Brian is FURIOUS!

ok, I calmed down.
I understand there are some assholes who are not going to buy the concert but d/l them illegaly. Sincerely Mr. May, do you believe that these are the real Queen Fans? The real ones get the mpeg concert and when it is officially released buy it.He should know that. That's why I am so angry.
And he still is a great (the greatest :$) guitar player. But, he should be careful with his accusations. I felt hurt. And as far as I can see on this board, I wasn't the only "real" Queen fan who felt that way. I just hope that Brian reconsiders his views. Maybe he should read this thread and see what we "parasites" are like.
Long live Queen, the greatest band ever. GReatest Music. Greatest fans??? lol

I wonder how Brian feels now that the whole concert is available for download from the official site.

Maybe it's there, like an apple, to tempt us. But we are human, we are weak, and we cannot resist...

Sorry Bri

People take his comments much to personal! IF you called 46664, or downloaded the songs from 46664 and paid for them, OR you have planned to buy the DVD, then you are NOT the parasite Brian is talking about!
If you downloaded the songs (the studiotracks I mean) for free with the intension to buy the CD later, well, that is not nice! Surely you can miss 99 eurocents?? If you find it too much then don't download the tracks! And those having the studiotracks online for download, those people are the most worst parasites!

Dear Brian May,

I can understand your well-founded outrage at people who seem, in your opinion, to be taking advantage of artist’s charitable work. In that sense you are clearly correct and have every right to be upset. However, on the other side of coin, it is virtually impossible for artists such as yourself to be unaffected by illegal downloads of their music. Clearly, there are those computer-savvy individuals who take advantage no matter what the cost to causes that desperately need the revenue from paying donations. But I ask HOW DO WE PREVENT THIS THEFT! Until there are more restrictions placed on unauthorized downloads I see no other way to prevent artistic theft. Therein lies another argument as to freedom of usage on the internet, this argument is being debated and will continue to be debated until a solution that appeases both sides of the issue.

Personally,

I think the internet should be FREE for ALL! If people wish to donate for causes they should be given the option to do so. I'm not saying you are totally wrong, you made a very valid point but just like napster.com if you want to download full versions of songs the fee for some should be waived or lessen so that kids who do NOT have a lot of money can enjoy their fav music without having it be out of financial reach.

Sincerely,

Kriz ;o)

Kriz, go to www.brianmay.com and send Brian an email. That first paragraph is gold.

No way GH! I would if I thought he cared enough to read it. So far my experience with brianmay.com has been at the disgrestion of the webmistress and I really do not think she would forward my message to BM himself. So I am once again left to my own devices.

However, I wanted everyone here at QZ know how I feel on the issue at hand, to me the fans really matter, Brian seems to be in one of his many moods. I don't think he cares what little me thinks at all.

Kriz ;o(

If you send him an email with the subject line of "Brian, I agree with you on the 46664 download matter, and the WWRY musical is bigger than Jesus", then he'll be sure to read it. :)

But seriously, perhaps just saying in the subject line, "46664 downloads", me may indeed read it. You have nothing to lose in trying!

Here's my two cents on Brian's comments:

The only thing I think Brian initially did wrong is specify what exactly he meant by "46664 downloads". If he was referring to people who are sharing the official tracks such as Amandla, Invincible Hope and The Call, then he was 100% justified in what he said. It is absolutely guaranteed there are people who downloaded those songs and have now decided they don't need the album because they have all the songs they want from it. The lazy mp3 generation, as Niek kindly has put it.

Now that they've got the whole 46664 concert available to watch on the 46664 site, what else would Brian be referring to? Come on folks, he's not a moron. Obviously, he's not referring to people who are sharing portions of the concert. He's most certainly talking about the studio versions.

Take it from Brian's perspective. Those angry words came from a man who has spent countless hours, days, and months, devoting his life to AIDS awareness and everything surrounding it. When he sees people who have a means of potentially affecting sales of an album which will benefit the AIDS cause, he is 100% justified in calling them parasites. They're taking away money from people dying with AIDS, even if it is such a minimal amount. It's still money, and it can still make a difference.

Shame on anyone who shares songs intended for charity for free. I'm with Brian, 100%.

GH-- I agree especially since I did watch two of my best friends and a cousin slowly succomb to the horrors of AIDS. My cousin died from the same AIDS-related affliction as FM. It was just so awful near the end and I cry and cry when I think of him and FM as well. Brian, Roger and Deaky had to endure watching the same thing happen in front of them, my heart goes out to them. Brian is the most sensitive of the three and he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, especially on his website. Maybe I will send the email, I seriously need to think about it first. I do not want to be misconstrued again.

Kriz ;o)

Wow, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Don't worry, if Brian reads your email, and you mention your AIDS-related experiences to him, his heart will definitely cry out to you and what you've gone through. That I can guarantee.

Brian posts on his soapbox today that he's terribly disappointed that the concert was not aired in its entirety in the UK.

Later on, he stands by what he said about those who downloaded the concert. But that it's OK to watch it in real time on that website (that gave me constant fits) WTF !?!?!?

I don't know who is more confused now....him or me

To be fair, I don't expect Brian to trawl through all our shit to find out what we think, and subscribing to QMS tends to fill one's inbox alarmingly.

Also the people who feel strongly are mainly the people offended/upset/a bit critical by Brian's words - there are hundreds of people who read this board and either hardly ever or never post, and they're hardly likely to tell us they disagree are they? So you have a silent group who agree with Brian and think we're heretics or something. Plus we've already theorized that negative/critical emails won't even reach Brian anyway.

PS Hello again to the silent hordes. Next time it looks a bit quiet, sneak a few posts in, hopefully nobody will notice and you won't get flamed too badly...

Well, I'm glad Brian talked about his feelings about the broadcast (or the lack of it) of the 46664 concert. Someone here already made a remark about artists who weren't at the concert but used the 46664 logo in their own appearances and he/she was right about Brian's thoughts about that. Brian mentioned it also. His first remark was a very direct one and if Brian intended to make us realise what downloading of original material implies he sure made his point and made us aware of what we actually know ourselves, that that is a bad thing for the business. In my view it's alright to download a "worldwide" broadcasted television programm while "everybody" could be able to videotape it themselves. Especially when we can see the whole show on the web in an official way. It should not keep us from buying the original material when it's released of course, but that is clear to all of us.

'In my view it's alright to download a "worldwide" broadcasted television programm while "everybody" could be able to videotape it themselves.'
yes. riek and in fact brian spoke ONLY about the songs downloadable BEFORE the concert and not about the recordings of the broadcast

Rien, sorry not riek