Bye Bye BPI

This is addressed to Geoff Taylor of the BPI
Thanks to STB for the beat
You're the BPI's VIP and you've picked a fight with TPB
But P2P's too deep to preclude, don't you see?
You can't stop it
You won't stop it
You won't block it
So find another way to lie and line your own pocket
Most of us have composed a lot, no profit
99% of us will never have a pop hit
It's not rocket science, so don't knock it
And don't pretend like you're being philanthropic
Talent isn't rare, it doesn't need protection
Any claim to the contrary is pure condescension
con, deception, the wrong perception
Propagated by a proper dong, it's evident
Go to any pub
In any town
In any county
And count the musicians doing it without need
For some rudes in suits, [bad word] on our scene
And sticking in the boot
So you can stop telling me stuff
Put your money where your mouth is
And take a salary cut
Cause I'll happily put your cash into the hat of a busker
The BPI doesn't give a [bad word] for

[NOW SPEAKING: STEPHEN FRY]

Look, I've studied your justifications of what you seem to think
There couldn't be a clearer case of circular reasoning
You judge talent by how well they're selling
But they're only selling from how well you're selling them
You think Adele'd have reached where she was
Without the media machine feeding the buzz
You say artist should get paid for the work they do
But you only care about the ones that bring in revenue
If the bottom line is the sign of a good artist
The why the need to manipulate the market?
So Pro laissez faire you recommend protectionism
Where's your decision, on which method it is or isn't?
The only way your in today's position
Is through decades of ripping of plagiarism
But now the next generation's risen
You're complaining "Hey, we need to change the system
These crazy kids and their disco dancing
It isn't legitimate if we haven't cleared the sampling"
But surely sampling is always a bad thing
Not just when the bank accounts need balancing
And if MC's are paid related to their talent
How come I make a fraction of what T-Pain is selling?
If I re-made a ballad with sheen aimed at amorous teenagers
Daniel'd be famous now but it isn't gonna happen
So I'll stick to rapping with integrity
Something your industry is lacking

[NOW SPEAKING: IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE]

Ask any MC or composer
Piracy?
Yes Please! It's the only method I know to my VSTs
Nothing is proportionate, the prices are extortionate
To lawfully produce, only a portion can afford the stuff
I'm sure that cutting off connections and dealing bans
Would leave the music scene desolate, completely bland
Innovation comes from underground
Where there ain't much money round
So we resort to lawlessness to make the funny sounds
And then of course all that goes around comes around
The majors wander round and plunder from the underground
See you need us as much as we need you
And that might not be much depending on your view
I was once on the tube once and overheard a conversation
Between two rec execs planning exploitation
singer had passed on
So they tacked a [bad word] track onto the back catalogue
And laughed a lot
I thought: "I can't believe it, this is a mix up"
I'm literally listening to paint a vulgar picture
That the BPI can leave a site on the net censored
Is an incredibly terrible threat to the new tech sector
Now there's a industry that really needs fighting for
They're the future, you're just a wounded dinosaur

[NOW SPEAKING: TOM YORKE]

[NOW SPEAKING: JOSS STONE]

Tchaikovsky didn't need the BPI
Stravinsky didn't need the BPI
Verdi didn't need the BPI
Vivaldi didn't need the BPI
Rossini didn't