Lily Allen has expressed her worries about illegal downloading and file sharing whilst taking a swipe at The Featured Artists Collaboration which includes members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd.

Posting on Myspace Lily said, “I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O'Brien from Radiohead don't seem to think so... The Featured Artists Coalition also says file sharing's fine because it 'means a new generation of fans for us'.

“This is great if you're a big artist at the back end of your career with loads of albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artists don't have this luxury. Basically the FAC is saying 'we're alright, we've made it, so file sharing's fine', which is just so unfair to new acts trying to make it in the industry.”

She goes on to add that record label bosses have acted too slow in dealing with modern technology and worries that they are now paying for their mistakes by taking finance away from A&R. Citing Spotify as a viable method of appeasing those who file share Allen ends by stating “Saying file sharing's fine is not helping anyone - and definitely not helping British music.”

(by David Renshaw)