There's A Web Sheriff In Town

So after posting the now-inactive link to "Old Enough", one of the better songs on the new album from The Raconteurs I received the below letter via email this morning.

Let's consider this for a second: the rights holders, XL&WB records in this case, want to STOP word of mouth on this record. Word of mouth of course, being the single most important thing any product, not just musical, can hope to generate. What's even more insane is that, presuming that this Sheriff doesn't render his services for free, they're incurring expense to do so!! Literally, spending money to kill off potential for new money to come through the door.

The hardest yet most vital thing to do for any musician is to get your music heard. Sure, "Salute Your Solution" is available on the band's website, but what if people who want to spread the word about other songs? The record has been out for 2 weeks already. Further, I thought the whole idea of the rush to release this record (Jack's, not the labels, from what I read in the press) was done to bypass traditional 'set-up' tactics? In today's environment where there is so much music available and nobody is listening to radio, what significance does the "single" really have anyways?

I could go on and on here, but this neither the first nor last cease-and-desist letter to be sent on behalf of major music labels. I just find it crazy how they continue to use their resources. Given all the promotional possibilities of the web, why limit themselves to :30 clips on artist sites, iTunes or wherever? These simply do not work.

Anyways, this is not what this blog is meant to be about but I just wanted to expose something that's truly extraordinary. I'm skeptical of the claim that this is also the "artists wishes" and won't let it hamper the way I feel about the band, though I could see how this would piss off some fans. I was honestly going to post about another track today, one that I'm actually liking even more, but in light of all this you're going to have to find a way to listen to "These Stones Will Shout". An incredible, energetic tune with some of the best changes I've heard in a long while. If you're still interested at this point, do check it out...



WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Hi FM,

On behalf of XL Recordings and Warner Bros Records, we would kindly ask you not to post copies of "Consolers Of The Lonely" on your site (or any individual tracks from The Ranconteurs' newly released album - release date 25th March).

We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting The Ranconteurs, but XL and Warners would greatly appreciate your co-operation in removing your links to the pirate files in question. If you’d like a good quality, non-pirated, preview clip, a widget of the promo video for “Salute Your Solution” is available for you to embed at http://www.theraconteurs.com/widget.html .

Many thanks for respecting the artist's and label's wishes.

As you will appreciate, this e-mail is written on a without prejudice basis and, as such, all of our clients' accumulated, worldwide rights and remedies remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required formality.

Regards,

WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-3238013
Fax 44-(0)208-3238080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com