Corrs Slam Napster Theft

Corrs' Manager John Hughes has criticised artists like Limp Bizkit and Public Enemy for what he describes as their naive support of Napster.

Talking to Hot Press, Hughes says that, "Their portrayal of Napster as some sort of hi-tech Robin Hood is not only dangerous but wrong. This is a commercial enterprise which uses other people's property — i.e., their music — to sell advertising on their website, and who'll probably make millions in the near future from going public. I suspect that at some point the penny will drop, and these artists who are pro-Napster will go, 'Oh dear, we've been very stupid'."

Hughes' comments come in the same week that The Corrs officially became ambassadors for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

They met the person they're taking over from, Jean-Michel Jarre, two years ago at the IFPI Awards, and were very impressed with what he had to say about the Internet, and the issues it raises in relation to artists' rights.

"This isn't a 'smile for the camera' PR job. They're not lobbyists or politicians, but they will be representing their fellow musicians in a very forthright, very vocal way. If noses are put out of joint because of that, so be it."

One of The Corrs' main gripes with Napster and other MP3 file-sharers like Gnutella and Freenet is that they don't invest in new talent.

"Napster have created this myth very successfully, I have to say — that they're taking on the 'fat cats'. Well, it's the fat cats who are spending millions and millions of pounds every year on developing new careers, not them.

On a much more fundamental level," Hughes continues, "what right do they have to take a song that an artist has sweated blood over, and give it away for free? They have no moral, or I believe, legal imperative to do that."

Echoing those sentiments, Sharon Corr proffers that, "It's a lack of awareness. People need to see it like walking into a record store and literally taking the CD, putting it in your pocket and not paying for it. Things in this world are not for free, and that's for a reason — so we can all make a living."

While stopping short of outright support for Napster, Travis have said that they don't see anything wrong with MP3 file-sharing, and that it actually stimulates record sales.

"If Travis want to give away their music, fine, that's their prerogative," John Hughes responds. "At the moment, though, they don't have a choice in the matter. They could turn round tomorrow and say, 'Actually, we've changed our minds', but the files will still be there. In one day recently, we found 18,000 illegal Corrs MP3s on the net."

At the same time as The Corrs were holding court to the European press in Brussels, Metallica's Lars Ulrich was appearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee that's examining what role, if any, government should have in regulating internet copyright issues. They'll also be hearing submissions this week from Artists Against Piracy — a musician-driven coalition whose supporters include Aimee Mann, Alanis Morissette, Blink-182, Christina Aguilera and Garth Brooks.

"They've woken up to the realities of MP3 in the US and are doing something about it," Hughes concludes. "Even as it stands, The Corrs have more protection in America as artists than they do in Dundalk. Part of their role as IFPI ambassadors is to get something done about that at EU level."