Indies Blossoming Despite RIAA 316
Shadow Wrought writes "We have all read the numerous RIAA articles on Slashdot, not to mention scores of other articles that discuss the industry's purported demise. An article at the Christian Science Monitor calls this assumption into question by pointing to the success that Indie Labels are beginning to enjoy. An interesting read and one that provides pretty good support against the RIAA's argument that a quartet of college students is responsible for their troubles."
hah...what about the future!? (Score:5, Insightful)
sorry, i'm just a jaded lil kid.
all it takes is one major success to make a label "big" from there, its just a question of whether or not they have the guts to stick to their creed or sell out.
and we all know how tempting it is to sell out...
Re:hah...what about the future!? (Score:5, Insightful)
And there will always be people that don't listen to the music that is on the radio.
Stab and Kill Records [stabandkill.com]
Re:hah...what about the future!? (Score:5, Insightful)
The main problem with the recording industry today is that there are so few players, each with a "big enough" piece of a big pie, that they have no need to really compete. Implicitly or explicitly, they have agreed on a price for a CD, and even how many songs to put on an album.
If many indie labels become big, the resulting marketplace will be more competitive, leading to better label-artist relationships (because labels now have to compete for the best artists) and better if not cheaper products overall.
The computer industry is full of examples of small companies becoming big ones. If we exclude the monopolies, you'll see the benefits of competition. IBM used to be able to charge pretty much whatever it wanted to, for example.
Re:hah...what about the future!? (Score:3, Insightful)
already happened (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:already happened (Score:5, Informative)
[theonionavclub.com]
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3517/avfeat
You can't buy out a better deal. (Score:3, Interesting)
They don't have enough money and never will. Someone noticed that everyone but the RIAA can do better without the RIAA. So what happens when the RIAA buys out hundreds of independent record lables and shuts them down or otherwise makes them suck? Hundreds of new ones sprout up. If you are a manager who was feeling furfilled making money for yourself and your musicians by promoting good music, you set up a new shop. The artists, who didn't have to give
I dislike the RIAA (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:5, Insightful)
If the RIAA wants to stop assuming our guilt, I'll be a bit more pissy on piracy. As it stands, I avoid it but still pay tax on CD's - so why should I also have to worry about lawsuits?
Of course, that being said, I've heard of a lot of RIAA against organization/user action in the US and other countries (Australia, etc)... anyone know of anything happening in Canada, or are our CD levies actually covering us (if so... time to heat up my burner and kazaa!).
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the way I look at it. If they're going to charge me extra for my media because of "piracy", then I guess I'd better get my money's worth... Hence my relatively large collection (250+ CDs) of movies, anime, games...
And they want to increase the levy VERY SIGNIFICANTLY... if that happens, my rate of piracy will go up proportionately... the new levy is more than double the current rate, IIRC.
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:3, Informative)
Re:An attempt to name 37 operating systems (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:5, Insightful)
F'r'instance, I bet that every time a fan A makes his/her friend B a copy of an Alison Krauss album, B buys, on average, 2 more Alison Krauss albums. (Yes, she's that good; she's nothing like the "country" music you hear on a generic Clear Channel country radio station.) Alison Krauss has been making records for 17 years, since she was 15 years old. If you are Alison Krauss or her record label (Rounder), you are interested in building a fan base for the next thirty-odd years of her career, not trying to squeeze every dollar out of 15 minutes of fame. The odd fan burning a CD for a pal is just giving her and Rounder free advertising. Anything other than a warehouse cranking out hundreds of copies really isn't going to be a problem.
On the other hand, if you have a record company built on promoting one-hit wonders, and someone burns a CD of your current artist's album -- well, it's likely that there won't be 2 more albums to buy by that artist. (Not to be mean: Britney Spears is charming in her way and nice to look at, but I really can't imagine that she is going to record 10 albums in her career.)
The upshot is that major labels pushing top-40 singles benefit a lot from cracking down on copyright infringement; indy labels and serious musicians, not so much.
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:4, Funny)
Jesus God, don't jinx us. Knock on wood when you say something like that.
not theft, damnit! (Score:2, Informative)
If I copy a disc, you still have what you started with.
