Ms. Alanis Goes to Washington

Testifying Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on the future on online entertainment, the songstress, along with Eagles frontman Don Henley, voiced her opinions on the controversial song-swapping site before a packed house of Napster fans, music industry executives and Napster's CEO, Hank Barry.

During the hearing in Washington, D.C., Morissette and Henley both talked about how artists tend to be dissed by the big labels when it comes to Web-based music. Both singers also voiced their support for Napster and urged Congress to heed artists' concerns if they decide to write any laws regarding the future of the recording industry.

"Though I cannot speak for every artist, my initial resistance to the new services created online was based on the debate having been framed in terms of piracy. Being labeled as such by the record companies, it understandably sent a ripple effect of panic throughout the artistic community. But what I have since come to realize is that for the majority of artists, this so-called 'piracy' may have actually been working in their favor," Morissette told the committee.

The singer acknowledged that Napster has actually benefited many artists by giving them a direct link to their audience, as well as helping them sell concert tickets and promotional merchandise.

And she sided with Henley, a longtime proponet of artists' rights, in arguing that the recording industry's lawsuits against Napster should not stunt the growth of the Internet as a viable portal for artists to distribute their songs.

"I am here to emphasize how important I believe it to be, as you are considering constructing legislation that will govern the future of digital music distribution, that I, along with all artists, be actively involved in helping to develop what I know can be gratifying solutions for all involved," she concluded.

Added Henley: "We believe recording artists should always be paid for the exploitation of their sound recordings on the Internet, unless the recording artist makes the decision to provide the recordings free of charge."

Henley--who founded the Recording Artists Coalition, an artists' rights group--also urged the Judiciary Committee to consider forcing record labels into selling licenses to online music services such as Napster if the labels won't do it themselves.

"While we support the lawsuits [against Napster], the lawsuits should not be used to destroy a viable distribution system," said Henley. "Compulsory licenses should be considered, though only as a last resort."

Finally, Henley said artists, in addition to record labels and music Websites, should be included in any discussions of legislation of online music distribution.

While February's court ruling ordering Napster to remove all copyrighted material from its system has spelled the end of the innocence for the song-swapping service, Napster's Barry said his company is ready to do a "better job" by making licensed music available to subscribers online.

That is, of course, if Napster can get the big five record labels to license their copyrighted works for a flat fee as opposed to negotiating thousands of songs separately, something Barry says is in Congress' power to legislate.

"Licensed music should be available over the Internet as it is over radio," Barry told the committee. "There's been a failure in the marketplace and anytime that happens, Congress has to take a look."

As for Senator Orrin Hatch, the powerful head of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and sometime songwriter) insisted in record companies paying artists for downloads, but said he doesn't believe in forcing labels to license recordings to Napster. However, he didn't rule out other potential solutions, like tax breaks.

"I'm wondering if there isn't some way to put some incentive into the system so we wouldn't have all these conflicts," he said, before adding ominously, "Napster as we know it cannot continue."