Anthrax's Scott Ian: Take Away Illegal Downloaders' Internet Privileges

I think they should shut off the Internet altogether !to many people use it for immoral reasons. either to look at sinful material or tosteal music from these great bands that give so much to society. they deserve to make at least a few million from each show and then huge royalties from the sale of each albumlets face it ,, the people stealing the albums online will probably never become zealot fans of the Bands  they pilfer from and therefore will never spend the money to attend an overcrowded show with piss poor acoustics and poor performances from over-scheduled, overtired and fatigued drugged out so called artist. who think of their concert appearances as a Job they are expected to show up for and nothing more. YUP shut it all down then they will have to pay to be entertained by lazy greedy industrial entertainment corporations.

I wonder how many musicians have spoken out against the RIAA and their bullshit lawsuits. Fat Mike from NOFX. and Damien from Disturbed, just to name a couple. Musicians don't make any money from record sales, so why would they give a shit about "illegal" downloading. The more people that hear their music, the more people that attend their concerts and buy their merchandise.

I wonder how many times Scott Ian drove drunk.

Infringement is NOT "stealing" - making a copy of ANYTHING is not stealing. You can't own an idea. When you go into a cd store and put a cd in our pocket, the store actually LOSES the disc. When someone uses their tools to make a copy, you lose nothing. Copyright is a temporary monopoly on the marketing of the chattel related to a unique expression of an idea.

Even the SCOTUS has come down that infringement is not theft. See Dowling V US - and that case was CLASSIC piracy: people pressing unauthorized LPs and charged with theft for selling them across state lines.

People sold a lot more buggies before the automobile came along. When there was only way to get to your music in front of large numbers of people, the gatekeepers could funnel that money and exposure as they saw fit - and bands like Anthrax could take in those kinds of sales because so very few others could be heard.

Now we have over 115,000 cd length titles released every year - compared 35,000 in 2004 and FAR less in the 80s, when the costs of production were insanely expensive.

Now for a summer's worth of full time work any kid who has an Abbey Road inside them can produce it in their bedroom - and they are.

Nobody OWES you a living Ian. File sharing is the radio airplay the 99% weren't getting. If your stuff is worth paying for, people will support it - unless of course they catch a glimpse of your attitude and decide other bands are worth more of their time.

"While other heavy-music peers with as much longevity have taken time to get weird or experimental, this act has always stuck to searing, soaring, anti-gravity riffs and melodies with a charging punk fury"

You obviously haven't heard Stomp 442...

Were killing the industry, not the music.  Music will always be created and will always be original because it is a labor or love, not capitalism.  If your a musician and you expect to make money, better think long and hard about your career choice, because even before downloading, most musicians still didn't make enough to make a career out of it and ended up having to work a "real" job to support themselves.  Art, music, and movies have always been and will always be a fringe career choice, financially at least.  If you choose this career path, realize that there is no guarantee of a steady paycheck, not ever.  You have the freedom to pursue any career in our society, but society does not guarantee success.

coming from a multimillionaire. LOL. I am not saying anything about the piracy issue. I see the listener's point of view. There is just so much damn music out there, and in the digital age, there is a pressure, or even a need, to feel connected and exposed to every possible thing that exists, ESPECIALLY music. I see the artists'point of vire as well. They have made a career in music and want to get paid. But.....there was never any guarantee that they would get paid. They were lucky back in the day to have made the money they did, and if they are only doing it for a paycheck then they have lost sight of what matters. Being an artist myself, I do what I do out of a labor of love, mostly with no guarantee of getting a cent. I guarantee that I work as hard at my music as Scott does, as well as busting my ass at a job, and I don't run around expectecting to be compensated for it. If I play a show with good attendance, I make money. If nobody comes, I don't make anything. That's the way it goes. He seems to have a sense of entitlement. Just because you were lucky and made money in the past does not mean you are going to make it now. Maybe you should wake up and realize that the music industry is fuc*ed and get a stable career going so that you don't have to whine like this. If I or anyone else is expected to accept that same reality, that my love of writing/playing music won't pay the bills, so must you, my friend. You are not special, by any means. People are not going to stop copying music, not ever. There will always be a way to circumvent protection and if your computer can play the music, it can copy it somehow. This is a reality you MUST face. The 80's and 90's are OVER. Just as the average person has no guarantee of steady, stable employment anymore, making enough money to buy $10-$20 cd's and albums by bands they love, so does the formerly financially successful musician no longer have any guarantee to make money either. The downloading is as much a compulsive act as is th creation of the music itself, born out of a mutual love for art. Don't be such a dick. Some people would probably love to own more albums and CD's but simply cannot afford to support all of you fukin artists. It is the entertainment industry, and that is a luxury industry. You are not selling essential goods and services, although your ego would lead you to believe that you are. I guarantee that if the powers that be stopped all illegal downloading, your albums would sell scant more than they already do. Most people download out of curiosity only, and would never buy most of what they listen to if they were forced to.

