Benn Jordan

I came home from a night of bowling to find a hundred Myspace messages about all the torrent-uploading-hoopla. A few of them were really nasty and accusatory, but I realize that some of these accusations are due to the Torrentfreak.com interview, which I didn’t really elaborate certain things all that much… (my bad, the write-up is really well done compared to how quickly the interview was done)

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1. I currently release music with one record label, my own. I own 100% of it and I own 100% of the mechanical, publishing, and performance rights to my music. The same goes for any other album I’ve released in the past, I’ve reacquired all rights back from the labels. As it is possible that some 3rd party had uploaded my music to iTunes, they are still lacking any sort of competence in establishing communications with their artists. If you buy my album on iTunes, there is simply no route in which that money can ever get to me.

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2. This all started from a private tracker putting freeleech status on my album after I uploaded it. Within 48 hours it became the most grabbed album on the site. Then the word started spreading outside of the network. While I’m extraordinarily grateful for it, please understand that there is no way I could’ve orchestrated this publicity.

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After all these years of being a musician/composer, I’ve slowly learned how the spread of mainstream information works. It seems like when you’re dealing with a controversial story, people don’t learn all that much. The unknown information becomes assumed facts and it just gets spun into whatever directions supports their previous opinions. For example, any of these headlines could fit this situation (and while not verbatim, you can do a quick search to find actual similar blog and article posts):

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-THE FLASHBULB PROMOTES STEALING MUSIC, THINKS MUSIC SHOULD BE FREE

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-DUE TO PIRACY LOSSES, ARTIST RESORTS TO BEGGING FOR TIPS INSIDE ILLEGAL DOWNLOAD FILE

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-THE FLASHBULB RELEASES NEW ALBUM FOR FREE

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All of these are true, in their own weird spin. At the same time they’re all misleading to support the writer’s opinion. You’ve heard my opinion in the interview and on this blog. I simply like the idea of NOT ignoring or criminalizing the percentage of my listeners that pirate my music. While they don’t literally buy my CDs, they certainly do help a lot by spreading the word about songs they like and coming out to shows. This is common sense, and I’m embarrassed that I’m even typing it. The only reason I’m typing it is because some labels and artists can’t seem to grasp the concept.

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Finally, Apple is a sociopathic, greedy, deceitful, environmentally-unfriendly corporation. You know how I know this? Because they’re a corporation…a really giant one. It doesn’t matter what their ad-campaigning or hip president has to say, if they do anything other than make the most shareholder profit as they possibly can, it is ILLEGAL. That includes leading you into a crappy cellphone contract, refusing to replace your defective 1-month old battery, or hiring representatives to deal with artist issues that are competent and paid a living wage.

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Apple has one goal, to make their shareholders money. If you’re so dedicated to this computer company that this information hurts you, then remember that Microsoft and Ikea and every other public corporation in the world is the exact same sociopathic entity. My quest isn’t about bashing Apple, it is about exploring and testing the music industry in an attempt to find a place where both the artists and listeners are happy. It doesn’t go any further than that.

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Anyways, most importantly, I’d like to thank all of those who have spread the word and sent their support. I’m so very happy that this is getting publicity, because it is steering other artists into this direction. Speaking of, Braindance legend and my good friend Cylob has released his new EP under the same “Buy it if you like it” distribution plan. And more ahead, I’ve been having meetings with other artists, labels, and even site admins about furthering this movement!