It didn't take long for Whitey's open letter published on his Facebook page (6th November 2013) to gain widespread social media support. And upon gaining the smell of blood, media agencies all over the world got in on the fun too.
In short, a TV executive unknowingly placed the last straw on his back when she asked if they could use the Englishman's music for free. He wasn't pleased. He publishes the email trail and the rest is history.
For fans used to this man's rants about the music industry, it comes as a pleasant surprise to see his cause in lights. In case you're still unaware, he has produced five rock/electro albums and has had his music featured in arguably two of the world's best TV series - with one being "The Sopranos". And at the same time, he has given his legion of fans an intriguing insight into the challenges facing today's musicians.
Last year, a contributor on bytestories wrote the following piece which gives an insight into the source of his frustration.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train (October 2012)
By Luke Simmons (Co-creator, bytestories.com)
While living in London, I was lucky enough to have a cool friendship with a French girl called Christine. We met at a Cut Copy gig in around 2005, started chatting about music and become pals. The main game was introducing one another to cool bands and one day she made me listen to a song called "Leave Them All Behind" by an English guy called Whitey. "Wow, this is trèèèès BIEN", I immediately thought to myself. After rapidly purchasing the album, I became pretty infatuated with his work so waited patiently for his 2nd album. And waited. I started to wonder what the hell was going on! Had he quit music?
And then, out of nowhere, his MySpace page came back to life in 2010 and he announced a new album. Around about this time, I noticed random songs of his popping up on YouTube and I did some searching to find out something REALLY intense.
This guy had completed his 2nd album in 2007, was in the process of trying to sell it to a label when everything was brought undone by someone who'd leaked a copy of the album online. At that exact moment, record companies pulled the trapdoor lever and his contract was ripped up. This left him seemingly stunned and with bills to pay. I can only imagine what he would have gone through.
However, the good news is that he's now using the Internet to sell direct to fans, has since re-released that album and one of his songs ("Stay on the Outside") was heard by millions after it was featured during the last season of "Breaking Bad".
UPDATE:
It's quite a busy year for him since this story was published. He's ditched his MySpace page and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund his next album sans support from a label. Although he out and out refuses to go on Twitter, he's gradually built up a loyal legion of fans on Facebook who he has to thank for his public boxing match with "the man" going viral.
With today's structure, will the cream indeed rise to the top OR does there need to be a shake up to allow talented musicians to make it by going direct to the fans.
You can listen to all of his songs here. For free.