In response to the recent Internet leak of their upcoming CD, "Life Is Killing Me", TYPE O NEGATIVE have made available for download a full-length MP3 of the track "The Dream Is Dead" via their official web site at this location. In addition, the group have taken the unusual step of publicly addressing the illegal-downloading issue via a lengthy message from keyboardist/producer Josh Silver.
Silver's message reads as follows:
"My position is simple. It is totally irresponsible of who ever did this to have used TYPE O in this way, whatever his or her motivation could have possibly been. This is how I see it going. The TYPE O record comes out. 62,580 people have already downloaded it.
"Now this may seem innocent under the guise that everyone will buy it anyway. But here's the deal. Without much anticipation, there's no big rush to get an album, everyone's been hearing for two months already (and I'm not referring to the people on this site). I'm talking about an average fan who figures 'well next time I'm in the store or on a p2p I'll get the real thing'. The effect is then a lower first week chart number (estimated to drop at 10- 20% by the corp. world due to downloads) which in turn puts less pressure on the large institutions to play TYPE O on the radio, or give any type of video support. Then it's time for us to move on and get another record deal. Mr. (or Mrs. or Ms.) A&R Scumbag says 'look........... they're [sic] last album only entered the charts at #49. This will of course generate a smaller offer because industry scum's [sic] rarely see anything but statistics (though there are exceptions and very few). This is not purely about money (though I wouldn't mind some) but about keeping a band going strong after 13 years. Without the outward appearance of a big first week push there's no snowball effect, which causes interest in the album to fizzle out, which otherwise may have been a surprisingly strong showing. Now artistically I don't give two shits what's out there. But in order to continue making a living through music it's necessary to pay the bills. Was this done to generate a 'buzz'? No way. It is my opinion that downloading copywritten [sic] material, is the same as walking into a store and stealing a pair of pants. I know this view won't make me popular, but I don't give a fuck. Other bands are doing 36 minute albums, fine for them. We do 75 min. records but due to the fact were not mega sellers we need the press to get our message across. So were stuck giving out material in advance to be reviewed for the exposure. I'd had hoped there would be a degree of responsibility exorcised [sic] during this process but never really expected it. People suck. Steal my pants? I'll shoot you in the fucken back."
Silver's message reads as follows:
"My position is simple. It is totally irresponsible of who ever did this to have used TYPE O in this way, whatever his or her motivation could have possibly been. This is how I see it going. The TYPE O record comes out. 62,580 people have already downloaded it.
"Now this may seem innocent under the guise that everyone will buy it anyway. But here's the deal. Without much anticipation, there's no big rush to get an album, everyone's been hearing for two months already (and I'm not referring to the people on this site). I'm talking about an average fan who figures 'well next time I'm in the store or on a p2p I'll get the real thing'. The effect is then a lower first week chart number (estimated to drop at 10- 20% by the corp. world due to downloads) which in turn puts less pressure on the large institutions to play TYPE O on the radio, or give any type of video support. Then it's time for us to move on and get another record deal. Mr. (or Mrs. or Ms.) A&R Scumbag says 'look........... they're [sic] last album only entered the charts at #49. This will of course generate a smaller offer because industry scum's [sic] rarely see anything but statistics (though there are exceptions and very few). This is not purely about money (though I wouldn't mind some) but about keeping a band going strong after 13 years. Without the outward appearance of a big first week push there's no snowball effect, which causes interest in the album to fizzle out, which otherwise may have been a surprisingly strong showing. Now artistically I don't give two shits what's out there. But in order to continue making a living through music it's necessary to pay the bills. Was this done to generate a 'buzz'? No way. It is my opinion that downloading copywritten [sic] material, is the same as walking into a store and stealing a pair of pants. I know this view won't make me popular, but I don't give a fuck. Other bands are doing 36 minute albums, fine for them. We do 75 min. records but due to the fact were not mega sellers we need the press to get our message across. So were stuck giving out material in advance to be reviewed for the exposure. I'd had hoped there would be a degree of responsibility exorcised [sic] during this process but never really expected it. People suck. Steal my pants? I'll shoot you in the fucken back."
