Comments on: Billy Bragg leaves a2f2a.com

By: Crosbie Fitch

Crosbie Fitch — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:36:01 +0000

The trouble with Billy and FAC is that they comprise artists who made a deal with the devil in exchange for royalties. So they’ve sold their art for magic beans, and the beans aren’t as magical as they had been led to believe. If they want any more magically generated revenue they either have to go back to the devil because he’s sitting on the huge pile of treasure obtained from exploiting their privileges, or they have to plead with the government for more ways in which the devil can collect royalties and thus give a them a tiny bit more magic.

Then again, but no so likely, they could be trying to lobby for an ISP tax that cuts the old devil out to replace it with a new one. This won’t amuse the old devil and clearly exhibits a failure to learn from history.

FAC is the old guard, and unless they join the ranks of new artists and sell new performances, new recordings, new compositions, there’s no new money for them.

The new money is that which comes directly from the fans, money they give in exchange for the artists’ new work – not their old work, but new work. All old (published) work is now free because it can be freely exchanged. The only work that can be sold is new work, and that’s as it’s always been and as it should be.

This is why FAC and retiring artists will have no truck with free culturalist hippies because they realise there’s no money in it for them – they don’t intend to do any more work.

However, there was a small chance the file-sharing community (p2pnet) might be persuaded to support an ISP tax (compulsory license fee) given it would legalise non-commercial file-sharing (on the part of license payers).

So the courtship of p2net from Billy and FAC has been nothing about new artists and new business models that let them directly exchange their art with the money of their fans, but about old artists and their need for retirement income from royalties (a tax on the cultural exchange of their back catalogue).

There was a tiny chance that Billy could be turned from the apparently lucrative dark side, if we argued with him, if we did our damnedest to explain how things should and would work in the future, and why there was an opportunity for him and FAC to sacrifice their crusade for more royalties, to cast out the devil, to cut out the middleman, and join the revolution…

By: bill

bill — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:36:23 +0000

@RayBeckerman #4: “…that it is just another facet of the war that’s been going on worldwide for a long time between wealthy corporations, and everyone else.”
Billy lost me early on with his insistence on a copyright EXTENSION of 20 years (to 70 years past death) – something that gets lost in more recent debates about ISP tax and such. Also – Billy’s insistence that class issues had no place in the debate. Of course they do. As wages are driven even lower and jobs are eliminated, it does become more difficult to be a patron of folks like Jon or your favorite artist. The only message I ever got from Billy was that he didn’t really give two sh*ts about the struggles of the audience as long as FAC artists got their privelege (and even extend it). Harsh critisism of Billy? Perhaps. But deserved.

By: RayBeckerman

RayBeckerman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:47:48 +0000

I love Billy Bragg. I hope he eventually realizes what I have come to realize from my work fighting the RIAA– that it is just another facet of the war that’s been going on worldwide for a long time between wealthy corporations, and everyone else. No musician should EVER align him or her self with Big Music. If you find yourself in agreement with the Big 4 record companies on something…. you’re wrong.

By: Crosbie Fitch

Crosbie Fitch — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:18:46 +0000

Erratum: “artists and fans exchanging their art and money in a free market”

By: Crosbie Fitch

Crosbie Fitch — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:16:54 +0000

Well, although it looks like Billy’s going for the blue pill and a return to the comfort of the traditional recording industry (in its twilight years), let’s hope at least some of our discussion has opened his mind to the idea of artists and fans exchanging their art in a free market.

By: Dreddsnik

Dreddsnik — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:14:32 +0000

Not the least bit surprised.

This site isn’t just about the FAC though, and that’s starting to
become apparent as unaffiliated artists are beginning to arrive.
It’s for ALL artists to touch base with the fans, not just a tool
for the FAC.