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Currently in Canada, the law is fuzzy about file-sharing copyrighted material, as it is (currently) not exactly illegal to download pirated media, or software. That will change soon enough.
If you abide by the law, then you have little to worry about. If you have a shared music folder that has hundreds, or thousands of files that you are sharing, whether you know it or not, you could be charged under the new bill. In the US, 12-year old kids and 80 year-old grandmothers are being sued (in the amounts of hundreds of thousands of dollars) for sharing music files over the internet. Many of these victims do not even know they are breaking the law, or even sharing files for that matter.
If you are someone who shares copyrighted files over the web, it would be in your best interest to browse your shared directory, and give the folder a good purge. The fewer files you share, the less the chance you will get caught. Better yet, turn off your file-sharing preferences, which happens to be on by default. Check the "Read Me" files that came with your file-sharing program on how to turn these features off. Many of the file-sharing programs run in the background by default, so check your system tray (especially if you are on a broadband connection) and turn it off when you are away from the computer.
Better yet, don't do file-sharing. There are lots of economical solutions for obtaining music and video without having to pay full-price for a brand new CD or DVD. Frequent pawn shops, as they usually have large selections of music and video that is considerably cheaper than buying new.
Being an artist myself, I have to respect the copyright laws. Prior to Napster, the recording industry was making record profits, and many artists were featured on major record labels. Now that file-sharing had reached epidemic proportions, the struggling artist has felt the pinch. The mega-bucks artists are still managing to earn a decent living, by touring relentlessly, and selling overpriced merchandise. The smaller artists, who used to manage to earn a living on a record deal, have lost everything. In fact, most of them have been dropped by their supporting record labels, forced to fend for themselves. It could be my music that is being shared over the internet, and I could be starving because of it.
Fewer new artists are being signed to major record labels. It is too much of a gamble for the recording industry to do so. In fact, an artist is not signed unless it is a very safe bet that the artist can make the record label millions. That means more Britney Spears -- as if we haven't had enough of her already.
Even now, talent scouts are a thing of the past. A few years ago, record labels would send representatives to clubs and gigs, with the intent to recruit new, exciting artists. These people are no longer necessary, as the recording industry is not interested in investing their monies into promoting new talent. In fact, they have a new machine that does all their talent-scouting for them -- and it doesn't cost them a penny.
It is called American Idol.
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Consider what this has done to the music entertainment industry. File-sharing and American Idol have effectively killed it. With the record labels dropping the struggling artists, and sending pink-slips to their talent scouts, they have effectively done a corporate restructure, keeping their profit margin, but giving themselves a lobotomy in the process. American Idol and it's spin-offs have removed all the legwork the labels needed to recruit and sign new artists.
What's left over is a music industry that is so homogenized, so mainstream, that it could not offend the Pope. I have abandoned music radio for spoken word radio. When I navigate to an AM or FM music station, I am usually so repulsed that I have to turn it off within seconds, to keep myself from retching.
If you can sing, if you are young, dead sexy, and stoopid (deliberate misspelling), then you will have a shot at the American Idol competition. Better get used to performing pop songs, as that's what makes the big bucks in the recording industry. If you are into jazz, blues, rock, metal, electronica, industrial, opera, goth, retro, easy-listening, classical, world beat, rap, or anything else for that matter, better give up your dreams and go to school. You have a better chance of getting hit by a Soviet satellite than getting signed. There isn't a music industry left for you to make your mark in -- at least an industry I would consider worthwhile.
I pity those poor souls who get a kick at the big spotlight on American Idol, and get offered a record deal. They get raped. Their labels, agents, and managers make a killing off them. The situation has gotten so bad, that I can hardly call it a "Record Deal" -- its a legal way of sucking every last dollar and cent out of an artist, and removing every inkling of an artist's right of artistic expression. This has been going on for ages. Even the Beatles had to take it up the ass when their manager screwed them out of everything they had. Ever heard of The Bay City Rollers? "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y... NIGHT!" Their label and managers made millions, and they made nothing -- literally. And there was not a damn thing they could do about it, since they signed the contract.
Give someone and inch, and they will take you for everything you have ever fought to earn, fucking you up the ass in the process. That is the sole reason why I never want a record deal in my lifetime. I want to retain my dignity and creativity. I want to play whatever I want to; it's my reason to make music and my reason to live. If someone takes that away from me, they may as well take my life in the process.
