Apparently they play this song “Babylon” at high volume over and over again as torture. This might constitute a public performance, which would mean that they owe money to the label.
If this isn’t enough evidence as to how corrupt the minds are that work for the major corporate interests of the recording industry, I really don’t know what evidence might work better.
Although, in a weird way, perhaps this could be read as resistance via overidentification, i.e. we will use the same bizzare, hole-riddled legal system you used to permit official torture to dismantle some of its aspects.
It could also be read as a nice way to prolematize the idea of the “public” – who constitutes this, what defines a public, and so forth. The term “performance” as well is up for discussion.
The most interesting aspect, not really covered here and I’m trying to find some good links on the topic is the dark side of “Music” – when it becomes a weapon, dangerous or harmful to the people involved. Violent music is distinctly different from music as violence, and it’s this distinction that should be investigated. The payoff of this investigation would reveal the value structure of the society – for if art can be twisted into a weapon, what is really off limits to that society’s ethic?
A good mix might be a read of Herbert Marcuse’s “The Affirmative Character of Culture” or other essays from Negations along with the article to provide some nice framing for the forces working here.