Should record company stop the sales of CD if artist commits a crime?

[thesidekick17]

Recently I heard a news that one of the member of legendary Japanese folk rock group in 70's, Happy End, was arrested for possession of marijuana. As a result, record company decided to stop the sales of all CD's by this band.

Similar event took place when Komuro Testuya was arrested for Fraud.

As one of the music fan, it is extremely sad to see the songs that has build up a new generation in world of Japanese music become "out of reach" for the future generation to come.

I honestly think music the person created should not be banned for what that person did wrong.

I just wondered what others think about this.

[andy_3071]

Hmm, the record company seems to like to keep a clean image of themselves. I think music should be available for people who want a record of it. There are artist's that do drugs around the world and I don't think that their music should be taken off.

[drirelan]

actually i think its really not necessary to go as far as to stop selling CDs that have already been released -_-
if action has to be taken, suspending the artist would be enough already...theres no need to let the music go to waste when its already completed...

[toxic_gorilla]

I don't think it happens in the US when an American artist does a crime. But even though the Japanese music industry is probably different from the American, I still do not see why a record label would need to stop selling records from the accused musician.

[Wolfy]

The law is there to deal with crimes and misdemeanour's so company's shouldn't restrict an artist's livelihood.

[nivlek]

when an artist commits the crime it's the artist that takes the hit anyways i.e. endorsement companies cancel their contract or what not and putting a stop on sales of the artist's CD would probably eat away some of their profit margins too. I'm sure there are always those loyal fans that would still buy it.

[sabzero]

i dont think they should cancel the currently released albums, just rethink releasing anything new the musician produces/ taking a bigger portion of the profits. its a pity how much japanese companies put on their image.

as stated before, normally the musicians get hit hard anyway with endorsements and sponsors pulling out or cancelling contracts, without having their music prettymuch removed from the industry.

[ChanF07]

If an artist manages to sell some cds to someone who likes the music, then this is probably a waste of talent. I can't name any names atm but lots of 80's music groups in the USA were on drugs; many even candidly said that the drugs helped write the music.

[chibichanx3]

I don't think its necessary to stop sales. Music talent and private life activities shouldn't be related to each other in my opinion. If the band still has fans that want to buy their music after they committed such a crime, then why not let the CDs be bought? And really, I'm sure there are lots of bands or artists that use drugs but just aren't caught yet. =P

[.eXist.//.infiniTy.]

I think it depends on the crime. Also I think Japan has different opinions on crimes that don't seem as bad in the US. Which is good, IMO.

It's up to the record company. Some don't want to be associated with things like that, and I wouldn't blame them. Why keep someone on the roster that could possibly cause a backlash agains all the artists on the label, when they didn't do anything themselves?

[satsumiya]

I think it's not so much that companies care what artists do with their private lives, it's all about the company's image... Musical talent is pretty much not too related to the way someone lives their life, but a lot of companies wouldn't want to be associated with someone who does "bad" things or things that go against public opinion, because if the company endorses them, it can be seen as the company endorsing that behavior...

From a more personal/social life standpoint, I think this would kind of be similar to the logic of a friend at school or at work being a drug user, or a promiscuous person, or something like that. It is their own personal choice to do drugs, and hypothetically if it is not affecting their work, it has no direct effect on you or others... But if you are friends with them, others can sometimes see that as you associating with someone of "loose morals", so you might have loose morals too.

[MSPD]

No, it doesn't happen with every other piece of art so why should it happen with music?

[phuicloud]

I think its stated in their contract that they are not supposed to bring embarrassment to the company

[Rebirth Reborn]

Record company shouldn't stop the sales of CD even if the artist commits a crime. I mean, CDs are already at the market and pull them completely off the shelves doesn't bring much. Music is universal. The artist should be ban instead but let their music continue to sell.

[airu]

from the point of the market and fans, yes, the CD sales shouldn't be stopped like that when everything is in the process.

but when you talk about future generation, some kids get strange ideas when they hear that their favorite singer was caught with marijuana, as a parent, I'd be anxious about my child and I could think "Ah, I wish this CD wasn't here".

as for a company image, yes, some can do that just for the image and you can't blame them, they have their own reasoning, though it's always temporary ruckus which disappears in a month or so (I guess, no need to worry that your favorite artist will vanish)