Before the internet the only way to steal music was to copy it from someone else.  Sharing music on the internet is no different than tape trading.  Technology has made it easier and spread it farther.Remember, Iran has no record/CD stores.  The state controls their media.  And yet, there is Slayer graffiti in Iran.  Slayer has never performed in Iran.  Yet, they have fans there.  All thanks to illegal file-sharing (and maybe a little CD copying).

Oh poor Scott Ian i really feel for you man. Do you realize that he can't even afford his Gulfstream 4 and must now fly around in a Gulfstream 3. If you think thats bad consider the Gulfstream 3 does not even have a remote control for it's surround sound DVD system. How can you live day to day with such hardship Scott.

As a musician and a songwriter who receives small royalty checks once in a blue moon this is a very touchy subject.Whilst some people will say move with the times or be left behind, getting files for free appears to have become a standard birthright for most people who use the internet on a daily basis within say the last 10 -15 years.I agree with Scott Ian in that as soon as you hit the download button on your computer and you get your first song for free you have essentially deprived the person/s who created that music/film/art etc. of making any income from their trade in stock.Would you be able to call a plumber in the middle of the night and get him to perform an emergency repair and then tell him you have no intention of paying for his services.Because like the music you download for free you have just downloaded his repair in real time in your own home and you say that the job should be free.Finally think of the good old quote from the bible (no i am not a religious person but a spiritual one) TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE  and surely if you follow that way of thinking then absolutely no amount of justification can alter the fact that you would actually be stealing.This comment is not intended to incite people into rage its just one individuals view and opinion on this particular topic and like most people we all have opinions as well as bumholes.

                          later daze zoomer

This is good. Good stuff Ian. Maybe they are suspended for six months from the internet. It would help make music better too, as people would have to work harder to absorb music... in Liverpool when the Beatles were starting, they used to listen to a record at a store, and write down the lyrics to learn how to cover it.

I never realized how much of an idiot this guy is.

"You lose your internet. That's it, no more internet for you. Seriously! Like you drive drunk, you lose the privilege of driving. You download illegally, you lose the privilege of having the internet."

The fuck? Drunk driving can KILL people, that's why their driving privileges get taken way. Downloading a few crappy songs from a band that's not even relevant anymore doesn't hurt anyone. Almost all of those downloaders would not have bought the album in the first place. Maybe they would have 20 years ago, but that's because the only option they had back then (outside of mix tapes) was to give their money to the record industry who's entire business model was based on false scarcity of a product.

Thank goodness there's still musicians out there such as Radiohead who understand these things, and provide additional products to their fans instead of bitching over a crumbling industry and calling their fans "thieves".

Scott, or should I call you Lars, I've been burned so many times by buying the latest CD from one of my favorite bands.  Metallica's "Load," "ReLoad" and "St. Wanker," and Megadeth's "Risk" among them, oh and Overkill's "ReliXIV"...  and so many newer bands where they caught my attention with the ONE song that MTV played on HBB...  Even after your long "hiatus," when I found out "Worship Music" was out, (WHILE I was in Best Buy during the album's first week) I bought it.  I LOVE the album, (well, "the giant" kinda sucks, and what is all that "hymn" crap about...)  but there's gotta be some give and take here.

YOU need to understand that in the current economy, we can either A) spend money we don't have on music we largely find we don't like AFTER the purchase or B) download an entire album from a band and decide to spend our hard-earned cash on their album.  I remember the days, back in the 80's, when kids used to trade tapes, and just you remember this:  THIS IS HOW I LEARNED ABOUT ANTHRAX.  It's also how I learned about the other "big four."

BTW, Joey is awesome on the new album, but I would LOVE to hear John singing those songs too, so if you haven't burned THAT bridge yet...

Way to alienate scott. good job.

Please explain to me why record sales have gown down over the last 10 years but video game sales have exploded over the same period? Both are easily downloaded, copied and burned. I'll tell you why, because games have enough value attached to them that people don't mind handing over their dough. Disappointing albums have been invested by consumers often enough that were fed up, sick and tired.

