My first introduction to Great Big Sea was through the Australian actor Russell Crowe. I followed Russell Crowe on Twitter and he regularly talked about the Canadian band Great Big Sea and the singer/musician Alan Doyle. The movie Robin Hood introduced me to the brilliance of Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea. To be honest I fell in love with them through watching illegally recorded videos on Youtube and most probably those of Lyndahere. I saw an illegally downloaded recording of the song ‘Where I Belong’ by Alan Doyle about his native Newfoundland and I was a fan. I have since brought albums, gone to concerts and met the members of the band. I also listen to other Canadian bands such the Barenaked Ladies and The Once Band and a range of other music.
But for every fan like me won through illegally recorded poor quality homemade videos how many are lost and how much money do artists lose. I don’t particular enjoy videos of live recordings where women scream and talk and love the sound of their own voice more than the artists they pay to watch. They continually breakdown and the sound is poor and I am out of there. I have become fussy about what I watch with limited time and money. It is has only recently that I have begun to gravel with the moral and ethical implications and the impact that illegally recorded videos can have on creative artists including financial lose. It is not just financial lose but spending time away from their family and their children as they have to travel more. In my research I found that Canadians are the biggest computer pirates in the world. The fact that Canadians are among the biggest computer pirates in the world downloading billions of dollars of illegal material including music makes Great Big Sea’s success with traditional music more remarkable.
In the seven months since I started this blog I have read a lot articles on the Internet, books and viewed other sources. They have included information on subjects that arise for example ticket scalping, trading in bootlegged material, cyberbullying, blogging, the paparazzi and others stated in the original introduction on music piracy, copyright and stalking. I have also included some responses to posts on Twitter from Lyndahere.
I have recently started reading research articles on celebrity worship syndrome and different types of fan behaviour including trolling, fandom, groupie behaviour, bootlegging in the movies, and phone hacking. Some topics for example, how musicians communicate with fans via social media such as Facebook were started and I have to return. I have also explored a range of resources including songs, photographs and some very old yet fascinating articles from magazines like the Rolling Stone, Time and the New York Times that provide a historical context for examining fan behaviour. Recently a range of rock and roll stars have released their biographies which provide a look at fan behaviour from their point of view some of which I am currently reading.
The topics are endless as well as fascinating. While the initial blog was started to raise awareness of negative fan behaviour it has extended way beyond that. It has extended way beyond the fan behaviour of Lyndahere with her words and actions inspiring further research only for me to find that she is part of range of people who are involved in my opinion a range of behaviour not always positive towards musicians and celebrities they profess to love. I want this story on the record.
In the ten months I have written this blog the philosophy of what I wanted to write about has changed as I have explored music piracy and in particular bootlegging. I believe it is okay to video record some songs in a performance for personal use or to put them on Youtube. I have seen many fine bootlegged videos by fans on Youtube. What I disagree with is the same person travelling around filming entire concerts and putting them up on Youtube week after week without getting a license or permission from the musicians and artists concerned and with little regard for the content or quality of the video. I don't believe putting bootlegged videos in competition to concerts professionally filmed for specials and promotions presents any musician or artist in the best possible light no matter what the reasoning is. I believe in educating people about what they are watching and working towards a sustainable music future for the musicians and artists themselves and the fans. I hope this blog has achieved this in particular educating and raising awareness about music piracy. Thankyou to all the people who visit the blog.
Oh...and nothing replaces seeing a band live...in particular my favourite group of Canadian guys Great Big Sea...
Liz Smith Great Big Sea Fan
