Hello, everyone. Today is an exciting, albeit somewhat sad day. We are quite thrilled to be sharing the fourth and final installment in our ‘My Life A Music Pirate’ series, but are sad to see such a beloved column put to rest so soon. If you have any questions about the content of this post, or if you are interested in learning more about the secure music distribution services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Today we put to rest one of the most interesting features we have ever run on this blog. Over the last month we have featured a series of posts on piracy written by a current music professional who has previously leaked countless albums online (part 1, part 2, part 3). Their story is one that I am sure many reading this can relate to, but somewhere along the line this individual got caught up in file-sharing and spent several years breaking the law as a result. They claim to have cleaned up their act, and for what it’s worth I tend to believe them, but as the initial columns began running on this site we could not help noticing an influx of inquiries from readers with questions for our pirate and their supposed retirement. It took a little convincing, but after two weeks of waiting our pirate has emerge from the depths of the internet once more to answer your questions on their life, the repercussions of their decisions, and how they see the industry changing to further combat piracy in the future. You can read their thoughts below.
We have said this from the beginning, but it’s worth repeating that we have absolutely no intentions of revealing the identity of the person behind these posts. The pirate in question has been disconnected from the file-sharing world for over a year at this point, and we truly hope they manage to steer clear of trouble in the future.
[all questions based on reader’s emails]
H: Do you remember the first album you downloaded illegally? How about the first one you uploaded to share with the world?
As I said before, when I first started downloading I was downloading single songs. I wasn’t into full albums. By the time I was, I was gettings discs from the library to rip. I think my first full album download may have been The Prizefighter Inferno’s debut album. I couldn’t find that at the library, so I went online for it.
H: What is the furthest in advance of an album’s release that you would leak it? Did that time remaining before release play a factor at all?
Of course it did. The sooner, the better. When you’re leaking music, you’ve got to be first to be remembered.
H: What was the application process like for the leak site? If I ran something like that I would suspect everyone of being out to get me.
It wasn’t so formal. We got something we ran it.
H: Did you have any close calls with the law/RIAA?
We’d get notices, but no more than the average music blog with a stream. Most of our links would get taken down, but copyright holders would provide the DMCA notices to hosts like Mediafire and Rapidshare. On occasion, we’d get angry emails from band members that felt helpless and couldn’t actually do anything. I remember once a label offered us advances in exchange for not posting their roster’s material. We took the deal and subsequently posted links to the albums they gave us.
H: Did you ever have a moment when you were overcome with the thought you may be doing something wrong? Do you even see piracy as being wrong?
I don’t think there was one moment. I think it was a more gradual decision. Of course I see it as wrong? Didn’t you read my letters? Read them here.
H: What benefits do you believe there were, if any, to the artists and labels whose work you shared without permission?
Even bad press is good press, they say. Seriously. Kids listened to the records I posted and went to shows. Some bought merch, some didn’t, they all tweeted and shared with friends. There are ways to make the most of a leak and a lot of artists figured out how to do that.
(Editor’s note: Haulix has a post that can help with that.)
H: Have you met any other music industry professionals actively involved in music piracy?
Actively? No. All of my old mates are out of the game.
H: Do you ever worry that your pirate past will catch up to you?
You’d be surprised how many of my colleagues are aware of my pirating past. I’m not that concerned about it.
H: What lessons, if any, did you learn from your time as a pirate?
That kids like free shit, that I liked introducing people to bands, that bands are made up of people making creative shit, and that underselling the value of that creative shit was a shitty thing to do.
H: What, if anything, can be done to stop piracy? More importantly, do you feel it should be stopped?
Piracy won’t die. People will always want something of value for nothing. That’s human nature. Still, things like Rdio and Spotify help cut out the need to download something to have it for free right away. Dying leak hosts help too. There are a lot less leaks going around now that It-Leaked is gone.
H: Where do you go from here?
I keep doing what I do. I write, I help musicians out where I can, and I drink more than I should sometimes. I live life and listen to music while I do it. That’s all I can do.
