Weighing in on the MP3 thing...
As an artist without a record label I found MP3's to be the only way to
get my music out. My partner and I are finally going to have a record out
and I have been thinking about the ramifications of having the songs that
are going to be on that record already available online. The greedy sod
in me wants to yank the MP3s off the website so people are forced to buy
the record to hear them. Then the music afficionado in me sounds off ...
yesterday i downloaded the entirity of BoC's "Twoism" EP from gnutella.
This record has been out of print for a while and those MP3s are probably
the only way I'm ever going to hear most of the songs on the EP. A label
like Skam doesn't have the distribution that a label like Warner Brothers
does, and they produce much smaller quantities of products. The fact is,
if I walk into a record store tonight and find a copy of "Twoism" sitting
in the racks, goddamned right I'm going to buy it. But chances are it'll
never happen so I'm glad I have the MP3s.
But now think about the future. What happens when everybody has portable
MP3 players, MP3 players in their cars and home systems, DJ's have MP3
players in the clubs? MP3 could very well supercede the CD as the music
delivery vehicle of choice for the masses. There would be nothing better
for the music consumer than to have an ocean of content, all free for the
taking (which is why I'm convinced it will happen). Because the consumers
drive the market. But record companies are going to have to adapt to the
idea that the content of their recordings are now a commodity. Like any
commodity the way to profit from it is to add value to the product and to
inspire consumer loyalty.
So now the issue becomes how to add value to the content and remain in
business. Best case scenario: put more stuff besides audio onto CD's.
Many record companies are doing this already by putting videos and other
multimedia content onto CDs (Squarepusher Big Loada and Aphex's
Windowlicker are brilliant examples of this).
But think of the other possibility. It's already been ingrained into the
internet business model that advertising impressions add value to a
product--not to the consumer, but to the advertiser, who will pay big
bucks to get his message out to the masses. Just wait until the next Back
Street Boys CD features songs about Pepsi and Tommy Hilfiger, who just
happened to underwrite the recording costs...
It is going to be a lot harder for Warner Brothers (for instance) to adapt
to these changes than it will be for Skam (for instance). Mostly because
Warner Brothers has an enormous bureaucracy sitting on top of an equally
enourmous infrastructure all fine tuned to the status quo, whereas Skam is
two guys. Their organization can turn on a dime if it has to...
So anyway I'm coming off like I'm in favor of MP3 in general, right? But
now take this into consideration. Copyright law is in fact the law.
Metallica has every right to go after anyone who violates their copyright,
and so does any record label. Just keep in mind who butters the bread ...
if the record labels lose all their income, they go out of business ...
Skam/Warp/NinjaTune have a significantly smaller audience than
WEA/Sony/Virgin and will be hit harder and faster than the giants. They
also have significanly less cash to go after people pirating their
products. So if you care about the smaller labels, pirate responsibly...
if you like the MP3, pick up the 12"/EP/LP. And fuck the big guys ;)
JOsh
--
String Theory : Digital Music for Humans
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