Pirates of the...Music World?

A group of like-minded individuals forming their own political movements to bring about change in ways that existing political parties cannot is nothing out of the ordinary. The individuals in question could be striving to save the earth, improve and protect human rights, or simply to bring freedom to the downtrodden.

Or...to do away with copyright laws and legalise music file sharing.

Swedish national Rick Falkvinge founded a political party known as the Pirate Party four years ago following a government raid on illegal peer-to-peer file sharing. The party aims to make file-sharing legal and to abolish copyright laws, sparking an outcry from officials in the music industry and several musicians.

Mr. Falkvinge was invited to the In The City music industry forum in Manchester, only to arouse fiery criticisms:

"Burn him at the stake" said one of the delegates present at the conference.

Yvette Livesey, organiser of the conference, has had her share of criticism for inviting Mr. Falkvinge to the event. However, she has her reasons for doing so:

"I think it is important to have these debates. If we'd had these debates 10 years ago, perhaps we wouldn't be in the position we are in now in the music industry," she said.

The closing down of the Swedish service The Pirate Bay and the subsequent arrest and incarceration of its founders on April 17th, 2009 has boosted already growing support for the party. The Pirate Party received 7% of Sweden's total vote at the European election in June, and 13% of German voters voted for the German Pirate Party. The movement has now spread to 32 different countries, although not all of them are formally connected.

If the Party should gain power and start winning seats in parliaments around the world, it could spell doom for workers in the creative industry. By manipulating or even abolishing existing copyright laws, performing artists, writers, and record labels will no longer be entitled to profit from their efforts.

According to Mr. Falkvinge, the creative industry is not feasible in economic terms:

"In economic terms, there is an enormous oversupply of people wanting to live off creativity, so there isn't enough demand to pay everybody.

In such an occasion, market forces dictate that there will only be so many successful creators."

Not surprisingly, artists such as James Blunt and Lily Allen have rallied against this movement.

Are adherents of the Pirate Party campaigners hoping to make the music world a better place?

Or are they freeloaders who are depriving creative artists the chance to fulfil their dreams simply because there is no demand in the economy for creativity?

I leave that for you to decide, friends.

Yours,

Journo-SEAL (Eric Alexandre Lafif)

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8314620.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8003799.stm

RIP Stephen Gately-Part 2

"The world has lost one of it's brightest stars, we have lost our brother,"

Those heart-felt words were spoken by Ronan Keating at the funeral of fellow bandmate Stephen Gately at the St Laurence O'Toole Church in Ireland today.

His funeral is one of the biggest events in the music world, with messages of condolences coming from various performing artists as George Michael, David and Victoria Beckham, Simon Cowell, Take That, Westlife, U2, Robbie Williams, Cheryl Cole, Colin Farrell, Sharon Osborne, Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem.

Gately's parents Margaret and Martin and his siblings Mark, Alan, Tony, and Michelle all attended the funeral along with his partner, Andrew Cowles.

Post-mortem tests have revealed that Mr. Gately died from natural causes, specifically from a condition known as pulmonary oedema.

In the meantime, a column by Jan Moir of the Daily Mail has sparked much criticism from Gately's fanbase. The reporter is accused of homophobia particularly by her claim that Gately's death is not natural.

"Her evidence for that claim is non-existent. Instead, she resorts to innuendo and goes on to make a leap of stunning illogicality by suggesting that the death "strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships."" Roy Greenslade writes in his blog for the Guardian Unlimited.

Another statment in Moir's article that has garnered controversy is shown below:

"Once again, under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see."

Greenslade refers to this statement as "a final, breathtaking statement of unalloyed homophobia"

In the meantime, Jan Moir has written in her defense that "...it seems unlikely to me that what took place in the hours immediately preceding Gately's death - out all evening at a nightclub, taking illegal substances, bringing a stranger back to the flat, getting intimate with that stranger - did not have a bearing on his death."

Furthermore, Ms. Moir insisted that when she wrote "...that 'it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships'" she meant "that civil partnerships - the introduction of which I am on the record in supporting - have proved just to be as problematic as marriages."

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8311894.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/oct/16/dailymail-stephen-gately
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1220756/A-strange-lonely-troubling-death--.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/16/jan-moir-stephen-gately-response

First Post Ever

Hello friends,

This is my first post ever, so I'd better make it count. In case I didn't make things clear, this blog is going to be covering the arts (fine arts, music, drama and theatre, and writing of prose and poetry) and entertainment and their effect on the world. For instance, if a new book is making a splash in the literary world, I will be talking about it. If something has happened to a particularly influential artist (visual artist, musician, writer, poet, and/or actor), it is inevitable that I will be covering the person in question's influence on the world.

Despite my love for the arts, especially creative writing, I am still a Journalism student. This means that I can not be biased in favour or against anyone or anything and I will not take sides.

Rather, I try to present as much information as I can in hopes that one can take an informed stance on any issue I might bring up.

I will do what I can to live up to my intentions.

PS: The name SEAL is a combination of the letters in my name (Skander Eric Alexandre Lafif)