapist or on holiday or to the supermarket asking for free produce or expecting services for free? Why is it in society today we allow art to be so devalued? Does it not have a value, does it not play a part in keeping us going and keeping us upright? One cannot rely on income from cd sales today. Most money is only made when you are on tour. But we as artists are advised to only tour when you have a new record out. The reality is a lot of musicians and artists have to find other work. It is good to be proactive and empowered to support ones art by whatever means. But think about your favourite artist whoever they are, either making less music or no longer making music at all because though their art is still wanted/played/streamed it is not paid for. And they still want to pay for their childrens school uniform or pay to mend their broken boiler or buy a sandwich. I know a guy who wrote a song that has had 22 million streams on Spotify. He has earnt $700. That is not enough money to pay rent, let alone bills and food. When I like a band or an artist or a song I buy it. That is my choice because I want to listen to it. I know that they have paid the engineer/musicians/studio rate/for their equipment and the time its taken to make music. Music is a part of so many moments in our lives. It makes us feel alive at a party, a song that speaks to us when were sad or alone or grieving, or when we want to feel uplifted for a moment, a moment away from the stress and despair that life can bring, or a lyric that exactly expresses our anger and frustration at the world or a song that is playing when we realise we are falling in love or when we find ourselves in that one moment the children arent crying and we can slow dance with our loved one to a song that makes us feel young or when we just want to do solo interpretive dance around the room. I still believe music has a value to us. Do you? Hattie
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 23:17:28 +0000
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