Wer kann im Zeitalter von illegalen MP3-Downloads, Filesharing etc. als Musiker noch überleben? Die schwedische Band Clawfinger (seit nunmehr 14 Jahren im Musikbusiness) bietet ein wunderbares - oder besser gesagt: trauriges Beispiel dafür, welche Konsequenzen der illegale Download, Filesharing und das Kopieren von CDs haben kann…

(Quelle: Zaks Bloody Blog!)?

My New Years resolution is very simple, find a job as soon as possible! After 14 years of living the “rock & roll lifestyle” it seems like the “dream” is over & I really can’t complain! It’s not over as in “we quit” but it’s simply no longer possible for us to make a living from music anymore so it’s now time to step back into the real world, it’s a tough fact to face & I am slightly in denial but we just have to deal with it. Where it leaves the band I know not, all I do know is that putting food on my sons table is more important than being in a band that is not making ends meet so if push comes to shove & I have to choose then family comes first! Working a 9 to 5 will without a doubt leave us with less opportunities to create music but of course it’s possible if we plan things, book occasional weekends, evenings & whatever free time we can spare inbetween the job & the family! We will have to go about things differently, be more focused, work on a smaller scale, play less gigs. I guess more of a do-it-yourself approach is the only solution, elimating as many of the greedy middlemen as possible along the way. The question is do we have what it takes to pull all the strings & continue functioning, well I have no idea, time will tell!

So what are the reasons for this happening, well first & foremost people don’t buy CD’s to the same extent anymore, they download & it’s as much my fault as anybody elses but the simple fact remains, filesharing & mp3’s have taken away a source of income for alot of bands out there, us included. Because of this fact record companies & publishing companies no longer have the economical resources to pay out large advances. (which has been one of our main sources of income these last few years!) Regarding downloading well what is there to say, it’s just part of the technical evolution whether we like it or not, maybe one day it will be slightly more controlable & artists will get their share but until that happens alot of bands on our level will suffer & have a hard time managing to survive! We’re not the first band to experience the difficulties & surely not the last & alot of bands make it work with less than what we’ve had through the years but all the same it’s a new experience for us, a frightening one as it means a big change but we’ll just have to deal with it somehow!

I could be bitter about it but that would be a waste, I already have enough negative energy in me anyway so I’ll try & not go down that route, it is sad & I admit I’m scared as fuck of what will happen & where things will end up but life usually has a way of sorting itself out! Yes I’m confused & of course I wish the band could just go on & on & that we could continue to have the best of both worlds but it’s an unrealistic thing to hope for in the long run. I knew this day would come eventually I’ve just never really prepaired for it, instead I’ve pretended it would never happen despite knowing better! Of course now I will pay the price. I have no plan B, no CV & no official qualifications on paper that will grant me a job in a line of work I find interesting or developing, that doesn’t mean I don’t have any qualifications or that I won’t find anything though, I just need to know where to look & how to present myself, it’s a tough cookie to crack & I’m clueless at the moment! I wish this wasn’t the situation but hell maybe we’ve had our primetime, maybe it’s time to just move on & be proud of the 7 albums we’ve made & the 14 years we’ve spent doing something very fun & original, I guess we’ll find out soon enough! Anyone got a job for me?:D