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Just how is music piracy - wherein consumers download artists' music without paying for it - affecting the Australian independent music industry? It's an important question.

We broached the topic with Sabiene Heindl [pictured right], the General Manager of the Sydney-based organisation MIPI - Music Industry Piracy Investigations.

What's your take on music piracy, Sabiene?

Sadly, piracy is devastating the music community. With 95% of music downloads being illegal, artists and songwriters are quite simply not getting paid for their hard work. If artists and songwriters don’t get paid, the music is going to stop. Would you do your job for free?

Do you see it as a positive or negative thing for artists? 

If artists want to give away their music for example as part of some kind of promotion, that’s entirely their decision. The fact is, it should be the artist’s choice as to how their music is distributed – not the end consumer of the music. 

What - if anything - should we do to combat this mentality?

I think people really need to consider the future of music. Many people feel illegal downloads don’t matter because artists because Lady Gaga or Kanye West are millionaires. The reality is that if labels don’t get returns on these bigger acts then they don’t have the money to invest in new talent or smaller/lesser known Australian artists. People need to start thinking about how their lack of financial support for the industry affects everyone in the industry from artists and musicians to songwriters, studio engineers and so on. . 

Should such acts be accepted as the norm, or should industry bodies and labels continue to push against the tide through lawsuits and fear-mongering? Is there a better way? 

I don’t think fear-mongering and lawsuits against individuals will work. People need to be educated and learn that their actions have consequences for the future of music. We’d also like to see Internet Service Providers take a role in helping to educate people and reduce illegal file-sharing in Australia. 

Should the onus be on the artists to try harder for fans' financial support in the face of technological evolution? 

Artists already have a lot on their plate and for many of them they have other jobs to keep them financially afloat. However, it doesn’t hurt to hear from the artist directly on why it’s important that their fans do the right thing and support their music. As an industry, we all have a duty to encourage people to respect creativity. 

Finally, do you think that piracy has helped create a level playing field between the independent music industry and the majors? 

I believe the opposite has happened. Because there is less investment in new talent, music at all levels has been negatively affected. The harsh reality is that independent labels are being hit harder by piracy because they don’t have the big acts to rely upon.

In early 2010, the Finnish independent label Lion Music announced that it would not be signing any new artists, accepting any demos or responding to questions about releasing music. What was the reason for such a drastic move?  Well, despite having a strong catalogue of independent artists, Lion Music stated that it could no longer compete in a market swamped with illegal file sharing. Sadly, it’s no coincidence that the growth of illegal file sharing has closely coincided with the decline in legitimate music sales around the world.

Thanks for your time, Sabiene.

Sabiene Heindl is the General Manager of Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), the anti-piracy organisation for the Australian music industry representing indie and multinational record labels, songwriters and music publishers. MIPI is involved in civil and criminal rights enforcement, lobbying and education around respect for creativity. Sabiene has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of International Business and was formerly a Senior Associate in the Communications, Media & Technology Group at Allens Arthur Robinson in Sydney. She has also worked at the European Commission on intellectual property and competition law issues.

For more info on AIR and Australian independent music, visit http://www.ausindies.com.au/