Billy Bragg has been talking some more about his concerns regarding the terms and conditions that new artists are signing up to when they post their music on social networking platforms like MySpace and Bebo. While accepting that such websites are great promotional platforms which, had they been around when Bragg started out, "would have saved me two years of playing in dingy pubs in south London", he told the BBC: "The majority of people posting songs on to social-networking sites don't have a record deal. They're using the site as a way of getting attention to get a deal, so often the first legal contract they're entering into regarding their work will be through the terms and conditions of that site. If we're in a situation where sites are harvesting intellectual property rights, it almost becomes impossible to use these sites without consulting a lawyer".
Although some of the key social networking sites, MySpace included, have responded to Bragg's specific criticism about their terms and conditions, the singer says there is a need for an industry-standard rights agreement "that recognises that ownership resides ultimately with the originator". Even then he airs some caution regarding the use of such platforms, noting that "undoubtedly Rupert Murdoch is making a lot of money selling advertising on MySpace and he's not paying a penny for content".
Bragg's latest comments coincided with yesterday's MusicTank conference on the future of the music business, which was initiated by a special report penned by Billy Bragg's manager Peter Jenner. Commenting on his report, Jenner says that the music industry needs to change its "mindset", especially regarding the way music is sold.
He reckons that the future of traditional high street record stores is looking grim because "the supply to Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda is going to lead to the collapse of HMV as a record business. HMV is now almost already mainly video and games with some music still in there, and I think that retreat will go on. The big-store model, with all the titles, is a dead duck".
Jenner also criticises the ways the record companies have approached the potential of the internet as a sales tool. He says: "They weren't really able to come to grips with the essential truth of the internet, which is that it's all about sharing of files. They try to chain it, put lead weights on it, so files wouldn't move around. All it does is penalise the honest".