Team Love Library

OK, I'm back on Gruff again.

Candylion's US label, Team Love, have introduced the Team Love Library. Amid all the debate regarding illegal downloads, the impending death of the music industry and the moral ambiguity of the whole damn piracy issue, Team Love have took an admirable step in creating a library of free downloads for their roster of artists.

From their website;

"Each month (or so) we’ll be rotating the Library’s selections, featuring different Team Love albums as well as exclusive content such as unreleased songs, live or remixed versions of TL favorites.

The library will be open to the public 24/7, and as we have an endless abundance of MP3’s (we fucked up and made too many of them), anything you take from the library is yours to keep. You will not be notified if you fail to return something on time, and you will not lose your library privileges if you share selections with friends."

In my eyes this is a step in the right direction for music. Labels need to be aware of, and embrace, the mixtape/bootleg ethic that make finding new music such a thrill. The joy of finding something rare and sharing it with friends.

Especially with the Furries, however, I am very conscious of the fact that they rely on fans for their living and I want to support them in any way I can. If the fans didn't help to keep them going, they wouldn't be able to provide us with the music we love. So I don't download bootlegs or pirate versions of any music. As a result, I'm very grateful that a label (even just a small indie label) has given free access to new music, unreleased tracks, remixes etc. After all, it all helps to build a fan base for new bands or strengthen the fan base of established acts. I might download something for free now, like what I hear and later purchase more of the artists work. It's like a free taster (tell him it's ok, we learn this way). It's the future, man!

Anyway... the point of this post is that in the future there may be some Gruff-related goodies available for free on the library. Unfortunately, from what I've read, it looks like only US residents will benefit from any free Gruff releases. As Candylion was released on Rough Trade in the UK, Team Love can't release any tracks from the album to UK residents (I'm guessing that includes unreleased tracks and remixes as well).

Ah well. C'est la vie.

Access the library here;

Team Love Library