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| Anderson ‘Blood’ Armstrong performing at the closing of CAIPO’s workshop.??(A. Miller/BGIS) |
"Can you imagine a world without music?"
That was the question posed by performer and music producer, Anderson ???Blood’ Armstrong, as he addressed the final day of a two-day workshop for law enforcement officials last Friday on Building Respect for Intellectual Property Rights, at the Courtyard Marriott under the theme the Impact of Counterfeiting and Piracy.
Before an audience that included members of the Judiciary and technocrats, the popular artiste noted that over the last 30 years he had seen a number of changes in the music industry- some good and some bad.
He said: "Technology took us from vinyl to cassette to compact disc. In many ways it has improved the quality of sound and it has made it easier in the areas of recording and production but, as easy as it is for us producers, it has also become easy for the pirates."
He reasoned that because it was easy to produce music and sell it for a much lower price than the producer and licensed retailer, it had caused several music stores in Barbados to close with the exception of one or two.??
"… Piracy has definitely affected retailers to that extent thus causing several people to lose jobs. I have had several friends who had stores and had to close them down and take different career paths," he said.
Mr. Armstrong further explained that performers had been severely impacted by piracy as they now had to find new and innovative ways to get their product out and into the hands of the consumer.??
"Mr. and Mrs. Consumer want to save money, and in these harsh economic times persons no longer want to buy an album when there is only one song on it that you want to hear…They no longer care to go out there and buy the entire album.?? They prefer on the other hand to get a copy of a compilation that is not arranged by a producer, but by someone who is involved or has obtained songs in some way to put them on a CD and sell them at a far cheaper price than they would in the music stores," he pointed out.
The performer recalled that people would tell him how much they love his music and they would do searches on the internet and Facebook, yet they would go and search the internet trying to find a site that they could download his music for free rather than go to a reputable online store or to the artiste to make a simple purchase.