Colin Lester Sends British Government His Views On File Sharing.
October 2, 2009
September 28th 2009
A&R World – Newsletter
MMF (Music Managers Forum) Roll of Honour recipient and BASCA Gold Badge winner Colin Lester, CEO of artist management company CLM Entertainment (whose clients include Craig David, Remi Nicole and others and who has previously guided the careers of Arctic Monkeys and Travis) has added his voice to the illegal file sharing debate with a letter to Britain’s Secretary State of Business, Innovation & Skills Peter Mandelson, offering his support for the recent proposals recommended by Lord Mandelson to tackle the problem.
In his letter to the Lord Mandelson Lester stated, “I am writing in support of your recent proposals to combat the illegal file sharing of music. I can no longer stand by in silence as we in the music industry prevaricate over the right course of action to take in order to protect our future. I am an artist manager and have represented many highly successful, multi-million selling artists throughout my career including the Arctic Monkeys, Travis and Craig David to name but a few.”
Lester added, “I and the artists I represent both agree that this issue isthe key challenge facing our industry and that the longer we dither about the rights and wrongs of taking punitive action against those who steal our livelihoods the worse the situation will get.
Whilst the vast majority of those involved in music agree that illegal file sharing is wrong there remains an ongoing debate as to how to tackle it. The recent argument put forward by the Featured Artists Coalition for example, in response to the Government’s recent report on illegal file sharing that, ‘the stick is now in danger of being way out of proportion to the carrot,’ fails to recognize the fact that ‘carrot’ approach has failed miserably!”
He continued, “There has also been a point of view advanced that illegal file sharing is good for the marketing and promotion of music. There is some truth in that but the benefits of any positive promotion gained through illegal distribution are, in my opinion, far outweighed by the damage caused to the future income of the creators of and investors in that music.
“Let us not forget that artists and copyright owners still retain the right to give away their music if they choose to, but it should be remembered that is their right to give it away, not the consumer’s right to steal it. The music consumer, as with any other citizen of this country, cannot simply choose which laws to obey and which to ignore. Without enforcement and punishment of those who break the law any legislation is pointless.”
He concluded, “It is vital therefore that the whole industry works together with government to resolve this issue, which continues to destroy the livelihoods of both record companies and artists alike. We must advocate and support a zero tolerance policy against illegal file sharing and take a united stance against this issue before we don’t have an industry left to defend.”
Colin Lester has also resigned from the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC) effective last week, as did all the artists he represents, over what he perceives as the “misguided” views of the organization over the issue.
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