There is no deprevation, ergo there is no theft.
Does anyone know what the legal definition of theft is?
Re:not theft, damnit! (Score:4, Insightful)
You can argue that the performer shouldn't have such a broad right to decide how and on what terms copies are made (and there are limits on that right, e.g., fair use and the right to make copies for one's own personal use). But there's no debate about whether, under current law, artists have that broad right.
(There is no single "legal definition" of theft under American law. Many states don't use the word in their penal code; they call it "larceny" or something else depending on the circumstances.)
Re:not theft, damnit! (Score:2, Informative)
484. (a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, carry, lead, or drive away the personal property of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate property which has been entrusted to him or her, or who shall knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defraud any other person of money, labor or real or personal property, or who causes or procures others to report falsely of his or her wealth or merc
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:5, Insightful)
"
Well there's really not enough information to answer this question, but I'll take a stab at it. No. Simply put, I trust that most people are honest. I'm going to treat them that way. If somebody makes my content available, and somebody else picks it up, then I instantly have exposure that I didn't have previously. $20 is a lot to spend if you don't like something that you can't return.
I don't think most of the people who would acquire my content for free would pay for it in the first place. At least then I'd have my foot in the door. If they don't like it, they're not going to download anymore. No harm done. I didn't get my $20, but at the same time they didn't get satisfactory service. If they do like it enough that they'd download it (bored perhaps?) but not enough to pay for it, then it means my prices are too high or my content just isn't good enough for them. Sorry, but I can't make everybody like anything I make. So no harm done either, especially when their acquisition of my content didn't cost me anything personally. All that's left are the people who download it simply because they don't want to pay for it. Should they be thrown in jail? I don't feel strongly they should. I can't imagine I would have gotten money from them if I had some perfect protection mechanism. At least that way there's the benefit of them sharing it with other people and getting their interest in it. Again, no losses or damage done to me here.
If it reached a point where more people were acquiring my content than paying for it, then I think that's more of a reflection of my price tag or quality than I do of people needing the law to hammer them down. It means that I need to provide more or provide cheaper. That's easy, create an incentive for people to buy it. "Buy this DVD, and you get a statue of the main character for free." Etc. Or, make more content that'd be hard to send with it. "This DVD also contains a High Definition 1080p version of the content" (like in the earlier article about MS and Terminator 2 Ultimate Edition.) Maybe they don't want the media, maybe they want an electronic version they can store on the hard drive? Well in that case I should provide it instead of causing them to seek other methods to doing it.
For the record, I'm an artist. That's what I do for a living. Copyright's very important to me, but jail time for somebody downloading or distributing a copy of my work is ridiculous. I'd rather just figure out a way to work with them on it. If they're willing to redistribute my work, then maybe there's a deal that can be made there. "At least advertise my deal for purchasing stuff."
The only time I'd be really worried about somebody redistributing my stuff is if they're making money off it illegally. That's really what copyright law is for. It's not about suing America's future.
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:2, Interesting)
In a market economy, supply and demand seeks equalibrium. Your point is VERY accurate. If kids don't want to pay $16.00/CD maybe musicians are overpaid.. why is Britney Spears a multi-millionaire (endorsements excluded)? None of Hugh Hephner's girls are..
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd get the $.50 beer.
1.) $.50 is quite reasonable for beer.
2.) I don't know that the $.01 beer hasn't been tampered with. (ever download a song that has a glitch in it? Yuck.)
3.) I could get the $.50 beer really fast, vs. the $.01 beer would take an hour to pour.
4.) If I'm a fan of that particular brand of beer, I'm going to keep buying it from it's source instead of waiting for somebody to show up with it at $.01.
The only way I'd take the $.01 beer is if I had never had that brand before.
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:2)
BTW, pirated games are not very popular on Kazaa, especially in contrast to ripped DVDs etc. Coicidentally, most pc games have a demo download available, legitimately. I think the reason that game piracy's not so high on Kazaa is because game companies have realized that people want to know
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:2)
Which doesn't mean that the same model will work for the music industry, at all. You'l
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:2)
Hardly apples to apples, but NG already covered that.
