Andre Yoskowitz
23 Aug 2008 19:53
In a recent interview with UK's Radio 1, Noel Gallagher of the band Oasis was asked about his thoughts on file sharing and piracy and he had a few interesting things to say including encouraging piracy, but only for a few rival bands in the UK.
When asked if he would be angry if the band's latest album had been leaked onto P2P networks he responded “no, it’s one of those things. If it’s out there and you can get it, you know, go ahead. I’m certainly not going to get into Lars Ulrich mode about this.” Lars Ulrich of course being the member of the metal band Metallica whose infamous anger at piracy led to the eventual shut down of the original Napster.
When asked if he followed the likes of artist Duffy who have admitted to downloading unauthorized tracks, Noel says he does not. “It’s well documented, I don’t even have a computer and I don’t get involved in that type of gear,” he told Radio 1.
His next quote however, was the real gem of the interview. Noel was asked about P2P in general and his thoughts on piracy of music as a whole.
“If people are willing to have faceless CDs like that in their collection, good for them. It would be absolutely ludicrous for a rock-star to demand that people pay money for albums because the kids haven’t got that much money to pay for an album, so if they can find it for free, go ahead! But don’t do it on Oasis records though - because that’s against the law.”However, pinch as many Kaiser Chiefs as you like - and the Pigeon Detectives - but don’t nick any Oasis!” he added, poking fun at some rival bands in the UK.
And of course he is right. How can a teenager who can barely afford to eat three meals a day going to afford an expensive CD that may include possibly only two songs that they like? Even $1 USD for a single song is a bit expensive, as I am sure many agree.
Adding a more light tone to the conversation Noel asks everyone to buy the new album because he is “down to my last £4 million” and must “keep the Evian water topped up in my swimming pool.”