British rock band Coldplay played Manhattan to promote its highly anticipated new album and band members said they're uncomfortable that they sell so many albums they can move a major corporation's stock price.
(The CNN Money article follows this blurb with the statement "EMI Group Plc (unchanged at $16.12...)" Only it is wrong and links to the wrong company. Actual info is here.)
Lead singer Chris Martin (Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow, father of Apple) also said "fans should respond by downloading the band's music for free from unauthorized file-sharing websites. (They charge for downloads on the Coldplay site.)
Except the shared files aren't actually on websites and are shared directly from computer to computer. No matter. I wonder if he bought into the hype from the record companies that the effort to stop file sharing was for the benefit of the artists. Any good company (one worth investing in) will be looking out for itself and its shareholders, trying to protect their profits. I didn't agree with how the record companies went after file sharers but I'm not on any of their boards nor am I a shareholder so as far as that goes what I think is irrelevant. I voice my opinion by buying fewer CDs than I used to. (Mostly replacements for vinyl albums, I don't buy much by new artists now that my opportunities for trying out new songs has been, um, limited.)
If there is one thing that can stop me from being irritated at the way record companies went after file sharers it's Martin's statements. The band is "uncomfortable" that their album sales can cause a change in the stock price but then say, "We'll sink the whole company (EMI) if we have to."
Someone needs to send him a copy of Shut Up and Sing.
I signed up for membership on Coldplay's site a while back. I wonder if this post will get me banned.
Posted by marybeth at May 19, 2005 01:58 PM News