Shakira Approves Of Illegal Downloading

PopEater:

The Colombian singer Shakira insists that illegal music downloading actually makes her feel closer to her fans and supported those who used internet file-sharing after Lily Allen publicly declared her support for the Government's plans to crack down on the illegal practice.

Shakira told UK's Daily Mail, "I like what's going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music... It's the democratization of music in a way. And music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift."

Read the whole story: PopEater

Comments

[bartonfink]

is this true?!

yeah, her hips don't lie

[BebeLush]

Okay, Shakira . . . I'm on it!

[capitaldysfunction]

Here's wishin' I was on it.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

Bless you Shakira.


File sharing is no different from just lending a CD you've bought to your friend. It is simply the case that you may have a few million "friends" now online. As long as no money is being exchanged, then it's OK. If I buy a CD and share it online, I should be allowed to do that.

It would not, for example, cause live concert/tour sales to drop.

If anything, file sharing allows an artist to build a larger fanbase.

[NoSillyName]

If I buy a CD, I should be able to do whatever I want with it. How dare those companies say we can't lend it to a friend or make a copy.

Outrageous!

I don't care much for downloads; I like tangible objects.

[cylonlover]

There are a great many hard-working people out there who deserve to get paid for the work that goes into producing a record. Don't let the words of a multi-millionaire help you to justify piracy of intellectual property. It's stealing pure and simple.

If Shakira wants to make her music a gift, good for her. I'll be more convinced of her sincerity when all of her concerts and albums are free, and she pays the myriads of people who support that effort out of her own pocket. That still wouldn't change the fact that all of the other artists (and, yes, recording labels) deserve to be paid for the product they release.

[audadvnc]

Downloading content is a fact of life in the music industry. ITunes captures a bit of the market, but the days of huge record sales are over. Live touring keeps these acts going.

[ETSpoon]

Hooray for Shakira!

Even though her music is the kind of pop pablum I personally do not listen to her support of free downloading means she's on the side of hardworking musicians who never get the big label contract.

The music industry has fallen into the hands of the guys who run Wall Street. The record industry guys who loved the music and the musicians are old or dead.

[XRaraavis]

Free or very cheap music on the Internet hurts the record labels much more than the artists. The artist make the majority of their money on tour. Is what the record companies provide worth the billions they make each year. They are fighting it tooth and nail but a new economic model is emerging in the music industry that is going to destroy the profits of big record labels and they can't stop it. Unless the record companies can produce more value than owning the CD burners and having lots of lawyers they are going to be destroyed.

[MrMilk]

I approve of Shakira's approval.

[MightyMeno]

My husband approves of Shakira's hips. They don't lie.

[karloxcali]

Me too

[spiderbucket]

Who would want her music - even for free ?

[EmeraldWorld]

She has some decent Spanish songs, but her English ones are awful.

[Feanor]

Millions of people who don't want yours, apparently.

Loser.

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

I support it too. In fact, I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk.

[seachild]

...says a woman who's already made millions!>>>

PLEASE!

[Eris23]

So what? Does she do her own production and promotion? No, which means taking up a message that her label and distributors clearly disapprove of is an independent move. Personally, I like it when I see more successful artists take this stance. I keep hearing about how angry the little guys get over piracy. I have some of my own music out there for sale. Particularly through legal online distribution channels, I make very little in royalties per download through the past deals I did, and those who buy my tracks are, in my opinion, getting ripped off too. Having a much smaller pool of people into the sound I did that was easy to communicate with, I very much made it clear that I had absolutely no issues with people pirating my music and would prefer that they did that before purchasing it through various online resellers. It does get you closer to your audience.

[piul05]

And still makes buckets full of it in her tours.

The record industry has had a really good run; they'd take some Barbie or Ken off the street, get some ghost musician to write some commercial rubbish, distort their voices and wrap it with aggressive, relentless marketing. And in the end, they'd get the lion's share of the profit made on an overpriced CD, which, incidentally, the buyer would, in the end, not listen to, except for one or two songs.

Good artists hit the road, sing and sweat to the public - and those is well-earned millions.

[Feanor]

Word.