There’s always been tension between art and commerce. But it has sunk to new lows in this country, in this era of late stage capitalism. It should be possible for companies to fund and distribute works of art - be they music, film, television, books - while turning a profit and protecting the artists. These things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, the relationships have become downright parasitic. Recently my son and I enjoyed watching season one of Pantheon on AMC. A beautifully compelling animated series based on work by the author Ken Liu. We were very much looking forward to season two. Which has already been completed and delivered to AMC. But rather than airing it, AMC is taking the despicable route of burying the entire season for a tax write-off. How utterly demoralizing for everyone who worked on the show. I first heard about this brand of shittiness with the Batgirl movie, back in August. Sadly, it seems to be a trend now.
In other bummer news, Low is my all-time favorite band. Alan Sparhawk’s wife and bandmate, Mimi Parker, died in November. They earned their money by touring, which is no longer possible.
Alan Sparhawk Discusses Fight To Get Low’s Masters Back From UMG:
Replying to a request for a repress of Low’s 1994 debut album I Could Live In Hope on Wednesday, Sparhawk responded, “@UMG won’t give the rights back. We’ve asked. Original advance was tiny, did 3 1/2 records with them that they won’t give back to us after 25+ years now. They keep licensing to crappy reissue companies and we see nothing. Meanwhile, we can’t tour anymore and tour was all our $.” When prompted to get a lawyer, Sparhawk wrote, “Been doing that for several years now. We get the run-around and end up nowhere.”
Please sign this petition imploring UMG to do the right thing and release Low’s masters to Alan.
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