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June 01, 2007
Leaks in the blogosphere
It’s no surprise that after Chicago radio station Q101 played an entire preview copy of former-Detroit rockers The White Stripes’ new album “Icky Thump” on Wednesday that radio rips of the unreleased album began making their way around the Internet(s). And it’s no surprise that a battle over musicians’ rights, fans’ rights and bloggers’ rights began.
For anyone unfamiliar with the drama, simply Google “Icky Thump leak.” The top results bring up angry posts from music bloggers irritated about the situation. “But stealing is wrong!” you say. It is. Very wrong. However, looking at their arguments, and what happened to one blogger in particular, is a case study in the ever-blurring line of what’s right and wrong in the blogosphere.
Product Shop NYC, a popular indie music blog, was shut down the same day the radio station leaked the album. Known for posting mp3s from upcoming releases, the author received a cease and desist letter from Warner Brothers telling him to take the tracks down after a web sheriff-esque site found the tracks. He did, but six hours later, his blog was shut down, to his surprise. Here’s what Jason, the author, had to say about the situation:
- “Why did they choose to take action against me? I don't know. I complied with their request and did as they asked. I've been nothing but supportive of the White Stripes and will continue to support the band. I buy their records, spend a ton of money on concert tickets and have given them an absolute ton of free publicity by covering almost everything they've ever done.
Major labels are happy to send along a million press releases, update us on every single move a band makes, feed us into their machine, but if we show our support by exposing people to the actual music, then we get shut down?
People want to buy music. Not an image.”
Most major music bloggers, like The Modern Age, are in agreement that leaking the album by the radio station was wrong from the start, but are siding with Product Shop NYC.
- “Sometimes I think Jack and the labels can be a little overzealous about hating some things (such as having Product Shop NYC shut down for linking to downloads of “Conquest” and “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” AFTER they had removed the links by request of the label !!!!), but I gotta side with the man on this one–Q101 totally effed up on this.”
What does a situation like this mean for bloggers? It’s hard to tell, and often sounds like a “Do as I say, not as I post” scenario. Jason makes a very compelling point- his blog has been giving The White Stripes loads of free coverage for more than five years, and nobody, from the corporate level, seems to be complaining about that. But the minute he gives the people (the fans) what they want, his blog is shut down.
This story is hardly new- car companies are constantly dealing with car blogs and “spy” product photos posted before embargo dates have passed. But the leaked White Stripes album is a good example of something I believe we’re going to see happen more frequently with bloggers as mainstream media outlets, like Warner Brothers, expect the blogosphere to adhere to the same standards that traditional publications, journalists and even radio stations (unlike Q101) have been expected to follow.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at June 1, 2007 05:10 PM
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Comments
You make it seem as though the White Stripes need the kind of publicity Product Shop has been offering. But I for one have never heard of that blog and the White Stripes have been a major act for years now, they don't need the bloggers and in fact bloggers shouldn't be writing about them. Find someone else that desrves the attention and is fine with us sharing their music. I believe there may be some bands out there that fit that description (like 3 million or so)
Posted by: craig at June 2, 2007 10:11 AM
The RIAA should sue the radio station and the corporation that owns them. If a government licensed entity can get away with downloading from file sharing sites, why can't ordinary citizens.
Posted by: RIAA Should at June 3, 2007 12:22 PM
The whole issue leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It reminds me of the South Park episode where Lars Ulrich couldn't buy a solid gold toilet because too many people were downloading Metallica songs on Napster.
On another note:
While The White Stripes are a successful band, I would disagree that they don't need the publicity. They're trying to sell records and concert tickets just like every other band in the world (famous or not) and saying that they don't deserve to have bloggers write about them is based on pure opinion.
Posted by: Melanie at June 5, 2007 05:35 PM
