Some of Britain’s best known artists have come together, with new organisation Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) set to work for musicians rights within the industry.
The newly formed FAC contains artists such as Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Blur’s Dave Rowntree and singer Billy Bragg. One of the organisations first declarations concerned the huge growth in illegally downloaded music.
The organisation met in London nightspot Heaven last night (March 11th). Billy Bragg told The Independent afterwards that those present were against penalising those who download music illegally.
“What I said at the meeting was that the record industry in Britain is still going down the road of criminalising our audience for downloading illegal MP3s,” he said.
“If we follow the music industry down that road, we will be doing nothing more than being part of a protectionist effort. It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.
“Artists should own their own rights and they should decide when their music should be used for free, or when they should have payment.”
“We want to side with the audience, the consumer,” Bragg concluded.
