- Music
- 21 Sep 09
Lily Allen has stepped up her war against online piracy by rallying fellow stars to campaign for artists’ rights.
The singer has now set up a blog in which she is posting messages from prominent supporters of her cause. It follows last week’s outburst against file-sharing which she said was a “disaster” for emerging artists “as it’s making it harder and harder for new acts to emerge”. She is now calling for a summit to be attended by artists, record companies, internet service providers and the Government to discuss the future.
Allen has set up a new site idontwanttochangetheworld.blogspot.com in which she has posted messages from her supporters. They include James Blunt, who has today written a letter to The Times backing Business Secretary Lord Mandelson’s proposal to disconnect persistent offenders. Others to back Allen include Take That star Gary Barlow, who says he agrees with all her sentiments. “I spend so much of my spare time helping up and coming artists find their way so am fully aware of all the issues,” he added.
Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp is also fighting in Lily's camp, and Bat For Lashes star Natasha Khan said: “File-sharing is a huge and complicated problem for emerging artists, myself included, and for the future of music.”
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Allen’s rallying cry was a response to comments by members of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), which includes musicians from bands such as Radiohead and Pink Floyd, who called for “more creative ways” to combat file-sharing than disconnecting music fans from the internet.