Songwriter Billy Bragg published an op-ed in the UK’s Guardian Paper to address piracy, it’s effect on music, and what to do about it, as it was discussed by the Featured Artists Coalition. Overall, not much new is discussed, but the sentence that starts it all off is a perfectly succinct caption illustrating a choice for pragmatism over ideology. Some might want to hold onto their “but it’s stealing” argument, but I’m not sure what that would accomplish. In the long run I think this is the best way to handle piracy:
“The only way to tackle illegal file-sharing is not suppression, but to offer reliable, easy to use, fairly priced alternatives.”
I’d like to add to this discontinuing the use of standard cd releases in jewel cases, and only releasing physical albums in limited runs that are of a higher packaging quality standard and stimulate collectability.