Pete Townshend says bootlegging will turn musicians into beggars

Pete Townshend says that he fears that the Internet will rob artists of their livelihood, through piracy and bootlegging. Townshend, who has embraced the Internet more than many of his music industry peers, told metrofrance.com that, "I have always been bootlegged, and my music has always been given away 'free' or almost free on the radio and television. We view this as a form of promotion now. If people feel it is okay to walk through an artist's life and take their work for free, then those artists will die... Artists and artisans will be like beggars."

Townshend, who over the years has uploaded dozens of free demos, experimental pieces, and live Who tracks on his website petetownshend.co.uk, added that file sharing has gotten out of control: "The public simply have to stop stealing our art, but no one can stop them stealing, they are an immoral, unthinking army. I am not outraged by them, because I am wealthy. This is the French Revolution all over again. This time it is every artist who suffers, not only the 'aristocratic' artist like me."

Townshend says that despite a few shortcomings, the Internet is still the best way to release and market music: "My vision of downloaded music, my theory was that what I would do as an artist is I would put music up for sale, I would sell it direct to my fans, as it were. In actual fact, it's quite clear now that you can't sell anything successfully over the Internet without some interference, (and) a huge amount of piracy. So the Internet is now probably the most powerful informational, promotional tool that we have as musicians."

Out on June 11th is an import reissue of the Who compilation The Who: Then And Now - 1964-2004. The 21-song collection includes such Who classics as "My Generation," "Substitute," "Happy Jack," "I Can See For Miles," "Pinball Wizard," "Summertime Blues," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "5:15," and "Who Are You," along with two songs from 2004, "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine." The new edition features the addition of "It's Not Enough" from the band's 2006 album, Endless Wire.

The Who is currently on tour in Europe and performed on June 11th in Verona, Italy.
Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook