ITunes began the download for $ and set the price point to $.99 a tune. I frankly think this is a bit high - especially since you get no cover art or liner notes AND the mp3 audio quality is not nearly as nice as a CD. But - at least people are paying.
I'd be curious as to some of the solutions you would recommend and your thoughts about P2P file sharing and music. I hope you'll comment.
Oh - by the way - here is a FREE DOWNLOAD that I just posted. "What's the difference?" you ask. The artist is giving his permission to download it!
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4 comments:
Kurt,
I think a lot can be learned from Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor has been giving away their stuff for a while now, and I've purchased 4 CDs from them in the last 2 years, mostly because of the fact that he was giving it away for free. I really like to own the CDs, so that if my computer crashes, I can recover the music.
I'm not going to buy every CD just because the music is given away, but I'm a lot more likely to at least go check it out that way.
I firmly believe that the music industry's problems have stemmed from resisting new technology, instead of becoming part of it.
I agree with you Misty. I LOVE the technology - it's the FREE part that I don't dig. Trent Reznor can give away music because it costs you $100+ a ticket to see a show. What about the "little guys" - like me?
BTW - kudos for buying CDs. You're truly in the minority.
I come in at the older range of the Kazaa/Napster generation, so my views may be a little different on the subject than others.
When (free) Napster was all the rage, I was in the video editing business. Because I didn't want anyone stealing my work, I respected other peoples' copyrights.
I think that NIN is successful with their free experiment because they are established in the marketplace -- they have their fan base who will buy $100 concert tickets, hats, t-shirts, etc.
I think that artists such a Kurt who offer free downloads of a song here and there have the right idea -- They'll give you a free taste in hopes that you'll buy the rest of their product.
-Bob
P.S. -- I have bought full albums from iTunes where liner notes have been included in PDF form.
Hey Kurt... How's life?
I think it's funny when people say... "It's cool for me to download (for free, illegally) an artists music because they make so much at the shows and from merchandise. I'm just promoting their music." Well, it's near sited to think that the artist is the only one in the picture. What people don't see is all the components that make it happen. How many other people besides the artist are relying on album sales to make their mortgage payment. How many people are expecting royalties or even the chance to work on the "next" album. We don't all go out on the road and play for big crowds. That is truly the minority in the music industry. Just think how hard it is to get people to BUY a CD let alone get off the couch and go to a concert. Believe me, any money earned IS earned and should be rewarded.
My industry is by far the worst at stealing music. 100 to 1, that is what the numbers are right now. For every one album that is bought, 100 are illegally downloaded. It makes me sick to think about it. Do you know how many Gold/Platinum albums I'd have. Ha Ha.
The whole NIN thing is a gimmick. Trent was doing everything he could to try to get people back into his music. But it is very different to have all included sign off on the fact that you are giving it away. Radiohead did the same thing. They ended up selling it like everyone else. They swore they wouldn't iTune it, but they did.
The problem is that the bigger the artist is, the less it is about the music. Music simply turns into a marketing campaign for the ARTIST. The BRAND! The money is with the perfumes and the clothing lines and the alcohol and the endorsements and such. The music money becomes secondary... and that's the problem. This mentality has washed throughout the industry and has left it's ugly mark on it. The "song" is simply an embellishment to the bigger picture... so it is almost worthless.
I could talk about this subject for days... good times.
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