I used to really be into gaming. When the internet came along, I found myself in gaming news heaven. No longer did I have to wait a month to get a new mag, instead I could get daily updates on the net! COOL! For a while, I stopped buyi
Re:I dislike the RIAA (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It's called economic sabotage. (Score:2, Interesting)
This statement presumes that there is only one kind of business research--the old kind. Although it flies in the face of outmoded business models, the "piracy" model has many strenghts, from which the RIAA is too bloated to learn.
Bye-bye, Bronto!
A new distribution model will achieve prominence within the next five years, and with it a cascade of changes in the the structure of copy
Icon? (Score:3, Insightful)
Makes you wonder. Why we don't have an RIAA topic, but we have new 'console' based game topics [slashdot.org]. Honestly, look at how many times articles on
New topics are nice, especially when you have enough stories to make one.
Re:Icon? (Score:2)
I was actually kinda surprised when I went to submit that there was not a RIAA section (or even a *AA section). With all the stories I just kinda figured there would have been one. I think that maybe its time has come.
As for the M$ logo (note biased use of $ instead of S), I think that even M$ apologists would have to agree that there is a certain amount of truth to the icon. I also do not know when, if ever, Slashdot has ever purported to be unbiased. There is no suc
Re:Icon? (Score:2)
Not when MS does something good, like supporting AMD's 64-bit chip or porting their media stuff to Linux. At that point it's just childish.
Re:Icon? (Score:2)
I am not in support of the icon because M$ has never done anything good for the computer industry, I am in support of the icon because it is accurate. M$ goal is to dominate the computer industry, and they rely upon their market share to force the issue.
As for the Linux icon being a guy with a beard, thick glasses, and bad hygeine, I chuckled at that one as well. Icons are, a
Re:Icon? (Score:5, Interesting)
Indie labels? Here's one better! (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks to CD burners costing dirt these days, you can find individual bands all over the net who are publishing on their own. CDBaby.com [cdbaby.com] offers a storefront and listening booth for hundreds of these bands. Dig around a little and listen with an open mind. You will find something you like.
If they still offer it, try and get your hands on one of the sampler discs (100 MP3 tunes from different bands, broken down by genre) and see if you don't find a dozen albums you want.
There's a HUGE amount of good stuff here, and the bulk of the cash goes to the band. You pay less than you pay for most mainstream commercial music, and sometimes the band even writes directly to ask what you thought of the disc afterward. Virtually all of the bands are accessible and love it when you write them to chat as well.
After the band, the rest of the cash goes to the guys you see on the CDBaby website [cdbaby.com]. NO RIAA GOUGING HERE. No subsidizing bastard lawyer cabals. They even run OpenBSD and Apache. It's ALL good! :-)
No, I don't work for them, I'm just a very happy customer. I've bought over a hundred discs, and I don't miss pouring through the old over-hyped and mass-produced sludge to find the rare gem one bit!
Can you tell I like CDBaby?
Re:Indie labels? Here's one better! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Indie labels? Here's one better! (Score:5, Interesting)
See if Hillary Rosen ever does that for you. ;-)
Don't forget your freedom--prefer Ogg Vorbis. (Score:3, Insightful)
It would be more insightful if that person were advocating not using codecs that are not freely available. Perhaps the president of CDBaby could spend some time helping to popularize Ogg Vorbis [vorbis.com] and give portable digital music players more reason to pursue a market not based on patent encumberance (that many people claim sounds better than MP3
Re:Indie labels? Here's one better! (Score:2, Funny)
They even run OpenBSD and Apache. It's ALL good!
What!? OpenBSD!?!? I could _never_ support a site that doesn't run NetBSD!!! INFIDEL!!!!
Seriously, it is a good idea; there are other similar sites around as well - country specific and sometimes genre specific as well. They are well worth taking a look at.
The real trick for this to work is of course to make samples (as in whole, representative songs) available very easily. If you can buy the rest of the songs directly, without having to go through t
Re:Indie labels? Here's one better! (Score:3, Interesting)
Hmmm.
Here's the real deal... buying music is like eating in a resturant. Go to McDonald's and you know what you're going to get. Go to the local hole-in-the-wall (ie: independent) and you could get anything.
