David Lowery speaks out on file sharing

Every time you download a song, big business kills another musician. It is an extreme idea, but ever since June 18, the debate on music file-sharing has heated up. On that day, David Lowery posted, arguably, the most articulate and personal examination of the true cost of file-sharing ever written.

On Thursday, nearly one month to the day after Lowery posted his “Letter to Emily White at NPR All Songs Considered,” the musician/lecturer/entrepreneur will find time to heat up a storm of rock with his band Cracker at Vinyl Music Hall, 2 Palafox Place.

Google Lowery’s “Letter to Emily White” and you’ll discover his original post and the flood of responses.

“I think it’s just that nobody really thought about it, so I wrote the letter and it got around,” Lowery said. “I put that letter on my blog, which might get a thousand reads a day, but it ended up getting millions of reads because it struck a chord with people.”

As a musician with nearly 40 years in the business and as a lecturer at the University of Georgia, Lowery has empirical knowledge of this subject.

“I teach economics and finance,” Lowery said.

From post-Civil War song publishers to the current state of the industry, Lowery sees a tough road for today’s artists.

“This is a darker time,” Lowery said. “Because now what you have are file-sharing sites, which essentially make their money from advertising, and they’re not advertising obscure things. We’re talking about Hertz, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney Company, big companies advertising on file-sharing sites and making money. But yet, none of that money is shared with the artists who created that music.”

Lowery detailed the progress of musicians gaining rights with the help of consumers demanding fair compensation for artists.

“Now, we’re completely in reverse,” Lowery said. “The consumer is like, ‘I don’t want to pay for that. I’ll pay for my Internet connection, I’ll pay for my hardware, the iPod, but I won’t pay for the content.’ Which is the money that goes to the artist. It’s a very regressive time, but I think it’s basically people haven’t really thought about it.”

Reflecting on the 13 years following Metallica’s lawsuit against Napster, Lowery said, “Unfortunately, in the beginning, Lars Ulrich, Metallica and the record labels made it about, ‘Hey! You’re taking my money.’ But my approach was, ‘What are the ethics of being a fan?’ If you’re a fan of some artists, if you like this band and you like their music, essentially, you need to make it so that the revenue generated goes to the artist and not to an online advertising company or to some file-sharing site that’s based in the Ukraine.”

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for Thursday’s show. Elyse Therose and Ocean As Mistress are the supporting acts. Details at www.vinylmusichall.com.