Marillion Released Album To P2P Sites - Legally.

Update (14 Sep 2008): I mentioned my own experience on the DRM to Steve Rothery on Facebook. He pointed out that you can get it from MusicGlue.com.

From a press release on Marillion.com that I found through Steven Rothery's notes on Facebook, it seems that Marillion is trying a new approach to getting their music out there which thumbs it's nose at existing systems of distribution.

Peer to Peer. Or P2P.

Marillion is my favorite band due to their evolving style, their lyrics, and did I mention their evolving style? Over the years, I have maintained as many albums as possible - at times having to hunt them down prior to the creation of Marillion.com. From there, despite my geography, I can download albums in MP3 format which I willingly pay for.

To me, it is important that they survive - and this is geared toward their survival, as Steve shared in one of his notes:

The band debated and agonized the best way to do this for quite a while. The reasons we chose this path are

1 File sharing is a fact of life as are dwindling cd sales (see http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ for some insights into how the industry is changing and why the major labels are in such decline)

2 As soon as review copies are sent out (at least six weeks before release) they will be leaked onto file sharing sites. Although this album isn't going into retail in most of the world, we still need to let people know about it's release and the tour based around it. We had to seed the music glue version before cd's are sent out so when people search for the album on the file sharing sites our version appears with the most "seeds". Everything we've tried from sending out review copies with watermarks to streaming the last album for journalists via a password have failed to prevent the album being shared. The album would have been uploaded to these p2p sites anyway, this way there's a chance that at least some of the file sharers will support the band in some way in the future.

It is a fight for survival for a band in our position, especially in the current economic climate. We hope this move and the publicity it seems to be generating for the band will enable us to continue making albums for a long time to come. The people who have pre ordered the new album have made it possible for us to take the time to craft something very special.

Steve

While I am an advocate of open content and the recent upholding of artistic licenses, I in no way want to see artists starve - not the RIAA's version of 'starve' where they starve the artists anyway due to the recording industry itself, but the true meaning of 'starve'. People should be rewarded for what they do; denying that is idiotic. The trouble with distributing music is central to artists being rewarded and it takes a lot of intestinal/testicular fortitude to make a choice like this.

We fans of Marillion will gain from it, I have no doubt. And other people will as well. The key to this is that, somehow, the band must also gain from it so that they can keep producing great music. It's not just the problem of Marillion - it's every artist's problem.

I haven't found the album yet, probably because I haven't actively used P2P in about... a decade! If/when I find it, I will post the link(s) in the comments below.

Here's the press release:

P2P RELEASE DATE: 10TH SEPTEMBER, 2008
GENERAL RELEASE: 20th October, 2008 (www.marillon.com)

10th September, 2008 – Today, Marillion become the first band anywhere in the world to release their new album (Happiness Is the Road) legally using P2P (Peer to Peer) internet networks for distribution.

Widely recognised as the first band to truly embrace the Internet’s potential to interact with fans since circa 1996, Marillion have taken the step of partnering with Internet technology company, Music Glue to harness the legal use of P2P sites and release their 15th studio album, Happiness Is The Road.

With more than 90% of all acquired music in the UK being downloaded or shared via P2P websites according to the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), Music Glue’s technology creates a unique interactive band-to-fan interface mechanism that does not normally exist at the point of download.

Having downloaded a song, an interactive window appears on the music fan’s computer with a video message from Marillion speaking directly to the consumer, telling them about their new album, the band’s latest news, the forthcoming Marillion tour and all the products and merchandise available at marillion.com.

Music fans can listen to the track, and have the option to join the email mailing list, allowing access to a DRM-free version of the track.

Marillion in no way condone the use of P2P sites for the illegal distribution of copyrighted material. By giving their consent to distribute Happiness is The Road using the Music Glue model, Marillion are embracing the potential worldwide super-distribution of P2P networks to connect with downloaders, enabling an interactive dialogue rather than having no contact at all with potential new fans.

On adopting this new model for distribution Marillion’s keyboard player Mark Kelly said:

“While we don’t condone illegal file sharing, it’s a fact of life that a lot of music fans do it. We want to know who our file sharing fans are. If they like our new album enough, then we want to persuade them to pay something for it or at least come and see us on tour. Music Glue is the means to achieve this goal, and to give us back something positive from the dire situation most artists find themselves in today”.

Music Glue founder Mark Meharry said:

“Until now, fans that acquire music via P2P networks have been treated as thieves by the global recording industry. From a legal perspective it is difficult to argue in favour of the fans on this issue, however, from a commercial point of view, P2P provides access to more fans, on a global scale, than ever thought possible via traditional distribution methods. If you talk to the young, modern music fan (which we do on a regular basis) they see the situation very differently and believe that they are loyal and financially supportive of the artists they love, by purchasing gig tickets & merchandise, plus they happily consume sponsored branding as part of the overall experience. Music Glue allows creators of music to interact with these fans via P2P in a positive way that actually generates revenue. Our model requires a paradigm shift, away from the traditional legal perspective and forward to commercial common sense.”

Happiness Is The Road is a 110 minute 2CD set co-produced by the band and Michael Hunter. The first album is entitled ‘Essence’ - an adventurous musical trip exploring life’s biggest question; “What’s it all about?!”. Alongside their signature rock orchestration, Happiness Is The Road also references elements of pop, dub and soul, and draws influence from artists as diverse as The Beach Boys and Marvin Gaye to Interpol, The Doors, Traffic, Pink Floyd and David Bowie. The album also sees Marillion experimenting with a host of new instruments including, dulcimers, glockenspiels, a harmonium, French horns, a harp and a zither and even sleigh bells, and has been expertly crafted into a multi-dimensional sonic landscape by Michael Hunter.

The second half of the Happiness Is The Road double album is The Hard Shoulder, a collection of songs that draw their inspiration from far and wide including, space aliens America, love found and lost, sanity found and lost, and Sinead O’Connor. According to Marillion’s lead-singer Steve H, the two albums that form Happiness Is The Road are a truly complete and contrasting set, “In many ways, Happiness Is The Road represents our broadest and most wide-ranging collection of influences to date. The music was written in the usual way - by jamming and listening, more jamming, more listening but with this album I think we’ve pushed our boundaries and redefined the Marillion sound once again.”

Marillion have sold more than 15 million albums in a career spanning three decades and the release of Happiness Is The Road also sees the band embarking on a string of live dates across the UKand Europe this autumn.

For more information and tour tickets go to:

www.marillion.com
___________________________

We don’t condone illegal file sharing, We just want to know who our file sharing fans are.

If you do download it and you like it, remember to support the band that made it possible.