Now, I've put substances into my mouth that instigated immediate convultions. I've heard music like that, too.
Some people like having their food and their music pre-processed for them. Some people like to eat dirt
Re:Indie labels? Here's one better! (Score:5, Interesting)
Yeah CD Baby is blossomming, too. It's really funny when you hear those stories from the major labels saying that the whole music industry is declining (cough cough).
I suspect it's just the majors that are declining because all the independent musicians I know are reaching more people than ever, and are more in control of their own career than ever before!
Look at this most recent sales chart [cdbaby.org] for our one little store.
Slump? What slump?
- Derek
What are the names of those sample CDs? (Score:2)
Very interesting idea - however, I can't find sample MP3 CDs on the website. Are you talking about this [cdbaby.com], or something else? If it's an actual CD, can you please post the name? I'd be willing to pay for a CD like this, to figure out which artists have some potential...
Are indies really going to be impervious? (Score:4, Insightful)
Eventually, when big business wraps their hands around these labels and starts infecting them with their jaded business model, these "adults" will probably get just as irritated as the "quartet" of college students.
I'm going to stick with the idea that the RIAA needs to stop ignoring its customers and fundamentally alter their business model to reflect how people want their music. They don't want a CD consisting of 1 good song with 10-15 more crappy songs just so the label can jack up the price 500%. People want to be in complete control of how and when they get the songs they actually listen to. I refuse to be forced to buy a CD for $18+ just so the RIAA and the labels can enjoy a profit.
Re:Remember the single? (Score:2)
Why buy a single for almost half the cost of an album?
Excellent place to buy indie music (Score:4, Insightful)
ALL music on the site is indie music
Check out one of my favorite bands on there:
Human [cdbaby.com]
Not a surprise (Score:5, Funny)
I've known this for years.Fugazi [dischord.com], demonstrated this years ago.
Re:Not a surprise (Score:5, Interesting)
You or my opinion of Fugazi is irrelevent to the fact that they have been publishing their own music (via Dischord, which the lead singer owns) quite profitably for over a decade. They have done this with no "Independent Promotors" paying radio stations to play their stuff. They have done this with no advertisements (including T-Shirt sales). They have done this with no music videos. They has done this merely by working their asses off, touring, learning to produce, learning to record and making music that people like. Enough people like them, that they earn a descent honest living.
I'd be willing to be, after all deductions, each member of Fugazi makes more money per year than most of todays top 20 "artists".
The point stands.
Re:Not a surprise (Score:2)
In one year? Maybe not. Over a career? I bet you're right; I bet it's not even close.
Go Indie! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Go Indie! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Go Indie! (Score:2, Insightful)
John Doe, Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Major label content: Circular filing cabinet, thank you very much.
Indies, RIAA incompatible? (Score:5, Insightful)
These days, just spinning yourself as an 'independent' label gives PR dividends.
How many 'independent' labels are members of the RIAA? If you look at their membership list (someone give me a link, please), you'll see more than just the 'mega-biggies'.
I'd be willing to bet that many indies buy onto the RIAA's DRM position. Many artists do, for that matter. So why do we assume that a label is non-RIAA compatible if it's indie?
RIAA members (Score:3, Informative)
Looks like 50:1 on Indies vs. Big 5 in there...
Though I'm not sure how many of the members are subsidiaries of the major labels.
Proletariat of the world, unite to kill RIAA
Re:RIAA members (Score:2, Interesting)
History repeating itself? (Score:5, Insightful)
The record companies claimed that cassette tapes allowed easy "pirating" of music and evil thieves weren't buying records anymore.
However, sales climbed back up in the 80s, despite the fact that cassette tapes weren't outlawed. Jenkins theorizes that it was actually "personality-free" disco that convinced people to stop buying records. He then draws parallels between disco and today's "teen-pop".
Both are intellectually underachieving, cookie-cutter styles that have made stars of performers not known primarily for their skills as singers, songwriters, or musicians.
It's an insightful article. Definitely worth a read.
Personally, I was never a big music listener, but the RIAA has pretty much turned me off every buying a CD again.
Re:History repeating itself? (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe the RIAA should pressure MTV to start playing music videos again.
