Speaking at the same conference, the CEO of EMI Music, that's Elio Leoni-Sceti in case you've forgotten, vocalised his support for moves by the ISPs to better tackle illegal file sharing. He also welcomed moves by government and media regulators, like conference hosts OfCom, to become more proactive in the fight against online piracy.
As much previously reported, six internet service providers entered into a memorandum of understanding with record label trade body the BPI earlier this year which, among other things, will see them sending out warning letters to suspected file sharers telling them they're evil and should seek forgiveness from God himself. Or something like that. The MoU followed indications by government that they would legislate to force ISPs to act against piracy if they didn't act voluntarily. The government may as yet introduce some new laws in this area, and some reckon OfCom will be given a remit to coordinate anti-piracy efforts in the online domain.
Speaking on a panel about the internet age, according to Billboard, he told the conference: "We, the content providers have clear responsibilities. We have to find ways to innovate and to make sure we are adding value for the price we ask consumers and business partners to pay. ISPs have responsibilities too, and they are beginning to act. EMI supports the efforts by a growing number of governments to help the content industry work with ISPs to reduce illegal file-sharing. The UK government has initiated a process, led by OfCom, which should result in new codes of practice for ISPs, backed by legislation".
As has become the norm for those new EMI executives who came to the new look company from outside the record industry, he then criticised the old guard at the major, and other majors, for not adapting fast enough to consumer demand for digital. He did defend those who went before him a little, pointing out that the record industry was the "first content businesses to have to grapple with a business model that suddenly wasn't a business model at all", but Leoni-Sceti seemingly feels record companies have suffered more than was necessary by simply responding too slowly to a changing market and society.
And he's right, of course. Though, by linking his "we need to adapt" point to his "ISPs should crack down on piracy" point he did sound a little like an old school record label exec himself, over egging the role of file sharing as the primary cause of the record industry's woes. He told the conference: "Paying for music seems to have become almost voluntary, and it's illegal consumption at times is considered 'acceptable'. That's a disturbing development in our society".
A new development hey? Am I the only person who remembers just how much tape-to-tape piracy went on among the teenagers of the 80s and 90s? Because we couldn't track it, and because legal efforts to stop it were generally unsuccessful, it seems everyone has forgotten. That's not to say ISPs shouldn't do what they can to stop file sharing, nor that record companies shouldn't pressure them to act, but file-sharing is and always has been just part of the problem. Even if you could stop all file-sharing tomorrow, the record companies will still need to reinvent themselves to survive. Which, to be fair, EMI is trying to do.