Music Matters. Right?

Music Matters, as you've probably heard, is a new initiative encouraging people to enjoy music legally. The Music Matters logo is already being displayed on the sites of HMV, Tesco, and many more, in order to show the legitimacy of the downloads they supply, and that the money they pay is filtering through to the artists.

There's also a string of videos, reminding people of the inspiration drawn from music, and of the legal ways to listen to it.



These videos are set to be shown in schools as well as spread around online.

I find it absolutely sickening that there is a fresh wave of download sites which look legitimate, and claim to be legitimate, charging for downloads when they are not in any way official, or providing musicians with an income. These sites need to be tackled, and by the look of it Music Matters is taking that into consideration.

When you start debating what music is really worth, things can get really sticky, especially downloads, people can struggle to put a value on something that isn't even tangible, let alone something that can vary in quality so much. A stream of facts from the BPI have shown that 12-19 year olds are paying for music a lot less than they used to, and that 30-40 year olds are putting the most money back into the music industry through actual sales of music. Well, it makes sense doesn't it? Can we expect a 14 year old with no income to save up the pocket money from Granny in order to download an album, when it's always going to be there online for them to take for free, no matter what preventative measures are attempted? Well, no, I don't think we can. However, getting kids to understand that work goes into music, and that it's important to support it where they can, really should be high on the agenda.

Indeed, I hope that this scheme is taking that approach, but a little part of me cannot help but desperately hope that the authorities behind this aren't clinging to the old music model of having to part with £10 in a shop or online when you want to hear an album. Don't get me wrong, this is fine, hell, I do it myself most of the time! But what I'm trying to say is that music has been changed by the internet, whether we cling to the old methods of buying it or not. And I wonder if perhaps we should be educating on alternatives, and new ways to show your support, than trying to reinforce the old school.

I put it to you that buying a CD, released on a major label, does not actually line the pockets of the artist more than a few pence a time. Now I know a big label provide huge promotion, and the part they play means they need to take a big percentage of the cash. However, the internet is changing the way we can promote music too, and the role of a major label may even be dying a death. Now, consider downloading an album for free. SHOCKING hey? Well consider doing it through a small label, that small label is allowing people to take the album for either a donation of the consumers choice, or for absolutely zip, just an email address. So say 10,000 people take it for free, the label has their email addresses, another 10,000 pay a fee, job done. Of the 10,000 that didn't pay, 5,000 enjoyed the album, and 2,000 enjoyed it enough to buy merchandise, recommend it to friends, or see the artist touring. The email addresses they've left allow the label to tell them how they can do all of this, and with a little bit of effort and clever thinking, the money can be recuperated.

I'm aware that I've gone off on a tangent somewhat, but my point is that yes, music DOES matter, and people should understand a need to support artists, but maybe it's time we give something new a try?