I’m flabbergasted.
Jonah Jenkins (vox for Only Living Witness, Miltown, Milligram, Raw Radar War, etc) has wisely blogposted his recent experience with Century Media’s legal goons on the Only Living Witness myspace page. You really need to read it, so click here.
For those unaware: the reason this is so confounding is that Century Media is (was) the band’s label. It should also be pointed out that Century Media quickly turned the original pressings of both Only Living Witness albums into bargain bin titles – and now, their reverent 2006 double disc re-issue is also a bargain bin offering.
What in the world does Century Media feel they are laying legal claim to? Do they actually believe that an Only Living Witness band member allowing fans to hear their music (via one of the hugest social networking sites) could be anything other than the greatest no-cost promotional effort imaginable?
I’m sure that Century Media never made the sort of money they might have envisioned with OLW. However – at this point in the game – they most likely have a stack of remaining OLW product they want to get rid of, and somehow think that cutting the actual band out of the promotional mix is insurance against (gasp!) “free listens”.
Century Media just doesn’t seem to “get it”, especially considering the many ways independent artists are widely encouraged to utilize web 2.0/social networking sites to further their own careers and sales. What they really need to do is get themselves a copy of ‘The Indie Band Survival Guide’