We would first like to say a massive thank you to all those supporting the music and the artists/dj’s around the world. Whether you buy the records, CDs or MP3s, go to parties or promote those parties, without your support the scene and the music would not be half as vibrant and exciting as it is today. In fact, without your support many of the artists would not be able to continue with their production work and bring you the music you love.
However, times are rapidly changing, and you may or may not be aware that record sales have been plummeting over the past few years. One store in the UK reported a 60% drop in vinyl sales last year alone, shortly before they became yet another casualty of the shrinking market. Unfortunately, the sales of digital music have not made up for fall off in sales. A major factor in this drop has been attributed to the huge increase in file sharing coupled with a simultaneous rise in online connection speeds.
It’s not just a question of people using file sharing networks to illegally exchange music, but in some instances there are now organized websites that have been set up to sell illegally downloaded files. This in turn is taking more money directly from the producers and from the record labels and squeezing the margins even further.
We realise that there is no direct way to stop this, but all we can do is stress in the strongest possible terms how damaging this culture of theft is to our labels, distributors, legal retailers, artists and most of all the many honest people who do buy into what we do. There are many legal MP3 sites that offer high quality downloads now for much less money than the traditional vinyl format (which we understand can be expensive in some countries) and we would simply ask that you support these official outlets wherever possible. It is also important to take a strong stance against the culture of freeloading that needs to be stopped if the dance music scene is to continue and thrive. Supporters of this campaign include....
Elite Force
Quest - Cyberfunk
Dark Globe
Meat Katie
Dopamine
Rogue Element
Biff @ Functional
Finger Lickin' (including...)
Plump DJs
Krafty Kuts
Soul of Man
A-Skills
Drummatic Twins
Stereo 8
Slyde
Brothers Bud
Uberzone
Koma & Bones
Lee Coombs
Force Mass Motion
Lot 49
SOTO
Dylan Rhymes
Botchit & Scarper (including....)
Aquasky
Atomic Hooligan
Backdraft
Chris Carter
Deekline and Wizard
Freq Nasty
Jason Sparks
Lawgiverz
HooknSling
Klaus Hill
Dean Muhsin - Dipsersion Promotions
Dr I Honey - Virus B-23
ID - Hardcore Beats
Tom Real
Adrift Recordings
Baobinga
Steelzawheelz
West Records
Brighton Breaks
Kickflip
Wavewhore
Maelstrom
Ebb - Midnight Recordings
Plaza De Funk
DJ Brad C
B-23
Model101
Hexadecimal
Wut Eva Records
DJ Hyper
Mike Hogan (Breakspoll)
Jimmy Brayks (nuskoolbreaks.co.uk)
Odissi
Breakfastaz
John B
Basstard Records
DJ Love
Tech Itch
Q-Bert
Ladytron
Lance Cashion
Darftphunk
B-Phreak
FILE SHARING FAQ
What is filesharing?
Filesharing is the activity of trading digital files with other users over the internet. Users trade files by downloading (to obtain them) and uploading (to distribute them).
How do people fileshare?
Users download software from the internet to gain access to a filesharing network. When the software is in use, and the user’s connection to the internet is open, the filesharer can trade music files (by uploading or downloading) with others who are online.
Is downloading music illegal?
Downloading is when an internet user obtains a digital music file from the internet – in filesharing this source is another internet user known as an uploader. Unless this act of downloading is done with the permission of the record label (for example, from a licensed service like iTunes), it is unauthorised copying and is illegal.
Uploading is when an internet user allows other internet users to access (and download) their digital music files. This phenomenon creates an enormous illegal library of music available for illegal download using filesharing services. Copyright law provides that a person must have permission to make a copyrighted work (such as a sound recording) available for download on the internet. Doing so (i.e.uploading) without permission of the copyright owner (in the case of a sound recording, the record label) is against the law, regardless of whether the music was originally obtained legally or illegally by the uploader. It is for the illegal act of uploading without permission that the international recording industry has commenced legal action against more than 14,200 people to date. However, legal action is not an option for many small independent labels as they do not have the resources.
Why is filesharing illegal?
Copyright laws grant the copyright owners (the record labels) the right to distribute their work and people who distribute copyrighted recordings via peer-to-peer networks without permission are breaking the law by infringing those rights. It is absolutely clear in copyright law that unauthorised filesharing is illegal.
Why is it a problem? Does filesharing damage music sales?
Aside from the fact that filesharing infringes and undermines the rights of the creators and investors in music, it’s enormously damaging to music sales. While there is evidence that a small percentage of filesharers do download illegally to “try before they buy†this is more than outweighed by the much larger number who download legally instead of buying music. If record companies are unable to derive income from music sales, that means less money to invest in new music. This is not only bad news for record companies but also for musicians who rely on that investment and for consumers who want to keep on listening to new music.
I paid for my CD, why am I not allowed to share it with my friends?
When you buy a CD, you buy a personal copy of the music; you do not buy the right to copy or distribute it. Copying a CD and giving the copy to a friend is an infringement of copyright and is illegal. Uploading music to the internet is an infringement on a much larger scale, as filesharers effectively give away perfect copies of someone else’s work to millions of people for free.
How can you tell which websites are legal?
Although there are some online music services that claim to be legal when they are not, a careful consumer should not find it difficult to identify legal music services. The usual indicators quality, price and brand should be taken into account and consumers should exercise caution. There is a list of authorised digital music services that consumers can view at http://www.pro-music.org and http://www.bpi.co.uk/musiconline. Many recording industry organizations are working with the recording industry internationally to ensure that action is taken against unauthorised online distributors of music and filesharing services that illegally promote copyright infringement. The international record industry in 2005 won landmark cases against the filesharing services Grokster & Kazaa. Consumers should take particular care in relation to filesharing services. Although distributors of filesharing software often claim that it is legal to download their software, using that software to download or upload music will almost always mean breaking the law. There are also many websites that con users into paying for filesharing software that’s free elsewhere. Paying for the software does not in any way mean that using it to upload or download music is legal. We advise consumers to err on the side of caution if they have doubts over a website’s legality.
If people don’t know what’s legal, isn’t it unfair to take them to court?
IFPI surveys suggest that seven out of ten UK consumers are aware that filesharing is illegal. And the BPI has worked to raise customer awareness, notably in sending millions of instant messages to illegal uploaders and an extensive parental awareness campaign. But distributing music without permission over the internet is against the law regardless of awareness. An estimated 90% of the activity on filesharing networks is the illegal swapping of music and other works protected by copyright. None of these filesharing services explain to their customers explicitly enough that using their services is extremely likely to be illegal and could land them in court, but the music industry is working to raise consumer awareness even if the file sharing companies are not.
In the eighties, the recording industry claimed that “home taping is killing musicâ€. Isn’t this the same thing?
There is an enormous difference between giving a friend an inferior copy of a record, and illegally distributing perfect digital copies of songs to millions of people. Filesharing cost the UK record industry an estimated £650 million in 2003 & 2004.
BY JOINING THIS MYSPACE ACCOUNT AND ADDING IT TO YOUR TOP FREINDS, YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING YOUR PART TO HELPING PLEASE REMEMBER TO ADD US IN YOUR TOP FRIENDS! THIS WON'T HAVE THE SAME EFFECT OTHERWISE! THANKS!
THANK YOU!