Hi all:
“I agree with what is said here and that getting the elite to dirty their hands in activism will be a hard if not impossible undertaking.”
That’s a comment from a2f2a member Clark Sorley under ‘Like herding cats … ‘.
It’s hard, Clark, that’s for sure. We have seven years of corporate music industry dirty work undo.
But it’s not impossible. And the elite are only a small part of the equation.
Today, I’m emailing indie musicians I’ve tracked down online. And anyone with 15 minutes to spare can do the same. 
Below is the message I’m sending out. You can use your own name, of course — and even come up with your own message !
a2f2a is an activist site.
So act.
Cheers!
Jon Newton
_____________
Hi:
Artists need to be paid, and fans want to pay them, and with that as the underpinning principle, UK musician Billy Bragg and p2pnet.net’s Jon Newton (Canada) have created http://a2f2a.com – artists-to-fans-to-artists – to:
1. Help each community better understand the other;
2. Help find a practical and workable system which offers artists fair remuneration in exchange for access to material by fans; and
3. Help set the agenda for discussions about the role P2P can play within the online digital record industry.
We’re looking for input and we’d be really grateful if you’d check it out and perhaps contribute a thought ot two.
Cheers! And thanks. And all the best …
November 10th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Hi
My name is James Kelly, I am a young independent artists and owner of my own label PureTone Records based in the UK.
I am currently working on creating a new business model that would see music fans allowed to legally share and download music over the internet, would not require ISP’s to police or pressure their customers and would reward artists and rights holders.
Proposal
• PureTone Records owned by James Kelly, licenses its catalogue to Internet Service Providers allowing their customers to legally access and download PureTone Records music via any file sharing website.
• A license fee would be agreed by PureTone Records and the ISP’s that could then be recouped in customers monthly bill. The license fee would represent the status of PureTone’s catalogue and online activity.
In order for this model to work, the online activity of PureTone’s music would need to be monitored as accurately as possible and at present ISP’s are not willing to do this. If an independent organisation such as PRS for Music or Merlin were willing to undertake this role, then this model would not criminalise consumers, see income for artists, labels and possibly ISP’s where current revenue is lost and also open the door to the full potential of music in the digital age.
I have recently had meetings and discussions with Feargal Sharkey of UK Music, Patrick Rackow of BASCA, Jon Webster of MMF, BT and the ISPA regarding my ideas and I also attended the FAC event at Air Studios on file sharing and illegal downloading where I briefly spoke with Jeremy SIlver. I am currently in discussions and meetings with possible monitoring bodies and ISP’s.
For for information please see – http://www.jameskellysounds.blogspot.com http://www.myspace.com/jameskellysounds or contact jk.puretone@hotmail.com
James Kelly & PureTone Records