Lily Allen Stands Up to Internet Piracy

Lily Allen, an English singer/songwriter has made her mark in the music industry. Allen became famous for her songs, “Smile”, “LDN”, “The Fear” (a personal favorite) and the brusquely titled “Fuck You”.



“Smile” reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 2006 and her first album, Alright, Still, was nominated for Best British Album at the BRIT Awards in 2007. Her latest album, It’s Not Me, It’s You was released in February and debuted at number 5 on the U.S. charts.

Now, the 24 year-old singer has taken a position against internet piracy. She has urged other musicians to help her lead an industry-wide plan of action to minimize, and even stop illegal file sharing. On her MySpace blog, Allen wrote:

“ I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead don’t seem to think so…”

Contactmusic also quote her as writing, “The Featured Artists Coalition also says file sharing is fine because it means a new generation of fans for us. This is great if you’re a big artist at the back end of your career with loads of albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artist don’t have this luxury. “Basically the FAC is saying, ‘We’re alright, we’ve made it, so file sharing’s fine, which is just so unfair to new acts trying to make it in the industry.

And, I agree. But I also think the issue of file sharing is not black and white. For some artists, having their music available for free is a great opportunity to gain exposure and build a fan base. On the other hand, I can see how it would be frustrating for emerging artists to make income and support themselves if they can’t sell their music.

Most people are guilty of downloading an album for free, and it can be really hard to pass up a free download to pay for a track. But, people should remember the music industry is a business like any other, and artists or creators or composers should be compensated for their publications.

-Ashley Thompson
Currently listening to “You and I Both” by Jason Mraz

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