U2 Manager Calls Google “Monopoly”, Spotify “Promotional Medium” #MIDEM

From Cannes by Stuart Dredge for Midem content partner Music Ally. Find them at musically.com and @musically.

Google’s role in the recent campaign against the proposed SOPA  anti-piracy legislation in the US came in for a sustained attack by U2′s  manager Paul McGuinness this morning, at the Midem conference in  Cannes. “Why are they not trying to solve the future in a more generous way?” he asked.

“Ultimately it is in their interests that the flow of content will  continue. And that won’t happen unless it’s paid for. And I don’t think  we can rely on politicians who are afraid of being unpopular to  accomplish this without some willingness and generosity on the part of  the tech area.”

Referring specifically to the anti-SOPA campaign, which included an  online petition linked to from Google’s homepage, McGuinness did not  mince his words.

“Never underestimate the ability of a monopoly to defend itself,” he  said. “The fact that Google were able to turn their entire network into a  lobbying device, a petition, does not mean every person who ticked the  box understood the argument… It wasn’t really a debate, it was a  demonstration really.”

McGuinness also criticised Google for not doing more to strip links to pirated content out of its search engine results.

“It amazes me that Google has not done the right thing. The  experience of people when they go on Google and look for U2 music or PJ  Harvey music is a shopping list of illegal opportunities to get their  music,” he said. “They have done nothing meaningful to discourage that.”

McGuinness had warmer words for licensed streaming music services  like Spotify, which he described as “ultimately a good thing”, although  that praise came with caveats.

“Is it a means of monetising the distribution of products, or is it a  promotional medium? At the moment, I’m inclined to treat it more as a  promotional medium. And if we have to choose where to put records on  their debut, we’re unlikely to give them to Spotify. I’d rather give it  to a DJ on a great station,” he said.

“Spotify has yet to become popular with artists because artists don’t  see the financial benefit of working with Spotify. That’s partly the  fault of the labels because the labels partly own Spotify, and there is  insufficient transparency. But I see no reason why the basic Spotify  model shouldn’t be part of the future. It is essentially honest so it  should be encouraged. I’d like to see it everywhere.”

McGuinness was talking in a panel session with author Robert Levine,  entertainment lawyer Pierre-Marie Bouvery and Qobuz president Yves  Riesel. Read our liveblog for the full skinny on the discussion.

Google’s role in recent  anti-SOPA campaigns in the US came in for a sustained attack by U2′s  manager Paul McGuinness this morning, at the Midem conference in  Cannes. “Why are they not trying to solve the future in a more generous way?” he asked.

“Ultimately it is in their interests that the flow of content will  continue. And that won’t happen unless it’s paid for. And I don’t think  we can rely on politicians who are afraid of being unpopular to  accomplish this without some willingness and generosity on the part of  the tech area.”

Referring specifically to the anti-SOPA campaign, which included an  online petition linked to from Google’s homepage, McGuinness did not  mince his words.

“Never underestimate the ability of a monopoly to defend itself,” he  said. “The fact that Google were able to turn their entire network into a  lobbying device, a petition, does not mean every person who ticked the  box understood the argument… It wasn’t really a debate, it was a  demonstration really.”

McGuinness also criticised Google for not doing more to strip links to pirated content out of its search engine results.

“It amazes me that Google has not done the right thing. The  experience of people when they go on Google and look for U2 music or PJ  Harvey music is a shopping list of illegal opportunities to get their  music,” he said. “They have done nothing meaningful to discourage that.”

McGuinness had warmer words for licensed streaming music services  like Spotify, which he described as “ultimately a good thing”, although  that praise came with caveats.

“Is it a means of monetising the distribution of products, or is it a  promotional medium? At the moment, I’m inclined to treat it more as a  promotional medium. And if we have to choose where to put records on  their debut, we’re unlikely to give them to Spotify. I’d rather give it  to a DJ on a great station,” he said.

“Spotify has yet to become popular with artists because artists don’t  see the financial benefit of working with Spotify. That’s partly the  fault of the labels because the labels partly own Spotify, and there is  insufficient transparency. But I see no reason why the basic Spotify  model shouldn’t be part of the future. It is essentially honest so it  should be encouraged. I’d like to see it everywhere.”

McGuinness was talking in a panel session with author Robert Levine,  entertainment lawyer Pierre-Marie Bouvery and Qobuz president Yves  Riesel. Read our liveblog for the full skinny on the discussion.