Downloading Hurts Chili Peppers' Feelings

[p2p-sharing-rules]

May 04, 2006

If legal deterrents to file-sharing won't discourage from getting The Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album early through a peer-to-peer network, bassist Flea has another reason not to do it: It'll make him and his band mates sad. Real sad.

“(Illegally downloading the new album) will break my heart,” he wrote on the band’s web site. “It will break John Frusciante's heart. It will break Anthony Kiedis' heart, and it will break the heart of Chad Smith.”

The Peppers’ upcoming double album, Stadium Arcadium is on tap for release Tuesday (May 9), but it already surfaced on peer-to-peer file-swapping sites. Sure, the piracy will result in a loss in sales, but, really the issue at stake isn’t monetary, Flea says, reminding fans that his entire band is perched on an emotional precipice over the idea of leaked copies’ “poor sound quality” making new songs sound bad.

“This bums all of us out,” Flea wrote, “and I know that, as sensitive as John Frusciante is about sound, the idea of anyone getting and hearing this thing that way will devastate him. For people to not hear the work the way we meant it to be will really hurt him deep inside, and all of us will hurt.”

So there. Go ahead and download it, but just know, you’re helping to send make The Red Hot Chilil Peppers, especially the apparently emotionally delicate Frusciante, into therapy.
aversion.com

[p2p-sharing-rules]

Here's what Flea wrote @ redhotchilipeppers.com.

when i woke up this morning
i was was confronted with the news that our record has been leaked to
the internet
it does not come out til may 9 but now it has leaked
and not that i know alot about this kind of thing
but i guess now it is possible to down load it for free if you want
well
that's not very nice
if you down load it now off one of these file sharing sites
you will be getting a pale imitation of the record
it will be of the poor sound quality of the technique they used to
get it on there
and that will break my heart
it will break john frusciante's heart
it will break anthony kiedis's heart
and it will break the heart of chad smith
yes, we worked for a year and a half to make the epic record of our
lives
and it is sad to me for the business reasons of course
i think we are selling something really cool and we put all we had
into it, 28 songs, 2 hours of the best that we can offer
and i think it is a fair deal for everyone
and for people to just steal a poor sound quality version of it for free
because some asshole stole it and put it on the internet
is sad to me
but, equitable business reasons aside
the thing that really bums me out is
we worked so hard, and so thoughtfully, all of us, for so long
to make this record sound as warm and full from top to bottom
as was possible
we spent day and night for a year making sure every little sound was
just right
that they were all put together in the most beautiful way we could
we did not leave a stone unturned in doing that work
i can not put in words how much this record, stadium arcadium, means
to us
how sacred the sound of it is to us
and how many sleepless nights and hardworking days we all had
thinking about how to make it be the best sounding thing we could
and now, for someone to take it and put it out there with this poor
sound quality
it is a painful pill for us to swallow
let me tell you
this bums all of us out
and i know that, as sensitive as john frusciante is about sound
the idea of anyone getting and hearing this thing that way
will devastate him
for people to not hear the work the way we meant it to be
will really hurt him deep inside
and all of us will hurt

yes, it is stealing from us, and that is lame
everyone has to live with their own conscience on that one
let it be your guide
but to take a version that has been defiled sound wise
a version in which some idiot has taken our year and a half of soul
baring work and pissed all over it
that will break our hearts

sincerely,

flea

A news story about the album leak @ canada.com.

[battye]

and it is sad to me for the business reasons of course

Of course

[nesman]

I only have one thought about this:

[pokesthelippyfish]

And since he knows nothing about illegally downloading how can he say it's of bad quality?

[tunebud]

I wonder if it would hurt his feelings to know I wouldn't download a poor quality let alone spent my hard earned money on some POS corporate made CD anyway. I would rather spend money on some local band who tours around the area actually pouring there heart and soul into there music (BTW Flea, allot of those shows are also free). Guess it's hard to understand a true artist dose it for the love and passion of what they are doing not the money they make

Just for Flea, being the nice person I am I will wait till after the 9th of May and find some person around with more money than brains who did buy your precious CD. I shall borrow it from them, copy it with a good quality ripper (also free). Then I will personally check it for the proper sound quality. Then I will up load it/with covers to at least three popular trackers. I will also seed it for two weeks at 256kb upload speed. This should insure that what is out there being shared isn't poor quality, no need for broken hearts or sleepless night. Another point to consider everyone loves a corporate owned (sellout) crybaby so keep up the great work.

[pokesthelippyfish]

lol tune

[p2p-sharing-rules]

tune