quoted 3 lines anyone thought about there being a connection between
>> anyone thought about there being a connection between
>> mp3 downloading and inability (by labels) to sale
>> physical product ?
I'm really surprised no one has pointed out that a lot of these dying
labels have absolutely horrid business sense, and in many cases had become
so incestuous it was ridiculous. Hardly an album pressed and offered up
for sale anymore isn't by the label owner or one of his former
schoolmates.
I had typed up a long analysis for this list of the current state of
things, back around August or so, but I ended up just sending it off to a
friend instead. But among the things I griped about were a number of the
labels we expect to bring us great music we'd probably not otherwise be
privy to instead delivering the masturbatory crap they or their friends
put together. Simultaneously, I saw an audience who had fallen into the
same label-lust that the old big labels used to profit from endlessly, and
still do I suppose. Discussion on this list and elsewhere seldom involved
an artist who wasn't released on one of those precious labels, even though
the artists who couldn't get a Merck or Neo Ouija or Skam or certainly
Warp to hear them were doing great great stuff.
What I predicted was that at some point it would have to give. At some
point, the audience would get tired of it, and the labels, too swolen with
"god damn we're k3wl" ego would fail to adjust.
Want to hear that new XX Records release? Fuck it, their last 5 sucked,
I'll download it first. Why take a chance?
That's not a very clever prediction. That's exactly what happened with
Big Music, just on a much smaller scale.
Have a listen to some of the netradio you know about. Sistrum System has
gotten really, _really_ good lately, and it didn't surprise me to see that
something like 95% of the playlist is coming from netlabels -- free music
that couldn't, for whatever reason, find a label to get behind it. Even
the Russian music is blowing away the officially released stuff. Russian
music! Who would have guessed? Cliqhop has been great too, too. Glowdot
is the only one playing the label shit, and its old stuff, and even then
that's only because I haven't updated it in 6 months, maybe more. There
just hasn't been anything of interest to me. And the netlabel stuff is
out there for download, so why stream it really? (especially when Systrum
is doing such a good job).
The short point is, I guess, let's not fall into that "mp3 killed..."
excuse. Its no more true of idm than it was of Brittney Spears. If you
feel like the labels are putting out quality albums, you want to support
it. You buy it. I always have. If its shit, though....
I'm just done paying for so-and-so's friend's new album. No more.
(I am sad to see Merck go, though)
--
V,
~Rick Strom
Glowdot Productions
On Glowfoto:
http://users.glowfoto.com/Strom
============================
Photo:
http://www.glowfoto.com
Music:
http://www.glowdot.com
Strom:
http://www.rick-strom.com
Code:
http://www.stromcode.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org