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Zed Bias just outed the worst kind of keyboard warrior on Facebook
House | Tuesday 14th October 2014 | Osh
So we could all bang on for hours about 'the profound and irrevocable effect of the internet on the music industry', right? And, let's be honest, most of us would probably be lying if we said we had never 'illegally downloaded' a track: you don't exactly have to be Edward Snowden to rip an MP3 off YouTube.
The best efforts of artists, record companies, HMV (lol), and sites such as itunes, beatport and amazon, have not deterred many of us from feeling utterly entitled to instant, free access to all music.
It's this notion of entitlement which was strongly contested by Zed Bias today on his Facebook page; or more specifically, where entitlement meets the faceless and overly aggressive Keyboard Warrior.
Zed Bias writes:
"I'm still feeling a bit sorry for the idiot who direct messaged me on FB this morning to tell me how rude I am for not answering message requesting I send him my new release for free. Then he blocked me.
I FIND THIS BEHAVIOUR VERY STRANGE INDEED.
[...]
Do you think anyone ever came up to me back in the day and demanded my music be given to them FOC [free of charge]? In the street? In the club? Face to face? NO! And the fact that members of the general public can have communication anonymously with artists and DJs these days makes people forget that for showing similar disrespect face to face, people would genuinely risk getting repercussions of a physical nature."
Some clearly think the internet gives them a licence to be a dick without having to face up to the consequences. So, thanks Zed Bias, for reminding us that there are Real People making the music we listen to. And, if you're going to insist on never paying for your music, at least don't act like you're entitled to it because you categorically are not.
Photo via Theo Cottle Photography
