Washington
(ANI):
Brit
singer
Lily
Allen
has
taken
a
stand
against
Internet
piracy,
and
she
has
also
urged
fellow
pop
and
rock
stars
to
follow
suit
before
song
stealing
destroys
the
music
industry.
Allen,
24,
fears
record
company
bosses
will
drastically
cut
their
budgets
for
new
acts
if
the
income
from
CD
buyers
dries
up,
and
has
called
on
other
musicians
to
help
her
spearhead
an
industry-wide
plan
of
action
to
stamp
out
illegal
file-sharing.
And,
in
a
post
on
her
Myspace.com
blog,
Allen
takes
aim
at
stars
like
Robbie
Williams,
Annie
Lennox,
Pink
Floyd"s
Nick
Mason
and
Ed
O"Brien
from
Radiohead,
who
appear
to
be
applauding
the
pirates
as
members
of
the
Featured
Artists
Coalition.
“I
think
music
piracy
is
having
a
dangerous
effect
on
British
music,
but
some
really
rich
and
successful
artists
like
Nick
Mason
from
Pink
Floyd
and
Ed
O"Brien
from
Radiohead
don"t
seem
to
think
so..." Contactmusic
quoted
her
as
writing.
“The
Featured
Artists
Coalition
also
says
file
sharing
is
fine
because
it
'means
a
new
generation
of
fans
for
us".
“This
is
great
if
you"re
a
big
artist
at
the
back
end
of
your
career
with
loads
of
albums
to
flog
to
a
new
audience,
but
emerging
artists
don"t
have
this
luxury.
“Basically
the
FAC
is
saying
'we"re
alright,
we"ve
made
it,
so
file
sharing"s
fine",
which
is
just
so
unfair
to
new
acts
trying
to
make
it
in
the
industry.
“If
this
sounds
like
I"m
siding
with
the
record
bosses,
I"m
not.
They"ve
been
naive
and
complacent
about
new
technology
-
and
they"ve
spent
all
the
money
they"ve
earned
on
their
own
fat
salaries,
not
industry
development.
“But
as
they
start
to
lose
big
from
piracy,
they"re
not
slashing
their
salaries
–
they"re
pulling
what
they
invest
in
A&R
(artists
and
repertoire).
Lack
of
funds
results
in
A&R
people
not
being
able
to
take
risks
and
only
signing
acts
they
think
will
work...
“I"m
going
to
be
writing
(to)
British
artists,
saying
just
this:
File
sharing"s
not
okay
for
British
music.
We
need
to
find
new
ways
to
help
consumers
access
and
buy
music
legally,
but
saying
file
sharing"s
fine
is
not
helping
anyone
-
and
definitely
not
helping
British
music," she
added.