I'm surprised I haven't seen a slashdot article on how Clear Channel is going to start blowing off all the independant promoters. Could Clear Channel actually be doing a good thing?
Re:History repeating itself? (Score:2)
Re:History repeating itself? (Score:3, Informative)
The early 1960s were the blossoming of a new rock n roll sound that was in many was fundamentally different. It reached a zenith in about 1970 and just got beaten to death with theme and variation by the late 1970s.
The late 1970s (in the UK) and early 1980s in the US saw the blossoming of another new era in music ("alternative" -- hate the word, but its vague enough to su
Wait, only passing mention of Ani? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wait, only passing mention of Ani? (Score:2)
I heard they were going to make her Manager this year. Congratulations Ani! I think we're going to go to the employee party over at the Tap 'n' Grill...
You mean... (Score:4, Insightful)
And this despite the various "taxes" independents have to pay the RIAA for the right to compete with them (built-in fees on DAT tape, CD-R media; attacks on webstreaming, etc.)
Re:You mean... (Score:2)
Despite RIAA?? (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, if the RIAA weren't into heavy handed tactics, sueing students, making virtually-unusable copy-protected CD's, and charging unreasonable amounts for music... how would Indie music be doing?
Hell, I think that the RIAA is helping Indie music. People don't want to pay for overpriced music anymore, they're looking at alternatives... copying is free but becoming less attractive due to lawsuit... so the next cheapest route is indie and others (not to mention some often damn good tunes).
Indies know things that the big labels don't! (Score:5, Interesting)
One musician bucking the system (Score:5, Informative)
His CD is only available via his website (codychesnutt.com) and he is going it alone to make a stand against the music industry. I can appreciate this man's efforts, and it parallels a lot of what we in the OSS community are up against. If you're wondering, I have no ties to this guy at all... I just heard about him a couple hours ago, but I wish him nothing but the best... and his song "Look Good In Leather" is pretty damn catchy as well
Re:One musician bucking the system (Score:2)
The RIAA... (Score:4, Insightful)
You'd think the RIAA would try to do things like that, or at least try to appeal to the older generation of music listeners, maybe even try to get them to stop their kids from using P2P networks before they get into college, etc. But no... The RIAA probably eliminated their HR and Marketing board a while ago to pay for their Anti P2P hackers...
*/conspiracy rant*
What I don't get is why they are still doing the same old thing (poisoning P2P networks instead of enhancing their own.) They have a bad reputation as it is. I would try to see if Hilary Rosen or some RIAA/ex-RIAA could do an Ask /. article, but... no. That could be bad, although it would be interesting to see how they answered the questions... Would they lie or just squirm?
Re:The RIAA... (Score:2)
My conspiracy rant: ;-)
Too many people don't understand what the RIAA and members are really afraid of. Their entire business model is based upon limiting choices and controlling distribution. When lots of people are able to go to any artist's site (or p2p) and check out the music, they all won't choose the same artists. This fragments the market and allows any small timer to compete.
Before the internet, I didn't know much of anything about independent music. Most of the local stuff is hardcore christia
Bah! (Score:2, Interesting)
The local band I can't sing but my tits are great, are more than willing to accept the major label money when it is offered to steal them away from the local record label, based out of Bobs garage. ("It doesn't pay well, but we love making music") The label then
Re:Bah! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bah! (Score:3, Informative)
Badfinger was a classic band in their own right, and I highly recommend them. Most of their albums came out on Apple records, and are still in print (reissues) you might want to avoid 'Airwaves' as that is probably the weakest...
Reply to the RIAA... (Score:4, Insightful)
No, your music just sucks as of late. Indie bands are so much better.
Deja Vu George (Score:4, Insightful)
Yup, I guess you could say that the RIAA is feeling the pinch. Let me think. I bought on average 50 CD's a year at roughly $15.00 a pop. That comes out to $750 a year. But since the RIAA has decided take up an attitude that we are all crooks, I have decided to support the INDIE groups instead. If it's an RIAA music company, I don't buy the CD. Well, looky here, that's a 100% drop in business from one person. One does not make a pattern, but I know for fact I'm not alone!
