Quantcast
"This is not a Napster issue. The issue is that CDs are the first unsecured music that goes out. Downloading of music occurred before Napster and will continue after it is gone."

OFFSPRING'S HOLLAND EXPLAINS CONTROVERSIAL ONLINE MOVE

Will The Band's Million-Dollar Idea Beat Downloaders To The Punch?
SoCal punk band Offspring said on Friday (9/15) it will give away its new album on the Internet, striking a sour note with its label group, Sony Music, an integral part of the music industry consortium that is embroiled in a landmark copyright lawsuit against free Internet song-swapping service Napster.

Even though the RIAA, which represents all the major labels, is involved in the much-publicized lawsuit with Napster, in which they accuse the company of promoting online piracy, The Offspring thinks proper use of the Internet can help promote and market its release. The Offspring's strategy directly contradicts the recording industry's argument that Napster's technology is hurting sales by enabling fans to get music for free.

"The reality is that this album is going to end up on the Internet whether we want it to or not," said Offspring singer Dexter Holland. "So we thought, ‘Why don't we just do it ourselves?' We're not afraid of the Internet. We think it's a very cool way to reach our fans."

While Sony Music, distributors of the band's Columbia Records label, reportedly asked The Offspring to cancel the giveaway, the group refused and plans to make its new album, "Conspiracy of One," availableon its Web site, offspring.com, a month before its traditional release on 11/14.

The whole album will be posted by late October, while "Original Prankster," a single from the new CD, will be available for downloading in the unsecured MP3 format on Friday (9/29), when the Offspring launches a contest giving fans a chance to win $1 million by downloading the single and registering their e-mail address with the band. The winner will be announced live on MTV on 11/14, which, in case you skipped the preceding paragraph is the album's release date.

In a statement, Sony said: "While the band has come up with a million-dollar idea for their fans and we're excited about the contest, we have very real concerns when it comes to unsecured downloading of music and piracy on the Internet. We're hopeful that we can arrive at a method that will protect everyone's rights and still maintain the integrity of the band's idea."

In his first interview since the plan to buck the system was revealed, Offspring's Dexter Holland faces off with hitsdailydouble's Marc "Salot" Pollack about the controversial marketing/promotion plan, its possible effects on the industry as a whole and the band's future.

It is obvious that you can't stop an album or songs from appearing on Napster, no matter how hard you try. But why make it easier?
I don't know if there is anything quite as easy as Napster! No, seriously, it kind of sucks to look on the Web and see your stuff everywhere, and your fans can't even get it from your own Web site. Plus, we feel that if we do it ourselves, we have the opportunity to directly communicate with our fans.

Given the pending lawsuits against Napster and the current focus on copyright protection, do you consider The Offspring to almost be aiding and abetting with this action?
Funny, we have gotten just the opposite reaction. People think we are trying to compete with Napster and, in a way, we are. We would rather that people get Offspring music from us and leave us their info so we can talk to them.

Are you helping legitimize what many consider to be against the law?
Last time I looked, they were not arresting people for handing out cassettes at the Warped tour. We think it is OK to distribute this music promotionally.

The Offspring have been very supportive of Napster from its very inception. Should the major labels, including your own, incorporate file-sharing in their business plans?
I would think that all labels would love to access Napster's 25 million music consumers. We survey our Web site on a regular basis and, overwhelmingly, kids who download buy music—at least ours. I own a label and pay for everything about it out of my pocket. I am not an employee at a big corporation. And I still feel that way.

It looks really bad for Napster right now, as the courts have been siding with the traditional music business. What will you do if the service is shut down? Will you continue to offer the album free on your site or elsewhere?
Our last album came out long before Napster existed, and we were listed as the most downloaded band on the Internet for a period of time. This is not a Napster issue. The issue is that CDs are the first unsecured music that goes out. Downloading of music occurred before Napster and will continue after it is gone.

By registering all your fans—a key part of this promotion—are you thinking of eventually selling your work directly to them?
No.

Do you care that Sony is awfully pissed about this move?
They have not said they were awfully pissed to us. Our manager [Jim Guerinot] met with them, and they were all very supportive—[Columbia chieftain] Donnie [Ienner] in particular. We just caught them at a rough time. These guys have been great to us.

Are you bucking Sony's public resistance in hopes of getting off the label or maybe renegotiating your deal?
Absolutely not! These guys have been great to us, and we have an awesome relationship with them.

When you were asked not to do the promotion, what was your reaction?
When we were asked not to do this we agreed as long as we could be assured that no one else would be posting Offspring work on the Web without authorization. Point being that for 3 1/2 years this band's work has been on the Web without authorization. They have had it. If people cannot assure us that third parties won't make their work available on the Internet, then we feel we need to fight the fight directly.

By giving stuff away, what do you expect to get out of this besides the obvious publicity?
It goes back to your earlier question. We hope to gain the upper ground of our music being distributed on the Internet over all of these third-party providers.

What is the upside in giving away $1 million?
It's fun! It totally stokes a fan. Can you imagine the look on the kid's face? It also gives kids a reason to register when they download our single.

How will this promotion drive more people to retail? Why will they buy the new record when they can get it for free?
They were able to get it for free last time and they bought 11 million copies of it. It also hasn't stopped NSYNC or Eminem from selling records. But we think the promotion will let us speak directly to our fans and, through the use of the CD Extra portion, give the kids who actually buy the CD extra goodies for behaving like good little boys and girls. We figure if both things were identical, the Offspring music online and the Offspring music at retail, then a kid might wonder, "Why bother?" But we are giving the kids who purchase the CD a tremendous advantage and incentive to buy the record at their record stores. We like record stores. We think record stores are cool. We want kids to continue to go into stores and buy CDs, and we are putting up money and our work to help them go there.

NEAR TRUTHS: KINGDOMS
File under: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. (3/26a)
ONE SHINING HITS LIST
She shoots, she scores! (3/26a)
YTD MARKET SHARE
Zeroing in on the elite teams (3/27a)
BEST IN THE WEST:
STEVE BERMAN
High time for another Eminem skit (3/26a)
MUSIC REVENUE TOPPED $17B IN 2023: RIAA
Streaming subscriptions lead the charge. (3/27a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
 Email

 First Name

 Last Name

 Company

 Country
CAPTCHA code
Captcha: (type the characters above)