Please don't rip off our music

Australia's biggest musical acts are crying poor in a new documentary that seeks to discourage people from obtaining music illegally and change the public's perception that they live a high life of riches and glamour.

Ironically, the 10-minute documentary, which was developed by the music industry and will be distributed for free to all high schools in Australia, has been designed so it can easily be spread virally across the file sharing websites that also hold much of the pirated music the industry is seeking to eradicate.

Artists featured on the video include Silverchair, Powderfinger, the Veronicas, Operator Please, Jimmy Barnes, Evermore, Gyroscope, Frenzal Rhomb, Grinspoon, Phrase, Human Nature, Mahalia Barnes, Damien Leith, Anthony Callea, Weapon X, Ken Hell and the Dawn Collective.

"The problem with downloading obviously is that it's ruining our industry in a way, because I mean you know artists just aren't making money, record companies aren't making money from it," Lisa Origliasso of the Veronicas says.

Her twin sister, Jessica, says being a musician is a "100 per cent 24/7 full-time job" and while there are lots of parties, most of the time spent at them is consumed by media interviews.

"You're not really able to drink unless you want to look like a trashbag in all of your interviews," she says.

Most of the artists point to the internet as being a hugely positive force in getting their music to as many people as possible, but there is an underlying fear that, financially, the entire industry is in dire straits.

Figures released by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) show that physical CD sales dropped 12 per cent last year to $420 million. Legal music downloads were up 43 per cent to $40 million, but the strong growth has not been enough to make up for the rapidly declining CD sales.

"The internet has been a godsend and a nightmare for the music industry," Jimmy Barnes says.

In the documentary the artists discuss the often gruelling process involved in making an album and downplay their lavish lifestyles, in the hope of convincing people that stealing music is not a victimless crime.

"I don't think [that] just because you're signed to a major label means you're going to live like a rock star," Pat Davern of Grinspoon says.

"I don't think we live a rock star life at all. We're still paying the rent just like everybody else," Zoran Trivic of Gyroscope says.

Two of the bands featured in the film, Human Nature and the Veronicas, were included on BRW's Top 50 Entertainers list, published in July last year. They earned $1.9 million and $1.7 million over the previous year, respectively.

Appealing to the public's good nature could be seen as a last resort after other strategies to combat piracy have failed. Taking individuals to court has resulted in little more than a public relations nightmare for the music industry in the US, while attempts to convince Australian internet providers to disconnect the services of illegal downloaders has been met with strong resistance.

"I'm not going to deny it. I have downloaded music in the past and it's only when you start being in a band you actually realise how sort of damaging that can be," says Amandah Wilkinson of Operator Please, a band which owes much of its success to effective viral marketing over the internet through channels such as MySpace.

"There becomes a point where you've gotta make X amount to be able to continue, you know, unless you want to be an old mate that lives in Byron Bay and sits in his hinterland shack and just plays an acoustic guitar," says Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies.

The documentary was funded by the major Australian music industry bodies but it is being spruiked by ARIA's anti-piracy arm, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI).

High school students are the target audience but the documentary is also available for viewing online at http://www.in-tune.com.au. Its licence permits free non-commercial distribution and MIPI general manager Sabiene Heindl said the industry planned to distribute it "as widely as possible" through avenues such as YouTube.

Heindl said she had no objections to people seeding it to BitTorrent download sites, many of which the music industry is trying - with limited success - to shut down because they contain vast stores of pirated music.

The documentary is not yet part of a structured anti-piracy program in schools, but Heindl said it was formatted to fit neatly into existing units, such as the "Music for Free?" English unit created this year by the Commonwealth Department of Education, which examines the ethics of file sharing.

It could also accompany the "All Right to Copy?" unit on copyright, developed this year by the Copyright Advisory Group of Australian Schools and TAFEs.

The NSW Department of Education and Training said in a statement it welcomed school learning resources that complement the NSW curriculum.