Give me your property – for free

UK electronic artist ‘Whitey’ has slammed a TV company for asking to use his music for free.  Whitey bemoans the TV industry’s “culturally ingrained disdain for the musician” in an email to the production company, which can be seen in full here. Although not directly related, his comments echo those recently of David Byrne and Thom Yorke, concerning the availability and use of music.

Whitey further states on his Facebook page, “I want a loud dialogue started in the music press about this shit. I’m sick of these people. I propose a collective blacklist of companies that play this shabby angle, enough.  I donate music all the time to indie projects, students and those who need it but cannot pay. But these people… ugh”

In the internet age, file sharing and the accessibility of music, many people’s value for music has declined. With many other creative industries also, the promise of promotion and exposure, that very rarely occurs, in exchange for free work or content is all too common.

The debate continues.