The Man Who Would be Pirate

There's something intrinsically appealing about a business book titled The Pirate's Dilemma. Written by ex-pirate radio DJ turned business entrepreneur and now social advocate Matt Mason, the book chronicles our youth culture's ability to drive innovation through any means necessary — often times treading illegal waters along the way.

Matt Mason grew up in an upper middle-class neighborhood in West London. Like so many young people, music captured his attention — in particular, the music played on pirate radio stations throughout the city. An eclectic blend of youth and culture, these stations push revolutionary new styles of music, and they happen to be completely illegal. Yet Mason knew he had to be a part of it. "I was obsessed with it," he says.

Beginning at the age of 11, Mason became a popular fixture on the club circuit, in the beginning just handing out fliers, by 19 he had put out two records of his own — "the first was a tremendous success, the second, definitively not" — and by his early 20s he was a popular club and pirate radio DJ. Along the way, he also went to school, obtained a degree in economics and economic history and co-founded underground music magazine RWD, now one of the largest music titles in the United Kingdom.

"I grew up thinking that pirate radio is a cool thing," says Mason. "It may be illegal but it's also tolerated. Today the pirates command around 10 percent of London's radio audience. All the major record labels and legitimate radio stations have relationships with them. Within this unstructured framework, music is experimental — which means that new styles evolve quickly."

No matter what, kids will always take matters into their own hands when something they want is out of their reach. "Youth culture is the place we can find answers about how to compete and survive when information is not bound by 19th century intellectual property laws," says Mason. "Teenagers are oblivious to these things."

It's that driving youthful instinct to create something new and different which forms the basis of Mason's book. "Ideas that started within punk, disco, hip-hop, rave, graffiti and gaming have been combined with new technologies and taken to new heights by the generations that grew up under their influence," says Mason. His book draws from a cast of characters that includes the Ramones, Andy Warhol, Madonna, Russell Simmons and 50 Cent and uncovers the trends that transformed underground scenes into burgeoning global industries and movements.

Through it all, Mason persistently pursues the questions: How should we respond? Do we fight pirates or do we learn from them? Should piracy be treated as a problem or a solution? "All companies and artists are challenged on how they develop, share and consume information," he says. "I do believe there is more than one answer but indeed, piracy is a business model that can prove to be useful in other industries."

He points to examples such as Apple, who created a legal alternative to illegal download sites with iTunes and became a dominant player in the music industry. The video game industry is another example — instead of suing the legions of fans that unofficially remix video games into new creations, gaming companies hire the most talented programmers and legitimize what they do. Commercial radio stations in London also recruit the most popular DJs directly from the pirate stations in the same way.

"What matters is that when pirates are in a market place long term, what they've actually done is create a new space — a new business model," says Mason. "If a legitimate company's only response to this is protesting with lawsuits and persecuting their customers, the real problem is that they no longer have a competitive business model."

At 29, Mason has covered a lot of ground. Today, he lives in New York and is awaiting the publication of The Pirate's Dilemma, slated to hit stores in January 2008. Before departing on his global book tour, Mason remains content pouring his energies into his new passion — WEdia, a non-profit media company he co-founded with his wife Emily. "Throughout my life I've always had points where I couldn't imagine what I was going to do one year later," says Mason. "Who knows what's just around the corner."