Just read [slashdot.org] my [slashdot.org] comments [slashdot.org] from other posts.
predicted demise is for the the giant labels (Score:3)
Smaller 'Indie' labels don't need to move 4 million units to show a profit. True social Darwinism.
Re:predicted demise is for the the giant labels (Score:2, Funny)
Does this mean that your head is in violation of the DMCA? I mean, you are afterall playing a copyrighted work in your head. Look out folks, next "they" will be coming at us with axes to destroy the neural anti-circumvention devices!
Dischord (Score:5, Informative)
I am glad the CSM published this, but disappointed they did not mention pioneering Dischord Records. [dischord.com] Dischord is truly "in the business of making music, not money." They charge fans exactly what they charge record stores and forego distributors entirely. Send Dischord $10 and they send you a CD, post paid. In some cases you can even get vinyl. Dischord are just good people.
Plus, Amy Pickering is a fox.
I run an idie label... (Score:3, Informative)
zenas(prime)
http://www.zenapolae.com
THis sounds like more of a marketing problem. (Score:2)
Re:Don't you just love it.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Sorry, didnt mean to criticize (Score:2)
Re:I run an idie label... (Score:2)
Or maybe it's an argument for the RIAA (Score:2, Interesting)
Uh, so doesn't this mean that these indie labels are succeding becuase they purposely target their music to those who will pay for music? Sorry I don't see this as an argument against the RIAA, more likely it's an argument that downloading music does effect sales.
Re:Or maybe it's an argument for the RIAA (Score:2)
I hardly think that is the case. They have a 11% drop during a major economic crisis? WTF does everyone expect? Only having an 11% drop is doing very well.
Why don't we do a poll for those young whipper snappers out there:
I'm not buying any CDs because...
help me find an alternative to mp3.com ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyone know of an alternative distribution site that deals only in indie artists and:
* provides a percentage of the songs for free d/l
* provides the entire album for d/l once purchased
* allows the artists to retain copyright
* has a good variety of styles / artists
* has a long laundry list of albums $10
cdbaby.com looks promising, but pricey.
Indy labels rely on big labels for $$$ (Score:3, Insightful)
It's somewhat analogous to some shareware authors that make a really badass app in the hopes that a large corp. will want to buy their code. The whole thing is that you risk losing some effort that might end up making a small profit, in hopes of making the big discovery that wins you the lottery, which should hold you over until the next time you find gold.
Especially in the "indie" music genre, that's how things work - you start out on an indie label, but if you are successful, you get signed to someone big and you get more cash, your previous label makes some cash, and the only one that might lose in the equation is the customer (due to RIAA). For many, however, this is the only way to make your dreams comes true of playing your own music full time.
I just thought I'd shed some light on the symbiotic nature of the two worlds of music publication.
Cooperative Big Music Companies (Score:2)
But, then, I guess I'm not an expert in this...
-Sean
CD Baby (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:CD Baby (Score:2)
Re:CD Baby (Score:2)
Another question - Have you bought the copies of Opera on the office machines seeing as you know how it feels to be the underdog ?
Re:75 albums a day? Please. (Score:2, Informative)
And yes they certainly do go bonkers. The music-listener job has a pretty high rate of dropout due to insanity.
:-)
Indies are a threat (Score:3, Interesting)
Independent film makers are a threat in two big ways: There is direct competition in that the indies take attention away from Hollywood. They also are a prime example of how new technologies are making way for new voices...going square in the face of the RIAA's claim that piracy is leading to cultural doom.
The RIAA wants to create a Star Wars theme of evil pirates stealing from artists. The surge of independent film making is showing the opposite...that the technology is opening ground for new voices. As we see independent artists making in roads with new technology, we see that the true pirates of the silver screen are the big media moguls and Hollywood super class that has dominated film for the last century
Re:Indies are a threat (Score:3, Insightful)
With the availability of easy distribution, indie artists/labels threaten to legitimately undermine the current business model of the whole industry. Instead of cultural doom, they're in reality afraid of a loss of cultural control. No control of the culture mans they will simply have no way of creating the next big thing. That's what they're afraid of in the end - they'll have no reason to exist.
