A few weeks ago an email from the Arizona based heavy metal band Father Brennan was posted. The band said they were a proponent of Peer-to-Peer applications as a promotional tool, and that they agreed with the message of Boycott-RIAA. I ended up emailing them and things eventually lead into an interview. The interview is short, but Marc from Father Brennan gives some interesting responses.

1.What do you think about the musical talent currently coming from the major labels, Sony, Warner, EMI, BMG and Universal?

To be honest, I think most of today’s artists from the major labels barely qualify as musicians. Of course there are exceptions, but generally speaking there is very little talent in the music industry right now. For hundreds of years, musicians have been judged on their creativity and musical talent, up until about 10 years ago. Though the music labels have been around for far longer than just 10 years, it was in the mid-nineties that I really started to see a change. It was then that musicians were deemed successful based solely on their image and not their talent. Songs started to sound “dumbed down” to the point where they were just a basic rhythm. At one point in the 90’s you could turn on the radio and hear some very
talented rock bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, etc. Just a few years later, the whole scene changed and bands like Limp Bizkit started coming out. I don’t think there has been any time in the history of music that has been as devoid of musical talent as right now. The extent of musical knowledge the average radio band has now would be considered only the most basic to a similar musician even 10-15 years ago. To the thousands of truly talented musicians in this country, this is extremely frustrating. I think we all know the reason why this happened. To the major labels, music is not an art form in any way, it is a business, plain and simple.
Major labels are not interested in promoting musical talent, they are only interested in what they can sell to the masses. It’s no secret that a lot of today’s artists sound almost identical. When the labels find a band that is successful, they spawn legions of knock offs that sound identical assuming that they will also sell. They are not interested in creativity, they are not interested in the opinions of the bands signed with them, they are only interested in money. The musicians, and their music, are expendable. It’s truly a shame, because there are tens of thousands of incredible bands in this country alone, and if the major labels have their way, you will never hear any of them.

2. How do you feel the major labels have treated independent artists such as yourself?

I can’t stress enough that the major labels look at music as a business, not as an art form. Major labels go out of their way to make sure that independent artists like us are never heard. Labels pay radio stations to not play independent artists. They have a kind of monopoly, and if you aren’t one of their bands, then they look at you as a competitor and do everything they can to prevent your success. This brings me to one point that is rarely brought up when people discuss file sharing: a big reason the major labels hate file sharing is because it gives unsigned, independent artists big time exposure. I have had songs downloaded thousands of times in this band, and in previous ones, by people all over the world. This kind of exposure of an independent band was not possible before file sharing, and I think it really scares the big labels. They don’t have the same control over what you listen to now that so many people are file sharing and have access to all these great bands they have never even heard of. To an independent artist, the major labels and the RIAA are our worst enemy.

3.What do think about the major labels lobbying unit the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA)?

I don’t see the RIAA as a big threat, that would be giving them too much credit. They can sue elderly women, 10 year old kids, and everyone in between. It’s not going to make any difference. File sharing is a natural step that music needed to take. It is NOT a criminal activity. File sharing is being portrayed as one of the worst things that has ever happened to music. The undeniable truth, is that file
sharing is going to be the reformation of the music business, for the better, not the worse. The RIAA’s job is to prevent this from happening, their job is to keep music as a monopolized business as it is now. But like I said before, the file sharing movement can not be stopped, it is way too late for that. I would advise the “majors” to try to find ways to adapt to this new era of music, if they don’t, they will not survive.

4. Current copyright is the life of an artists, plus seventy years. What do you think of this length?



I think copyright on music has been taken to an extreme, to a point where it hurts the music business more than helps it. Here is what copyright SHOULD protect for an artist:

1) It is illegal to claim someone else’s music as your own. You write a song, play it live, and then a few months later hear someone else play it and they say they wrote it. To me, this is the clearest violation of the rights of a musician.

2) If someone downloads your music for free, and then sells it for profit. This is a clear violation to me. You do the work, and then they sell it for profit for themselves. If a band is giving their music for free, then no one should then take that and try to make a profit. That makes them almost as bad as the labels.

