WickedWesticle says:
I'd like to think that what we have gained over the last few years is an enormous increase in variety and quality.
Podge says:
please explain how pirating has contributed to this? i agree that there is an increase but i cannot see any direct correlation.
Good point, I was a little off topic there.
WickedWesticle says:
Yeah there's a lot more crap but there's also a lot more good stuff too. Much of this I have been exposed to because I stole it (have to be honest here - it is stealing) through downloading. Part of the problem is the enormous increase in variety and the fact that I couldn't possibly buy all the stuff I like the sound of so somewhere along the way I have to decide whether I listen to a band legally or not.
Podge says:
see this is the big issue right here. i'm glad that you admit it is stealing, but I don't get to read anywhere near the amount I would like to but you don't see me floating round waterstones nabbing books. the reason being is because A) its wrong and B) because i'm likely to get done for it. if i'm on the internet i'm unlikely to get found out and therefore its seen as being OK.
This relates to my point about the change to digital from physical. Current technology means that most music can be shared/copied across the entire world and there really isn't that much that you or I can do about it other than work with it. It may be wrong to at the moment but it's also impossible to restrict or control the use (listening/sharing etc) of digital files. DRM is bad, Watermarking is bad. With this in mind the musicians and labels (especially the underground stuff) should pre empt where the industry is moving to and provide their content in all formats; Allow fans to buy physical and digital and also allow them to stream entire releases through as many online systems as possible. That way the labels and artists can manage their content themselves and ensure the fans are going to their websites/online profiles to check out their music. If those fans that are happy downloading knew they could listen to all the stuff online anyway then it may stop them from downloading and it would generate online plays (and therefore exposure with sites like Last.fm) for the artists.
WickedWesticle says:
I can see your point with us losing the live experience but there is another side to that coin in that if all recording music was easily available to hear/stream/whatever then music goes back to being ALL about the live experience (like it was before people like Edison invented record players).
Podge says:
but music is free to anyone who wants to download stuff and has a smidgen of technical know how yet we have all seen live shows decline year on year. and if bands can only make money from live shows then their fee is going to go up and the door price is going to go up
PS3s and XBoxes have a lot to answer for with the decline in live show attendence but so does the doom/whatever scene itself. I mean bands and promoters here. It's disorganised, badly publisiced, badly promoted and disconnected. Social media sites are abused and rarely do bands coordinate gig promotion.
There are other ways to make money - merchandise, royalties through online plays (ReverbNation, Last.fm etc.), sync licencing (Pump Audio) and so on. Live gigs for small bands rarely pay well so bands must look for alternative ways of making money.
WickedWesticle says:
The change from physical to digital is not the same as the change from tape to CD and the fans, artists, label and industry need to adapt.
WickedWesticle says:
I understand your frustration at the file sharing blogs that don't link to your label or your artists - that is rubbish of them to do so. I doubt those two hundred people would have bought the CD or possible even heard of the band without that blog though. I think a better resolution would have been to slap the blog on the wrist and ask them to re post with a link to your label, the band, their last.fm page and so on.
Podge says:
i also doubt that the 200 people would have bought it, but maybe some would, even 1 in 100 would have been nice. there was a time when people would support new talent. not any more. the blog owner had no interest in reposting with links because I was "the man" and I owned a record label and therefore I was a money grabber who only saw bands as profit. I'll see if I can find the emails though I may have deleted them to save me from being enraged
Sounds like the guy's a bit of a tool with no knowledge of what a label like yours does.