Think Again News

It’s impossible not to feel sympathy for Jim “Falco” Fork, whose anguished blog has been reprinted in national papers today as part of an ad campaign by UK Music.   His band, Future of the Left, had their album stolen and published online before they themselves had even got a finished copy.  In amongst the raw anger and the strong language, you can sense the outrage and hurt felt by all  crime victims; anyone who’s been burgled will know how he feels.

But we shouldn’t allow anger at a straightforward criminal act to confuse the discussions over digital sharing of music, and a new business model for the music industry. That, I fear, is what UK Music are attempting to do.

The digital distribution of music has brought benefits to a wide range of musicians, artists and smaller labels, making it easier for them to reach audiences around the world and by-pass many of the gatekeepers of the old order.  If the music industry at large has failed to capitalise on that, then it has precious few others to blame.

It has attempted to block progress and reasonable negotiation at every turn, solely in the cause of defending its existing, doomed business model.  When I was at the BBC, I spent many largely fruitless hours negotiating with, and discussing digital developments, with senior figures in the “record” industry.

As late as 2002, a very high-ranking figure in the BPI told me in a meeting that digital downloads would never be a threat to CD’s, and he was confident that his lawyers would put a stop to file-sharing within months.

Falco paints what he sees as a gloomy future for music – populated only by “hobby” bands and corporate superstars milking arena tours.  Quite aside from the sneering dismissal of “hobby” bands (is music only worthwhile if it’s made by someone validated by a record company?), that’s not the world of music I see and enjoy online every day.

Please let’s not return to a world where access to a wider audience and reward for your work was dependent on a small group of so-called experts at the record labels and mainstream radio stations.  They’ve had their day.

In our training sessions and presentations, I often cite the American cyclist and cancer campaigner Lance Armstrong for his exemplary use of digital and social media.  Armstrong has had a difficult relationship with journalists in the past so, for his comeback this year, he largely bypassed conventional media and spoke to his fans and supporters direct – around 2 million of them on Twitter alone.

The British Olympic Champion and Tour De France hopeful Bradley Wiggins has clearly been learning from the Armstrong experience but, judging by today’s events, there’s a way to go.

There’s been speculation for months that Wiggins would be leaving his current team (Garmin) to head up the new Sky-sponsored British superteam next year.  It’s a delicate business, though – with raging egos, big money and legally binding contracts in the mix.

So there was inevitable interest today when Wiggins was quoted as saying “it’s like trying to win the Champions League, you need to be at Manchester United, but I’m playing at Wigan at the moment”, widely interpreted as a strong hint that a move was on the cards.

Wiggins was quick to rubbish the rumours though, on his own Twitter feed.

Well, up to a point Bradley.  Because anyone who was interested could also visit the BBC Sport Website and watch the full video of the interview in which he said exactly what he’d been quoted as saying.

So hardly bollocks, Bradley.

He may have not meant it to come out quite the way it sounded; he may now regret having said it, but it’s not bollocks – and it’s unhelpful to both fans and journalists to suggest that it is.

Digital and social media don’t do away with the need to tell the truth, or the need to have one clear message and express it as clearly as possible. In fact, it’s harder to dissemble and fudge online because any discrepancy is so much easier to spot, lasts for ever, and the blogosphere can be very unforgiving.