September 15, 2009 1:39

Lily Allen challenges Radiohead over illegal file sharing

Singer says 'Music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music'

Photo Gallery: Lily Allen
Photo: Danny North

Lily Allen is urging fellow musicians to take a stand against illegal file sharing.

Speaking on her Myspace blog, the London singer called on other musicians to help her stamp out illegal file sharing.

"I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O'Brien from Radiohead don't seem to think so," she wrote.

"The Featured Artists Coalition [FAC] also says file sharing's fine because it 'means a new generation of fans for us'. This is great if you're a big artist at the back end of your career with loads of albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artists don't have this luxury."

She added: "Basically the FAC is saying 'we're alright, we've made it, so file sharing's fine', which is just so unfair to new acts trying to make it in the industry."

Going on to talk about her own debt with her record label and also about record labels investment in A&R (Artists and Repertoire), she closed the blog by saying:

"I'm going to be writing [to] British artists, saying just this: File sharing's not okay for British music. We need to find new ways to help consumers access and buy music legally, but saying file sharing's fine is not helping anyone - and definitely not helping British music."