Digital-music industry analyst Todd Beals is surprised that some recording artists such as Chuck D and Heart filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Grokster and Streamcast. Let me quote from Beals' post on Billboard's new blog:

While it's true that the technology allows disintermediation and provides a direct new channel, does the inexpensive but efficient ability to reach a global audience for the artist really balance out the culpability of the P2P services? Exposure is always a good thing for an artist of any size, but at what price or opportunity cost does it then become palatable?

I share Beals' bafflement. But Chuck D has a poisonous history with the recording industry, and for Heart, P2P may be the only exposure they're getting now. (Cheap shot, I know, but when was the last time you voluntarily listened to Crazy on You or Barracuda?) The fact is, the American Federation of Musicians -- which represents 100,000 artists -- filed in favor of having Grokster overturned, as did 27,000 songwriters and music publishers owning copyrights on more than 2.5 million songs. In that brief, the songwriters and publishers said they were uniting to confront "the monster that is now devouring their intellectual property rights."

posted by Patrick Ross @ 1:44 PM | Internet: P2P, Search Engines...

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