10-16 Can the music industry really be destroyed?
And should it? Well, I think so, but I'm an independent musician. The money I want to make for my music is largely a result of the money I spent putting out a product. And mp3's cost nearly nothing as a product (BitTorrents would cost even less, but it's too nerdy as a distribution model at this point). So maybe I'm a radical when it comes to these things, but I can't help but be encouraged by some of the recent developments in music.
THE GOOD:
Most recently, iTunes decided to drop the price of their "Plus" (Non-DRM'ed, higher quality tracks) to 99 cents. Fan-freaking-tastic. Paying more to make your already-purchased songs into ringtones is rude, but slapping (admittedly fairly easy-breaking) DRM on your poor-quality files is sad from an industry leader.
Why this is great: Well... Apple rule the roost still, at least for the moment. They'll drive things with their power, even as some labels jump ship.
THE GREAT:
I'm guessing the whole move is largely in response to Amazon's mp3 store, which is where some labels have bolted to. I recently patronized Amazon just to show them how awesome I think it is. $7.99 got me the Minutemen's first two albums on one "CD" at a high bitrate (yes, VBR, but average 256).
Why this is great: Amazon finally offered something that it shouldn't have taken a sales giant with their own spaceship to do: A web-based download of good quality non-DRM mp3's with no subscription, and both per-album and per-track options. And they got the Big Guy in digital music, Captain Turtleneck, to follow suit.
THE AWESOME:
I went to the record store the other day and found something brewing that I think is really neat. Tons of indie labels seem to be including one-time-use download coupons for unprotected mp3's in the packaging of their vinyl records.
Why that's great: You can now take your Bob Pollard records with you, but more importantly there's an inherent acknowledgment that the media is irrelevant to your owning of the music. It's sort of like a cheaper way of including a cassette to dub your record onto so you can play it in your car.
THE HOLY EFF THE MAN, BATMAN:
The logical conclusion of this for some artists is probably the most exciting thing of all. You can understand the significance of Radiohead, Trent Reznor, and Madonna all deciding to distribute their own albums within the space of two weeks.
And Radiohead have shocked the world with an optional price tag on their newest record. At first I thought hey, I'll give 'em money because I think they're doing a great thing. Then I decided to support their decision by paying nothing. Is this odd logic? Eh, maybe. But it makes sense in an odd way, and I think they're going to make good. I'll let bigger Radiohead fans (there are plenty) spend £40 on the 2xLP plus bonus CD box set of the album. It will probably sell very well.
Why this is great: Should be obvious. One of the reasons artists "need" the RIAA is because the record labels take piles of money and leave them with the spare change. Once musicians realize they can have their cake and eat it too, it'll be "so long" to that Lars Ulrich mentality. Artists will make more while consumers pay less. For that month before artists get greedy it'll be rad!
And to top it off, the RIAA is bleeding money in their P2P lawsuits!
As a bonus for reading this overly-long blog post filled with unbridled optimism, here's a video of Weird Al's ode to piracy, "Don't Download This Song."
THE GOOD:
Most recently, iTunes decided to drop the price of their "Plus" (Non-DRM'ed, higher quality tracks) to 99 cents. Fan-freaking-tastic. Paying more to make your already-purchased songs into ringtones is rude, but slapping (admittedly fairly easy-breaking) DRM on your poor-quality files is sad from an industry leader.
Why this is great: Well... Apple rule the roost still, at least for the moment. They'll drive things with their power, even as some labels jump ship.
THE GREAT:
I'm guessing the whole move is largely in response to Amazon's mp3 store, which is where some labels have bolted to. I recently patronized Amazon just to show them how awesome I think it is. $7.99 got me the Minutemen's first two albums on one "CD" at a high bitrate (yes, VBR, but average 256).
Why this is great: Amazon finally offered something that it shouldn't have taken a sales giant with their own spaceship to do: A web-based download of good quality non-DRM mp3's with no subscription, and both per-album and per-track options. And they got the Big Guy in digital music, Captain Turtleneck, to follow suit.
THE AWESOME:
I went to the record store the other day and found something brewing that I think is really neat. Tons of indie labels seem to be including one-time-use download coupons for unprotected mp3's in the packaging of their vinyl records.
Why that's great: You can now take your Bob Pollard records with you, but more importantly there's an inherent acknowledgment that the media is irrelevant to your owning of the music. It's sort of like a cheaper way of including a cassette to dub your record onto so you can play it in your car.
THE HOLY EFF THE MAN, BATMAN:The logical conclusion of this for some artists is probably the most exciting thing of all. You can understand the significance of Radiohead, Trent Reznor, and Madonna all deciding to distribute their own albums within the space of two weeks.
And Radiohead have shocked the world with an optional price tag on their newest record. At first I thought hey, I'll give 'em money because I think they're doing a great thing. Then I decided to support their decision by paying nothing. Is this odd logic? Eh, maybe. But it makes sense in an odd way, and I think they're going to make good. I'll let bigger Radiohead fans (there are plenty) spend £40 on the 2xLP plus bonus CD box set of the album. It will probably sell very well.
Why this is great: Should be obvious. One of the reasons artists "need" the RIAA is because the record labels take piles of money and leave them with the spare change. Once musicians realize they can have their cake and eat it too, it'll be "so long" to that Lars Ulrich mentality. Artists will make more while consumers pay less. For that month before artists get greedy it'll be rad!
And to top it off, the RIAA is bleeding money in their P2P lawsuits!
As a bonus for reading this overly-long blog post filled with unbridled optimism, here's a video of Weird Al's ode to piracy, "Don't Download This Song."
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