   I'll be candid. I think most music artists should be paid for their work, that I enjoy. After all, I know that it is very hard to make music. But I do not support middleman record companies, who take unfair shares of profits. Instead, I would prefer to support artists directly. It's a win-win. I pay less for only the songs that I want, and the artists get a larger share of the profits.    The proliferation of the Internet allows this. Its a good thing. Sure, lot of people are pirating music because thats also easy. But don't get mad, and don't call them thieves. Consider it opening up to a new potential audience. If artists produce quality music and provide a way to get their music cheaply and easily, many fans will support the bands through digital sales and live shows.  Probably not as many sales as from records, but times change.       See, we've hit a culture shift. In the matter of a decade or so, (younger) people have seen music change from something to be profited from, to what it is; a cultural art-form that loves to be shared. Pulling the plug on someones Internet because they downloaded Anthrax's new album isn't going to stop them. They're going to do it again. It's human nature.   Thats not to say that people should blatantly download tons of music and not buy songs legitimately, but it happens. Just consider it more fans who might change their mind if they like you enough. And seriously, if you became an artist expecting to make tons of money, please stop now.        

   Embrace file sharing, or at least be neutral. If record companies don't like it, they should consider it payback for us paying $12+ for a cd with 2 good songs, when artists hardly make any money from sales, just because it was our only option (back in the 80s and 90s).   Music is something that loves to be shared.

P.S. I don't care about any of your opinions. Period.

It's not stealing, it's copyright infringement. Geez...

Piracy has been around since the invention of the tape recorder. Illegal downloading has certainly made it easier, but blaming the whole downfall of the music industry on it is not fair. Most of the music people are making now is disposable. A band like Anthrax gets album sales almost entirely from loyal fans making lifestyle accessory purchases in order to pay upkeep for what they feel is their identity. When was the last time they came out with some truly unifying piece of music that most people think is great? Scott Ian is lucky as fuck that he can have a career in music for as long as he has. Anthrax is WAY more of an iconic band than a truly great contributor to the legacy of American music and has probably made more money off that dude's beard than they have their music. He's absolutely right that stealing is wrong, but lashing out at the people who've kept his legend aloft (scoring his beard countless gigs in rock documentaries and VH1 specials) is not helping.

You people are really hard on Scotty. He comes from the old music business model of artist->product->label->listener that's been around since the first recorded album was pressed (I don't know when that was, but it was a long time ago) and these agencies has since then been the cartel of their art.

The internet has changed that model permanently to artist->listener, resulting in many lost artists trying to figure it out. And many labels closing and clamoring for a buck.

Realize, as soon as you hit record on your computer - its free. Scotty has to let go of his music, GIVE it to the people. If he thinks his music is that good, people will come to his shows and pay premium, they will pay extra for his really cool merchandise and businesses that are relevant to his art will support him. How? Remember back in the day of the street flyer? Well today that flyer is your MP3, so give it away to as many people as possible.

There is no relevant physical medium for recorded music anymore because the end result is that it gets played out of my iPod. And if you think your going to get rich off iTunes for a buck a song (maybe not rich, but ok..), or Spotify where for $10 bucks where I can take Antharax's entire discography, and Led Zeppelin's, and all of Motown on my iPod all LEGALLY, or if I chose to put little effort I can find many places giving away all his music for free download.

So does this mean music has no monetary value? Monetary in itself, no. Which makes it even more important because now that its free, the music becomes the person's own personal currency of who they identify with and share with other people. If you have any business sense, this can actually be a hell of a lot more lucrative. Except now, Scotty has to remain relevant today and be accountable for his ego - he better be awesome.

Welcome to a leveled playing field with the rest of us musicians :) I'll see you on stage, Scotty.

Yeah!!  poor kids who cant afford to buy the music shouldn't even have internet.

I feel for artists, but I can't help but feel that the RIAA had this coming. I purchase all of my music from Amazon because they offer high quality audio that's DRM free. I'd even be willing to pay more for the files I can get on Amazon. But how long did it take the RIAA dragging it's feet against the winds of change to get there?  They kept trying to force $15 dollar jewel cases at us when what the consumer wanted was to pick and choose their songs and a reasonable price.

If it wasn't for internet piracy, there wouldn't be quality choice in the marketplace. I can't help but think that if we had the options we have today 10 years ago that pirating wouldn't have caught on like it did.

This topic starts riots just as easily as religion & politics lol..... Although I do download both legallly from itunes &"illegally" & do buy the physical copy if there is a special edition available , it's hard to pick a side ,there is an obvious right & wrong in this matter & there are many pro's & con's.I do check out / listen to new albums before I buy due to not having the extra money at the moment to make the purchase especially if it's a good year & there are 10 - 20 new albums being released,I also have a friend burn new albums for me to check out.As a musician I understand that money is what funds your work & it feels like people don't respect what you do when people "steal" your music but the "thieves" are your fans & if you've been in the business for 20 + years & still touring,having fun & still making new albums that debut high on the billboards this issue shouldn't be a road block for you,you never heard of anyone having they're stereo's confiscated for dubbing albums on to cassette's lol.I'm not too sure what the incentive should be for purchasing the physical or digital copy other than owning it but an idea would be to maybe get a code to get the special itunes only tracks for free or maybe itunes could come up with a point system where you can earn so many points from each purchase to save up & use towards future purchases.Hopefully there will be a resolution to the madness.

