Musicmeter is a UK based company that aggregates data relating to the music industry. Their recent findings revealed that the music by Iron Maiden, one of the more popular heavy metal bands in Europe and North America, was being increasingly torrented in South American countries.
Now Iron Maiden had every right to lawyer up and threaten each and every one of those copyright infringers with a lawsuit, but instead they took another approach. The band decided to pack their bags, head over to South America, and perform at a couple of venues instead. The end result of the tour earned Iron Maiden millions and increased their fan base by a large margin.
It’s nice to see Iron Maiden using piracy as a tool rather than a means to punish their fanbase. However, I would caution anybody who would use this as an example of piracy laws as being completely obsolete. Iron Maiden is a very well recognised name and while they may appreciate revenue from album sales, they don’t necessarily need it to stay afloat. On the other hand I would think that smaller performers still have some reliance on purchase revenue (albeit not as much as the revenue from live performances). Just a thought.