These are the two main protections that musicians need in my opinion. To say that downloads are a copyright infringement I think is ridiculous. To me, that is simply free exposure and the easiest possible way for a band to build a fan base. To directly answer the question, I think the above two protections should always be given to an artist, without a time limit. As an example: I think Mozart’s music should be protected now in the same way as any other current artist. You can distribute Mozart all you want so long as you aren’t selling it at a profit as if you owned the music, you can play Mozart live, but you can’t say you wrote it, etc.

5. If you were offered a contract by one of the major labels, would you sign it? What advice would you give other bands in this position?

If confronted with this situation, the first thing you should do is get a lawyer. One that really knows the ins and outs of the music business. Have them read the contract, and explain to you exactly what the offer is. Would I sign with a major label? It’s very doubtful, simply because no label would agree to my terms. First, I would have to keep the rights to my own music. Typically, as soon as you sign with a label, you no longer own your own music, they do. Second, I would insist on reasonably priced CD’s, and a written agreement that they will support free downloads of my music. This alone would keep any major label from even coming near me. What I would do, and what my advice would be to other artists, is to really research how major labels treat their artists. Most bands are obsessed with getting signed because they think they will be rich, famous, and the rest of their lives will be care free. This is rarely the case. What bands need to
realize is that there are alternatives to this. You can make a great living in the music business as an independent artist. You can make more money selling 100,000 albums on your own then you can selling over a million with a label. Get a business loan, start your own label, promote free music, and make your profit playing live shows. This would be one alternative. My advice to other bands is to be creative in considering your business opportunities in music. Times are changing and soon major labels are going to be a thing of the past, success in this business lies in adapting to the times. Instead of seeing file sharing as the enemy, find ways to use it to your advantage. File sharing has given our band a great deal of exposure that we could not have had otherwise. People have offered to buy our CD even though they can download if totally for free, because they enjoy our music and want to support us. I think being an independent artist is the way to go.

6. The major labels recently filed their newest collection of lawsuits against file sharers. What do you think of their approach to copyright infringement?

The endless law suites are very counter productive. It simply will not stop file sharing. It’s almost like prohibition was, it just isn’t going to work. People are going to download music, period. Instead of fighting it, the labels need to adapt. I think the way they are handling these “infringements” is ridiculous. I agree with the woman that is counter suing the labels for racketeering. The RIAA is bullying people in a very similar way to the way the mafia does. They threaten to sue you unless you give them money, and they say that if you don’t give it to them they will take you to court and ruin your life. What a horrible feeling that must be. I’m not so sure that the RIAA would win if they went to court over this, but who wants to risk owing millions of dollars to the RIAA and having your life basically destroyed? These are serious threats, and the RIAA should be held accountable for it. I doubt this woman will be successful in her law suit, but the fact that she was brave enough to proclaim what everyone else was already thinking makes her a hero.

7. Do you think the major labels could use Peer-to-Peer applications to their advantage?

I hate to help them, but I’ll give an example of what I would do if I were associated with the major labels. First, I would stop this lawsuit garbage. Second, I would give all of the music for download free on the internet on the label’s home page. Can you imagine how many hits the website would get when new albums came out? Can you imagine how much money companies like Coca-Cola would pay to have an ad on the site the day a huge album came out? It would be a bigger deal than Super Bowl ads. Can you imagine how much money you would make if you had 10 such ads on the download page? It would be a tremendous amount of money. Now, think about what would happen when your artists went on tour. When their album came out, it was free on the internet, so potentially millions more people heard it, than would have heard it if they had to pay for it. With this kind of exposure, even a mediocre band might be able to sell out big venues. And that would bring even more money. This is just an example off the top of my head, imagine the potential there is to be successful in this business while giving away all your music for free! If you really think about it, it’s pretty amazing, and it makes you realize that the major labels are really handling this the wrong way.

