Forwarded by Negativland.
> Pirate Us Plenty, Please!
>If you can't beat 'em ...
>BY NEIL GOUGH Shenzhen
> What's a record label to do in China? There may be 1.3 billion pairs of
>ears, but most of what they're listening to is pirated: either
>out-and-out rip-offs, or legitimate CDs written off as destroyed that
>somehow manage to fall off a truck and get sold in an alley. "It's pretty
>devastating to all the majors," says Cindy Tai, EMI's managing director
>for China, who estimates fakes comprise 95% of the cassette market and
>slightly less for CDs. But while many record companies are sitting back
>and hoping things will improve once China enters the World Trade
>Organization, Matt Clark has different ideas. International
>representative for Beijing-based Pulay Music, Clark has an open message
>to the counterfeiters: "Please, pirate the hell out of us."
>
>According to Clark, whose company manages mainland rock superstar Cui Jian
>and six other acts, the only choice for now is to learn to live with
>pirates. During a recent recording session in Shenzhen with Tongue, a
>hard-core Xinjiang outfit, Clark takes time out to explain his company's
>unique approach. In China, he says, albums have to be viewed as
>promotions for a company's artists, not as revenue-generating products.
>Money is made from concerts and corporate sponsorships for acts or
>events. So his company stamps just enough CDs to attract the pirates'
>attention, who then do what they do effectively functioning as a free
>and highly efficient promotional machine. "We want to flood the market
>with live recordings," Clark says, in the hope that more people will pay
>to see the live shows. The albums are recorded at concerts, for which
>Pulay Music has devised a site-specific recording unit. No need for
>studio time, so its expenses are minimal. The pirates pay for the rest.
>China's music pirates aren't going away any time soon, so in the meantime
>Pulay's play is to use them any way it can.
>
>
>
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