That being said, the record execs are doing thier job
What is up the the CD-Cry-Baby ads (Score:2)
You Can Find Indie Artists on the Radio (Score:3, Informative)
If you live in a decent-sized city or have interent access you can find "Triple A" stations that play a lot of the artists mentioned in the article.
Here is a list to get started with, but many other can be found here [triplearadio.com]
WYEP [wyep.org]
WXPN [wxpn.org]
WNCW [wncw.org]
WMVY [wmvy.com]
KCRW [kcrw.org]
KPIG [kpig.com]
WKOC [thecoast.com]
WFUV [wfuv.org]
KRCL [krcl.org]
Most of my music is from independants (Score:2, Informative)
and to a lesser extent Metropolis Records [industrial-music.com]
and Middle pillar [middlepillar.com]
and labels like
Projekt Records [projekt.com] - Who said napster was a good thing
Flaming Fish [flamingfish.com]
UR-realist (Russian) [lenin.ru]
I can get a lot of good music and avoid the crap that the majors sell. I hope more artists begin to realize that majors are not the way to go to sell their music, your better off going independent and actually make money.
This is hardly surprising (Score:4, Insightful)
Popular music is relatively easy to find on the p2p networks. Type in "Eminem" or "Korn" and you'll come up with hundreds of hits. Downloading and burning a CD is easy. Why go through the hassle of ordering online or driving to the mall when downloading is simpler and cheaper?
The less popular stuff is a lot harder to obtain. Usually I can find a song or two, enough to make me know I want to hear more, but finding the more obscure stuff is an exercise in frustration. It could take me hours or days of searching and downloading and listening to locate all the tracks I want. In that case, it's a lot easier to just break out the plastic and order the CD.
From a Karma standpoint, I'd much rather spend my money supporting a struggling artist then helping Christine or Britney put another platinum album on their wall. I understand the legally, pirating is pirating, and it doesn't matter whose music I steal. But Paul McCartney isn't going to have to take a second job because I ripped "Help!" instead of buying it.
I think this is what the RIAA members are really worried about. Not that music sales will drop, but that they'll be spread out a lot more evenly. Once an artist gets popular enough, it becomes easy to pirate their music. Sales for those artists will tend to "cap out" when it becomes easier for people to pirate the album instead. Meanwhile, less popular groups will tend to sell more albums, because more people will be exposed to their music. That means more work for the record companies, because they'll have to start promoting ALL of their artists, not just the popular few that they know will sell the most.
Record labels are mismanaged (Score:3, Insightful)
I happen to believe RIAA and everyone working their is a liar. They know piracy is not what's killing the music industry, but it's their antiquated business model that has become more and more skewed as years go by.
It is INSANE that they can support a business where they make money only on a fraction of their artists.
No healthy business is run tha
Re:Record labels are mismanaged (Score:2)
Re:Record labels are mismanaged (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, this is how the book publishing business survived for decades, if not a few centuries: for every 10 books published, 7 or 8 books would lose money, 1 or 2 break even & the income from that remaining fraction would not only cover the losses on the other books, but pay to keep the company in business.
So the pubishers focussed on printing the best writing they found, promoting the career
Re:Free as in "I shouldnt have to pay!" (Score:5, Interesting)
The RIAA was formed to bring standards to record players; they were still evil back then - the earliest records have "Property of the RIAA" printed on them. You 'rented' the records from them, and could not own them. I don't remember how that dissappeared, but its true to form.
At least they standardized the record format back in the day, allowing any record to be played on any player. Ironically, they are now behind the 'non-standard' CDs we have grown to know and hate.
So I say to you, blah blah blah yap yap yap. Get over yourselves. You arent entitled to free music.
Excellent point. Except that I *am* entitled to free music. I make it.
yeah, well, it's funny (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Self Referential Loops (Score:2)
That Bloodshot Records appeared on NPR I cannot really address. I did not listen to it and did not
Re:Airplay time is limited. (Score:2)
No, I did not know that payola is legal.
Maybe I'm ignorant because, in 40-years, I've never heard a single word 'mentioned' about this on a single radio station.
Got a disconnect, here.
Follow up, please.