8. Does your band utilize Peer-to-Peer applications to profit, whether it be publicity or actual revenues?

We don’t directly profit from peer to peer applications, but in a more indirect way we do. By utilizing peer to peer applications, we have been able to get our music out to a lot of people, and consequently have gotten a great deal of hits on our website. Then some of these people buy our album to show their support for the band. This is an example of how we could make money through these applications. Another would be that with all this extra exposure, we are sure to have more people at our shows, which would also make us more money. It’s like I said above, peer to peer applications and file sharing in general can be very beneficial to an artist if they just allow it to be.

9. If so, would you recommend that other bands use Peer-to-Peer applications, and why or why not?

I would highly recommend it. A band can gain a great deal of popularity without playing a single show. No other time in history could an artist utilize this form of media. The internet is an invaluable tool to a musician who is willing to distribute their music freely. It is foolish to not take advantage of it. I can accomplish more for my band sitting in front of my computer than I can out on the streets. It’s a beautiful thing. Our very first show is going to be in a week and a half. We don’t have a completed album yet, only a few songs. At this point, we should have very little popularity. But thanks to the file sharing community, we have had interviews, thousands of downloads, CD purchases, etc. Most bands don’t have these things until after playing for years, file sharing is what makes it possible.

10. The FBI recently announced it will be including copying warnings on CD's, software, and videogames, similar to the warnings seen at the beginning of movies. How effective do you think these will be?


I can’t speak for video games and software too much, I think that is a completely different thing than music. As far as CD’s go, I think a copy warning would do absolutely nothing. It’s just another attempt to defeat file sharing instead of utilizing it.

The difference with music, is that there are two main ways to make a living with music. One is to sell CD’s, the other is to play live shows. Video games and movies are a little different. Generally speaking, you only make money on video games if someone buys it. If people do nothing but download it, you truly won’t make any money. With this in mind, I think if someone downloads a game that they really like, they should buy the retail version to show support to the developer. An incredible amount of work goes into video games, and these programmers aren’t cheap. If you don’t support developers for releasing high quality games, they won’t be able to afford making more high quality games in the future. Music is a totally different story. You can download music free, and then reward musicians by seeing them live.

-Marc(Father Brennan)

Unfortunately the other members have been busy lately, so they couldn't add their particular thoughts. Marc told me that most of their idea's are basically the same though.

This interview was ROCKING!
Great job ................
Keep up the great work!

Marc makes sense. I mean the big whig pig labels are cowards into trying something new and innovative. They are like these super facist neo-conservatives wrapped in a box which is sad quite frankly.

Prohibition is a great analogy, No matter how hard the laws would prevent citizens from obtaining such stuff, there was always a way to get it. RIAA and their toadies are wasting their damn time and money trying to stop something that is inevitable. Well if the RIAA is treating the musicians and consumers like shit, we'll treat them like shit too by using p2p and boycotting their wrinkly asses.

(I d/led a track from them and they sound pretty good. )

I'm sure the recording industry is monitoring this site and has read this interview. I'm curious what their response is.

awsome interview

If it had been me who was asked these questions, my answers would have been nearly identical.

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
Support Local and Independent Music!

Amen

great interview this guy nails it right on the nose.

i was in a band not that long ago and our view was screw the industry we'll promote ourselves through the internet what do we need them taking the rights of our music from us. as Brennan said when you sign a contract with a record label any music you record becomes their property. not to mention about a thousand other things they make you do because they promote and sell your music. the internet effectively destroys the dependence of musicians on these labels for exposure and the crowds grow at the concerts where most bands make their money in the first place.
more and more bands are creating their own labels. big names like cypress hill and dr dre as far as rap is concerned. i like metal real metal like old metallica before they became a bunch of losers. i will never buy another album from them not even an old one. the fact that i ever liked them sickens me. and more extreme versions of metal such as death metal. a genre of which gets very little exposurein the industry in fact i think most death metal bands are on indi labels.
if anyone is interested my old drummer is in a band their name is POSTAL and i believe they have a website. though i dont know what it is. if anyone feels like checking them out. the drummer is excellent. as is the guitarist and the bass sounds pretty good.
All music is good music if it comes from the heart