Official Post From Hawkwind

[Michael Blackman]

An interesting point of view.  Cheers :)

My only gripe in this issue is the complaints towards the band.  Some will
continue recording regardless and that is none of my business.

The good thing about the majority of the folks who are into the trading is
that it is strictly trading.  Especialy on neoquark.  Good fans who just
love the music.

The biggest problem with communicating an idea via an email is that it lacks
several key elements that basic face to face people interaction and a
message (email) can all too often be misinterpreted.  I hope I haven't been
confused as being against people for trading these shows where I actually
was only against the complaints against the band.




----- Original Message -----
From: M Holmes <fofp at HOLYROOD.ED.AC.UK>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 12:24 AM
Subject: Re: Official Post From Hawkwind


> Michael Blackman writes:
>
> > Well some record companies wont fund a live album if the same material
can
> > be obtained for free.
>
> The thing is that the way the fan network works, folks outside of it
> can't really get tapes for free. Someone has to establish trades within
> that network and that pretty much means that they're already known to
> people in the network because they are hard core fans or they already
> have substantial tape collections amounting to the same thing.
>
> The risks to the band come from someone who can obtain live tapes which
> could profitably be copied and sold.  This means that they have to enter
> the network, get the tapes and then find some way of distributing them
> at cost less than the potential sales.  That's really not so easy with
> Hawkwind stuff.  They don't have access to any real network of shops.
> Few market traders would bother to carry Hawkwind tapes because sales
> wouldn't be high enough.  The only way to make sales in volume would be
> at music events such as festivals and Hawkwind concerts.  It'd be pretty
> hard to sell bootlegs at Hawkwind concerts and not be spotted by one of
> us.  Some festivals might manage to do this at a profit, but nobody is
> going to manage to pay for a Glastonbury stall with sales of Hawkwind
> tapes.
>
> That leaves the Internet. Ebay is the obvious way to go. However that's
> precisely what the Neo-Quark traders take most interest in watching for
> and reporting Hawkwind bootleg traders. Doing so even in small numbers
> can generally get an auction pulled and has done so on several
> occasions.
>
> MP3 sites are a bit more of a problem and I do believe that we shouldn't
> have truck with people offering unsanctioned Hawkwind downloads and
> should report sites inasmuch as it does any good.
>
> The fan trading network will have some people quit in conscience and
> some who won't. I've already stated my position.
>
> If the lawyers are stupid enough to want to persecute the fans then it
> might as well be me on the basis that I can afford it, and I'm game for
> the argument anyway.  Bring it on! Even Perry Mason would have a hard
> time proving that I could have spent more on Hawkwind if it weren't for
> live tapes.
>
> FoFP
>