Kid Rock Encourages File Sharers - iTunes boycotted

Kid Rock adds to the (not so large) number of artists that advocate file sharing and distributing music through p2p networks. The artist believes that the so called music revolution has already been smothered in its cradle and he blames digital music stores and record labels for it.

The rocker was very straightforward when he urged his fans to download his music for free from P2P networks - "I don't steal things," he said in an interview to the BBC. "I'm rich." As for everyone else, he says, "Download it illegally, I don't care. I want you to hear my music so I can play live."

Apparently, what made the artist burst was his record label, Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records, which asked him to publicly condemn file sharing. But they just managed to put gas on fire. Kid Rock had something else in his mind.

"ITunes takes the money, the record company takes the money, and they don't give it to the artists," he commented. Instead, he added, the internet presents a "great opportunity for everyone to be treated fairly, for the consumer to get a fair price, for the artist to be paid fairly, for the record companies to make some money."

Although there were lots of “brains” that have voiced this fervently, Rock pushes the whole thing a bit further, “advising” everyone to just grab whatever they want: "I don't mind people stealing my music, that's fine. But I think they should steal everything. You know how much money the oil companies have? If you need some gas, just go fill your tank (up) and drive off, they're not going to miss it."

It seems that Kid Rock has successfully managed to boycott iTunes and currently all his Warner-period albums have been removed from iTunes (excepting his rare debut — 1990's Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast on Zomba Recordings).
This can be seen as another signal that artists fail to consider and benefit from all to the opportunities and the Internet provides