Singing songs for
corporate alms

Following the example of U2 band manager Paul McGuinness, who shamed record companies for failing to buttress artists against digital age piracy, musician Billy Bragg aspires to protect musicians from exploitation by social networks.

Bragg wrote an editorial in Saturday's New York Times about the recent sale of Bebo to AOL, opining on its potential implications for musicians on the social network.

Bragg said artists should get a cut of Bebo's $850 million sale price. "Their investment is the content provided for free while the site has no liquid assets," he argued. "Now that the business has reaped huge benefits, surely [free content providers] deserve a dividend."

The statement was made despite artists' apparent willingness to upload profiles and music onto Bebo without expecting compensation.

Some years ago, Bragg demanded that MySpace change its proprietary rights clause after proving the site took residual rights from original songs posted by unsigned musicians.

His complaints drove MySpace to change its terms, leaving original content posted on the site in the ownership of creators.

Bragg compared big social networks to traditional media that use music as promotional content. "Radio stations also promote our work, but they pay us a royalty… Why should that not apply to the internet, too?"