There is no issue here.  The simple fact is that pirates (as if we need to go beyond the name to understand this) are illegally accessing content without paying anything to the content owners.  They claim to be the new way but it is not shareing with the less fortunate because you can't legally share what you don't own in the first place.  I doubt We are all pirates ever buys a CD or digital tracks with money and then shares, no he downloads content he has no right to and the distributes that content to as many other theives as he can via torrent sites. 

He claims the people have a right to knowledge and information free of charge but what he fails to address is that content cost someone to produce it, it costs them time and money.  If that person chooses to make it free for people then that is their right do so.  But if they do not this guy and parasites like him have decided that with no investment on their part they can just impose thier view on the artists TAKE their work and do as they see fit with it.  You talk about rights and freedoms and the whole time you are trampling the one person who should have the most say, the most freedom, the most rights as to how their art is distributed.  Since when does anyone have the right to take someone elses property and use it for their own ends.

At the end of the day there is no issue no argument, there are some idiots and parasites who have attempted to make an argument where none exists in order feel better and justified in their personal acts of theft. 

What these people have utterly destroyed and will continue to destroy is astounding. Store, business, jobs, events, new material seeing the light of day.

If you ever wonder why we get cookie cutter movies and music look no further than this paradigm of thought.  No one is willing to risk new ideas because the funds are too scarce to afford many failures any more.

I agree with Scott you DL illegally obtained content you get the internet turned off.  If I commit a felony I lose all sorts fo rights, if drunk drive I lose my license and my car in some cases.  Why not make the punishment fit the crime, and if you didnt get the point it is a crime no if's and's or but's, they even admit to it in the name pirate they all so proudly stand on top of.

If I had to choose between buying a Anthrax album or not listening to them all, then I'd just skip it all together (in fact I don't have any of their music in my iTunes library). This guy is a tool living in the 80s... enjoy the sales from the concert tickets and merchandise... make better decisions on your label so that you get to keep 95% of your sales instead of 5%. 

Telling people not to download your music and that they should have the "internet" taken away is ridiculous. This kind of discussion makes people more prone to downloading the music instead of buying it. It would be funny if this clown never had a fan download another song, I bet he and the rest of the band would quickly be forgotten by 95% of their so called fan base.

Best of luck dude! I'd love to take a look at your iTunes library, just to make sure I can't find that one song that you maybe, just maybe, didn't pay for...

-JCE in Fort Lauderdale FL

Anyone who has ever sang, played, or listened to the "Happy Birthday Song" has broken the law. I'll bet most people don't know that this particular song is still under copyright protection. Anyone who disagrees with file sharing should not be using this song at any birthday henceforth.

http://tinyurl.com/4skyaqr

I usually do not buy full albums anymore unless it is released on vinyl. because I burn cd's to play in the car. Sure a lot of it comes from illegal downloading but the vast majority of it comes from transferring my records to mp3's. 

Hey, Scott. Perhaps when you release something that's worth buying, then complain. As far as I'm concerned, Anthrax went to shit after the 80s. Heavy metal has always been about sticking it to the corporate side of the industry and you've sold out your ethics as a metal musician for identifying with that side. You care more about the fans INVESTING MONEY in your music than fans simply ENJOYING the music. You're a money-hungry sellout. EVERYONE DOWNLOAD EVERYTHING BY ANTHRAX.

ok here's my case,i am a huge fan of Anthrax and huge fan of collecting original cds i have all Anthrax's original cds and i have a huge collection of metal cds approaching like 1000 cds and i lost count of how many original dvds i have,but the problem is i live in Kuwait and there you can't find any metal cd it's all prohibited and when i order them online the cd without shipping is cheap but the shippings and the custom clearence will make me pay extra 20$ for bringing the cd to me which is like i am purchasing the cd 3 times...and there is no way for me to receive this music other than downloading the albums...so yes i download and i try to buy original cds as much as i can ...coz sometimes you can't wait to hear the new album of your favorite bands but for sure i buy their cds even with that fucked up situation and fucked up prices of shipping and clearance ...yet i am in kuwait and i do all that 

This was taken from a consumer advocate website.  Read the entire article here and learn the entire truth.http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/ne...

A 2004 US Consumer Expenditure Survey showed that even spending on CD's by people who had no computer (and were therefore unlikely to download and use BitTorrent) dropped by over 40 percent from 1999 through 2004.

Hhhhhhmmmmm.......maybe the shitty economy is the real reason people aren't buying albums.  When it's a choice between eating, paying the mortgage, and keeping up on bills or buying Anthrax's new album, what the fuck would you do?