Editors' Tom Smith Talks Radiohead and Illegal Filesharing

The issue of illegal filesharing of music has been much debated in recent weeks, thanks to a new effort by the British government to curb the activity. Lily Allen started a blog about the problem, but then got cold feet and walked away. While other artists are pushing for fairness and compromise in how the issue is dealt with.

Radiohead are a part of the Featured Artists Coalition which, although not fans of filesharing, are seeking for a better, longterm solution than the ones being proposed right now. And it was two years ago that Radiohead experimented with a different way of releasing an album, making In Rainbows available as a download with fans paying what they felt it was worth.

But Tom Smith, lead singer of Editors, feels that the two positions are in opposition to one another, and that Radiohead’s In Rainbows release wasn’t good for the music industry.

Smith told BBC 6Music:

“It’s a weird thing to say that but in giving it away for free, it didn’t feel like it had any connection to the bigger problem and it was selfish. It’s like music is just background [for file-sharers], you can just grab bits and pieces rather than an album as a whole. But I think the big artists have a responsibility for the smaller artists, to speak up when things are going wrong. I also find it weird that they [Radiohead] gave their album away for free. I think that’s in direct conflict to [taking a stance against file sharing].”

Smith then clarified his comments, telling NME Radio:

“All this debate… it’s hard getting involved because I don’t offer a solution. I’m not saying they [Radiohead] started a problem, I’m not spearheading a campaign against them. The problem is devaluing music. Radiohead gave away their record for free… big bands have responsibility for small bands.”

Smith is wrong. Radiohead can surely offer their music in whatever way they see fit, and In Rainbows was arguably a very successful release for the band. Also, I see no conflict of interest here because far from condoning illegal filesharing, In Rainbows being released as it was amounted to an effort to try and find a suitable alternative.

Like it or not, people share music over the Internet. And they’re going to keep doing so no matter what laws are brought in. The problem facing the music industry is how to turn people off the idea and persuade them to keep buying records. At least Radiohead are/were addressing the issue and coming up with possible solutions. Which is more than Editors are doing.

[Photo Source: Newscom]