Stealing Music Hurts Musicians, Producers, Sound Engineers and on &
I was having a conversation with someone who is from Israel, whom with a straight face told me that he believes he has the right to steal my music if I charge too much for it.
Now it might seem that I could have shared that without saying he is from Israel and the info you are receiving would be the same, but that is not the case and I will go into why all that I share is relevant.
First things first. It is not your right to steal my music if you THINK I charge too much for it. When someone says this to me, they are completely clueless to what goes into the music and all that is connected to that.
I have spent my whole life working on my craft. Just as blacksmith works on his craft or a doctor on theirs. The Music Industry is more than just the Major Record Labels that he so confidently told me had a monopoly on music, so it is OK for him to steal music online.
I have spent thousands of dollars to invest in my career and record my music with the best musicians in the Music Industry. From Grammy Award winning producers like Bob Stander to top studio musicians like Steve Holley who was Paul McCartney’s drummer in “Wings”. These people all need to get paid for their services, and I was grateful and proud that I was able to hire them to play with me. I even went out of my way to treat them like royalty by having nice food available in the studio as we recorded, or treat them to concerts and other gifts because I know they are worth it…AND more!
Now obviously, if you steal a car because you think the car company is charging too much for it, the company is going to take a hit from that. And if many people embrace that mentality and steal many cars from that company, the company will start taking more deadly blows and everyone that works for that company will feel it too. The employees, etc, etc.
Well if you don’t know this by now, the Music Industry is a legit Industry just like any other. Studio musicians, producers, engineers are like employees for the Record labels and or the other musicians/artists they are playing for.
If everyone steals that musician’s music online, then they cannot afford to pay to have the best musicians and studio team to record their music. This in most cases means the quality of music GOES DOWN.
Now I know that this person that I am talking about doesn’t care about that, just like a hamster that doesn’t care about seeing the world because all he knows is his cage. This person is not aware of all the factors involved, or the repercussions of that.
Part of that is a cultural thing, as he grew up in another country, a country that is not as enriched in music as we are here in America. After all, we invented the Blues, Jazz, Soul, Rock “N” Roll and more.
The other factor is his lack of knowledge about music across the board. And he is not alone. Most of you are not aware of what really goes into the Music Industry.
Even many other musicians I speak with don’t fully understand. As I always say, most people are making their observations from the surface. This is why you have people that praise Steve Vai or other flashy guitarists more then, hmm, let’s say George Harrison.
Because on the surface, the flashy guitarist looks and sounds like they are better then a guitarist like George Harrison, but that is not the case.
George Harrison was not just one of The Beatles. He was a musician’s musician. He knew how to play for the song. His playing made the song better. On top of that, he was one of the greatest slide guitarists of all time. He had a very unique style that cannot be replicated.
I was fortunate to grow up listening to the early pioneers of Rock, Soul, Blues and more. The music that I listened to was played by musicians in a recording studio. Those musicians were paid to come in and play their instruments on the recordings. There was also the studio facility, the producers, engineers and everyone else that was a part of those recordings. Each one of these people worked hard on their craft so that the music was top notch
Chances are, you will not hear music on that level again, although there is always hope.
I share this with you with that hope in my heart. The hope that this blog will help you see this topic from a different perspective, a perspective that will help you care more about music and all the people that are connected to that so that you can continue to listen to great music that will enrich your life and the world around you.
And on that note, I want to wish you more…
peace.luv.music.
fiZ
