Phish's Trey Anastasio Discusses His "Strong Opinion" About Napster On Debut of GetMusic's The A List With Anthony DeCurtis Show

Business Wire, May 23, 2000

Entertainment/Technology Editors

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 23, 2000

GetMusic the online music content, community and commerce company backed by BMG Entertainment and Universal Music Group, debuts its original series The A List With Anthony DeCurtis tomorrow night with a provocative interview with Phish members Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell. During the video interview, hosted by acclaimed journalist DeCurtis, Anastasio shares his convictions regarding the controversial online music file-sharing service, Napster.

"I have a very strong opinion about Napster. I think there are probably people that don't see the big picture, and what's going to happen is that advertisers are going to start getting paid and the artists aren't. The way the artist will get paid is to be attached to an advertiser. And I'm strongly against music being attached to the selling of a product.

"That being said," Anastasio continues, "I think the Internet is going to open up a lot of possibilities with music, and the shake-up of power is exciting to me. But I think that people should just be aware of the whole picture that when you're downloading music you're putting money in the hands of corporations for advertising and taking money away from the performers."

The video interview, which also delves into the making of the band's new album, Farmhouse, can be viewed in its entirety on GetMusic (www.getmusic.com/alist) beginning on Wednesday, May 24 at 8pm EDT and will be posted for an indefinite period of time.

About GetMusic LLC

Based in New York, GetMusic LLC is the comprehensive online music and lifestyle company financed by Universal Music Group and BMG Entertainment, corporations which represent a 45 percent combined market share of the U.S. music industry. The GetMusic Web site (http://www.getmusic.com) features a combination of cutting-edge content, community and commerce, offering music fans unprecedented access to their favorite artists and songs. Appealing to a wide range of musical tastes, the GetMusic Network of genre channels covers adult contemporary, alternative, classical, country, pop, rock, and urban music. The GetMusic Store features more than 250,000 music titles and distinctive value-adds.