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Hilary Lewis | Jun 18, 2008

BBC: [Kid Rock] - whose real name is Robert Ritchie - said his record company Atlantic had asked him to "stand up for illegal downloading" a few years ago because it told him "people are stealing from us and stealing from you".

"And I go: 'Wait a second, you've been stealing from the artists for years. Now you want me to stand up for you?'

"I was telling kids - download it illegally, I don't care. I want you to hear my music so I can play live."

Asked whether he was worried about illegal downloading, he replied: "I don't agree with it. I think we should level the playing field. I don't mind people stealing my music, that's fine. But I think they should steal everything.

"You know how much money the oil companies have? If you need some gas, just go fill your tank off and drive off, they're not going to miss it."

But he said he did not implement that advice himself. "No, I don't steal things. I'm rich."

"I want you to hear my music so I can play live."

John Entwhistle used to say, "I'd play for the opening of an envelope."

Downloading of MP3s is not stealing.

BTW, anyone listen to Kid Rock's "ALL SUMMER LONG"? It's like a total ripoff
of the tune of WEREWOLVES OF LONDON
with Sweet Home Alabama thrown in for good measure.

Ripped MP3s were not what was copyrighted when the original copyright was sought and allegedly obtained.

" Downloading of MP3s is not stealing. "

He's a victim of the ' lie oft repeated
maxim. The RIAA propoganda machine
is most efficient.

"BTW, anyone listen to Kid Rock's "ALL SUMMER LONG"? It's like a total ripoff

Heard it yesterday afternoon for the
first time ( I rarely listen to radio
anymore ).

This is a perfect example of why the
RIAA wants to drive all of the internet
radio stations that play older songs to
' disappear' . They need those old songs
to be forgotten so that when they rip
the music tracks from proven works,
no one remembers where they came
from.
This way, they save money on musicians
and songwriters.

The mediocrity machine chugs on.

PS. ...

Neither of my kids heard of or knew
"Werewolf" OR "Sweet Home" ...

It was a nice eye opener for them
when I played them for them.
I do that EVERY time they play a
song for me with 'borrowed' music.

I used to do "Werewolves of London" specifically to eliminate "Sweet Home Alabama" from our playlist without actually having to learn a new song.

Here are a few more pairings...

"Your Time is Gonna Come" (Zeppelin) and "Can't You See" (Marshall Tucker Band).

Bo Diddley's signature tune and "Who Do You Love" by George Thoroughgood.

"What I Like About You" (Romantics?) and "R-O-C-K in the U-S-A" (John Cougar)

The Am, G, F progression in the ending of Stairway to Heaven morphs into Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult.

Some Bob Seger songs are almost note for note copies of other Bob Seger songs. John Fogerty has the same problem.

If you know Gm, C and Dm, you should be able to play every song on Santana's first album.

You could play the same 1-4-5 blues progression, in the same key, all night long and never run out of songs. If the key is E, this includes a big chunk of the Led Zeppelin catalog.

They need those old songs to be forgotten so that when they rip the music tracks from proven works, no one remembers where they came from.

I agree with that part.

Every generation of music involves stealing from what came before. Find stuff that none of your peers are familiar with and it's new to them. In the 70's, people were dredging up the 40s and 50s (Rolling Stones, Zeppelin, Clapton, etc.), Bach (Deep Purple), Tchiakovsky and Rimsky-Korsikov (Keith Emerson), Wagner (Queen), and those are the ones that roll off the top of my head.

Now they're stealing from the 70s and, as Dreddsnik's example illustrates, kids haven't heard it before.

This is a perfect example of why the RIAA wants to drive all of the internet radio stations that play older songs to 'disappear'.

I'm not sure I agree with that part. A full half of the royalties derived from Internet radio stations goes to the record labels. But they don't get a dime from Clear Channel.

" I'm not sure I agree with that part. A full half of the royalties derived from Internet radio stations goes to the record labels. But they don't get a dime from Clear Channel. "

That's because when it comes to radio,
internet or otherwise, the word is CONTROL
not necessarily profit.

Clear channel runs nearly all of the
mainstream radio outlets, and the
RIAA controls clear channel, and what
clear channel plays.

They have no such control over internet
radio, so those rates are designed to
drive off anyone but the big ( read
RIAA controlled ) players.

That's just my take on it.
Not saying they're smart or right,
just that it's control and not money
that's really behind the ridiculous
internet radio rates.

Dredd, I agree with everything in your last post. It's this part that doesn't fit:

They need those old songs
to be forgotten so that when they rip
the music tracks from proven works,
no one remembers where they came
from.

The last time I drove across the country (last summer, I believe), I had no choice but to listen to Clear Channel and I don't think I heard a single song that was less than 25 years old.

It's not about the songs.

The purpose of record label royalties from the webcasters, who were an unorganized, easy mark, was merely to establish the legal precedent that the record labels (and performers) deserved a royalty for broadcasts.

Next step is to make Clear Channel start paying royalties to them, too. The checks used to go the other direction.

" Next step is to make Clear Channel start paying royalties to them, too. The checks used to go the other direction. "

Yup.
I'm old enough to remember when the
labels appreciated the benefits of free
radio exposure.

Sirius recently bought XM , right ?
( or was it the other way around )
basically giving Clear Channel all
of the current satellite stations.

How can they even pretend there is
a 'competetive' market anymore.

blah.