Over the past few years I’ve taken part in numerous radio discussions on the issues of copyright and legal and illegal downloading. My position has been to unequivocally defend the rights of songwriters and musicians not to have their work stolen. On one or two heated occasions I’ve even suggested those who support illegal downloading should give out their addresses so that musicians can nip around to their gaffs and steal their stuff. Like, fair’s fair, innit?

Several of these appearances provoked a flurry of emails, a mixed bag of encouragement, criticism and downright hostile, if hilariously illiterate, abuse. The general tenor of those responses from emerging musicians, as well as face-to-face meetings with them, suggested that I was out of line with their thinking, which could be surmised as either “music should be free and not a commercial entity” or “even if it’s illegal or immoral, you can’t hold back the future”. That some of these comments came, and still come, from musicians claiming to be IMRO members, makes it all the more provocative.
More recently I was on Radio Nova in Dublin talking to Carol Dooley and Marty Miller about Pete Townshend’s inaugural John Peel lecture during which he referred to iTunes as “digital vampires” and suggested Apple could help new artists by giving a bunch of them some new equipment as part of their contribution to their development.
That too provoked the usual response, but this time almost overwhelmingly negative. The general tone of the comments I received was basically that me and my “mate” Pete needed to face the reality and accept the fact that copyright was either dead or dying. One correspondent, calling himself Terry, cited David Bowie who had made comments on the matter that coincided with his own.
Indeed, Bowie was interviewed by an American magazine and said: “The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing... Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity. So it’s like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You’d better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that’s really the only unique situation that’s going to be left. It’s terribly exciting. On the other hand it doesn’t matter if you think it’s exciting or not – it’s what’s going to happen.”
Mmmm. Provocative words. I still take the personal view that songwriters are entitled to have their work protected from theft, not just for commercial reasons but out of respect for another person’s work. Yet I now have to admit that the more I speak to young musicians, the more it looks like I’m in a dwindling minority.
The aforementioned emailer Terry told me that while the rest of his band joined IMRO they agree with him on the copyright issue, while he himself has refused to join IMRO. His attitude reflects my general experience of meeting and talking to young musicians who often tell me they’re IMRO members while almost boasting that they support illegal downloading! I’ve tried pointing out the contradiction, but with little success. Instead, I’m accused of harbouring outdated music industry thoughts and offered instead some unconvincing waffle about copyleft and creative commons.
But maybe Bowie is right and the future will be copyright-free. In the meantime, amid all the arguments about the various changes overtaking the music industry, two facts give me hope for the future; the unstoppable number of artists who still want to make music, and the still huge number of people who want to listen to it. While those facts have remained constant, the muddle has all been in the middle.
The past year has certainly seen no drop in the level of exciting music being produced by emerging Irish acts. I’ve taken pleasure from new albums from a wide variety of artists, including The Hot Sprockets, Saccade, Propeller Palms, Colette Henry, The Man Whom, Tupelo and a myriad others whose collective creativity make me feel less inclined towards keeping up with what’s happening outside Ireland (although I try). New artists like Sinéad McNulty prove that Irish singers and composers can make classy pop records too, and there was much to exult about in the new single ‘Heaven Can Wait’ by Shaz Oye and in the work of Irish rapper Ill Psychz. There are also new talents like Cathryn Green, Joey Ryan, Life On Land and Darragh Cullen for whom 2012 will bring new challenges, and, I hope, their just rewards.
Young musicians have learned that the internet has been grossly oversold to them as a sales tool. While it’s a valuable addition for any band wishing to spread the good news, on its own it’s very much not the Holy Grail. Similarly, the notion that giving your music away free was the key to scoring shed loads of gigs, and making cash registers ring across the land, has been exposed as absurd fantasy.
It’s also become increasingly evident that Irish acts need to be as inventive marketing their music as they are at making it. Old taboos have gone, and there’s now a sense that if the masses won’t come to your gigs the next best move is to bring your music to them. The Riptide Movement have shown the power of literally getting out on the streets and selling their wares. Pierce Turner has by now done nearly 100 gigs in people’s houses, while Shaz Oye is looking at bringing music to the people by playing gigs in company premises at lunchtime.
And it need not stop there. There are endless possibilities performance-wise, and artists with real conviction about their music will explore such opportunities with the appropriate determination. Thus, libraries, community centres, schools, railway stations, bandstands, street spaces, shopping centres, local parks and so on may be the places we can expect to hear music from in the coming years.