Taylor Swift– For Artists Rights Or Just In It For The Money? by Unknown Friday, July 31, 2015 - 0

So we all know that Taylor Swift has a bit of a problem with music streaming and according to her its all about what artists get paid for their music to which i understand from a very small perspective. What i don't understand and fail to grasp in any way shape or form is this: How does removing your content get you paid and noticed?

Look we live in a digital age and sadly the way of the CD is going to eventually die and become a relic of the past its just natural progression. I get that people don't like change and don't like to do things differently especially when some one else is telling you to do it.

Lets look at some figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). According to the BPI streaming now accounts for 51% of consumed music equalling to 15 billion songs being streamed rather than bought on a CD.  Now don't get me wrong I'm all for people getting paid and than that but lets seriously look at this in a bit more depth here, you wont get paid if you pull your music from the shelf.

Its no secret Swift is seen as an ambassador of sorts for equal pay for artists but the sad truth is this, the people who pay you are the people who consume your product yes that's right the general public are the ones who pay you. If you don't have a product to sell i.e. a single or album guess what you wont be getting paid.

To pull your entire back collection from streaming services such as Spotify shows to me you are in this only for the money and nothing else. If you truly loved doing something you would do it for the love and joy of doing it because its your passion to do so. If all you are really interested in is getting paid then id suggest a different career entirely.

As much as artists want to be paid a fair share the simple fact here is this, while ever the people are the ones paying you for your product it will be the people who say what is fair to pay you. That doesn't mean you go off in a huff and throw your teddy bear out of the pram. If you don't like what the people tell you is a fair price then its tough luck I'm afraid.

Now i may come across to some as hating on Swift, i don't hate her in fact i actually think she is a talented individual but has a very warped sense of the industry and is for me going about things in the wrong way. I have nothing against her i just don't like the methods she uses to get what she wants as it just comes across as petulant and incredibly selfish.

Taylor, you have a net worth of $260 million and yet you have a beef with what you are paid? It is highly hypocritical for one music's wealthiest women to moan about what she should get paid when the money you earn could be used to help better causes than boosting your already over inflated ego and bank balance. I have no issue with people making a living and working hard to do so but i do and will tell you when you are frankly being a very selfish so-and-so and i will tell you that you need to really open your eyes and get a grip. You get paid plenty be grateful for that fact, there are so many people out there who don't get paid and don't earn a wage at all.

When you are winning awards, being paid an absolute fortune (by the people) don't ever moan about money to any one. I find it highly insensitive and insulting to hear an artist moan about the amount they get paid when the majority of people who can barely put food on their table are out buying your product. Food for thought perhaps.

Lastly always remember that you may be in the limelight today but tomorrow is a different story in its own entirety and you may just find yourself on the scrap heap just as quickly as you found fame.

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Protesting Students - Protest or Violent Mob? by Unknown Thursday, July 16, 2015 - 0

The UKIP MP Douglas Carswell was met with hostility from protesting students when leaving to return to his constituency after the Queens State Opening of Parliament.

Mr Carswell was unharmed during the incident but had to be escorted by the Met Police so that he could leave unhindered to return to his constituency of Clacton-on-Sea.

Now, don't get me wrong i am all for the right to protest, but i am not for the right to become a vigilante mob and intimidate someone so much that they feel so threatened to then have to resort to the use of a police escort.

I come to an individual who was interviewed on Anglia News a Miss Hattie Craig. Miss Craig according to her was at the protest and was and i quote "viewing from the back" of the protest as Mr Carswell was leaving and was of the opinion that the protest wasn't violent nor aggressive nor had any aggressive tones to it. I'm sorry but you were there, there is clear video footage of the mob to which you belong Miss Craig being very aggressive. Sadly you cant have it both ways, you said it yourself you were stood at the back viewing what was going on, you were even challenged by the interviewer on the news also and you couldn't refute the facts.

The worrying thing to take away from this is the fact that our students of our highly regarded universities are protesting in a mob like fashion. Protest as much as you want I'm all for it but don't act like a bunch of rabid dogs when you don't get your own way.

To give you a bit more background Miss Craig is associated or part of a group called the National Campaign Against Fees & Cuts. Essentially is a group of students who are against austerity measures in the UK.

Now while i am also against austerity for any longer than is necessary, it is sadly a necessary evil to ensure that we all live within the means of what the country can provide. The country can only do so much with what it gains in revenues to support the needs of the country. If the countries revenues are unable to sustain the needs of the people then austerity must be used to balance the books to ensure that the fundamental needs of the country are catered for and are funded appropriately.

I understand that Students may feel they get a raw deal, however i don't agree they do. For one they are afforded at cost to them the chance of an excellent education, should it be free? No it shouldn't be free, the state already paid for your education for the last 16 years why should the tax payer continue to fund you in further education when you could leave education and begin working? If you wish to continue your education then you should be made to pay for it. If you feel so aggrieved by that then you have a choice, leave education and join the work force, or take up the offer of further education and accept the cost of doing so.

The one thing that aggrieves me with some of our student population is that they feel they can spark up protests for anything they so wish, and i support that right in its entirety, but i do not condone nor support the right to use a protest for mob rule. What happened with Mr Carswell was deplorable and disgraceful and i implore those students who protest peacefully and with respect and dignity to get round these students such as Miss Craig and teach them the right way to protest.

We all have a voice but the condoning of aggression and mob like rule only shows you to be a bunch of fools entirely. Speak your mind by all means but do it respectively. To gain respect one must first earn it and show themselves to be respectful.

Sadly, on this occasion i find the protest by these students to be abhorrent and tars the student population as a whole.

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