dont forget my edit, its the most important line!
or where u QTFing me so i couldnt edit lol.

Nah I actually agree for the most of it.

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Storyteller Website | Storyteller @ Facebook | Storyteller @ Beatport | Storyteller @ Soundcloud | Stephen J. Kroos - Europa (Storyteller Remix)
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quote:

If less is more think about how much more more would be. -Frasier

quote:

Originally posted by Stealth Good point. How do labels know if Beatport(for example) is telling them the truth about how many times a certain song was purchased? If Beatport sends a check to a label for 50 tracks allegedly purchased how do we know it wasn't really 500? Is there any way for labels to audit these Digital Distributors/Retailers? For all we know producing EDM could be WAAAY more lucrative than we think...

I'm going to be trusting here, and assume Beatport and/or the distributors are honest, because they can be audited at any time. The skeptical part of me thinks something is up. I'm starting to think I sell more than is reported. If the distributors are dishonest, we are all screwed. Hang it up. The music Biz is notorious for screwing it's talent, as far back as the 1950's, so it would be nothing new.

I have a question, bout beatport, where it lists "customers that bought this, also bought this." How much of that is an indication of sales numbers? My EP releases all have the max 24 releases in that section. It could be that someone bought my EP and 20 other songs all in one whack, or if could be that I sold 24+

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quote:

Originally posted by zodiac9 I'm going to be trusting here, and assume Beatport and/or the distributors are honest, because they can be audited at any time.

really? I never realized labels could actually audit Beatport... do you or anyone else that has label experience know how that works?

quote:

Originally posted by Stealth really? I never realized labels could actually audit Beatport... do you or anyone else that has label experience know how that works?

Beatport is a Limited Liability Corporation, based in the United States and also subject to sales tax codes for Colorado and Denver - the town where it's based. Being that the majority of Beatport's business has nexus outside of Denver, they need to be fairly thorough about how they report sales to the state of Colorado and Denver county which has its own sales tax (2.5-2.9%).

In addition to this they also have yearly filings with the IRS, in which they must report all revenue and have an accurate accounting for all of their sales. The filing must include all sale transactions made through Beatport's payment gateways.

In order for Beatport to conduct business off the books, they would have to deceive three different entities. In addition to this, Beatport must also file yearly 1099s to its non-incorporated vendors who are paid over $650 per year and also provide each vendor with an accurate accounting of what it has paid during each period (month) of the fiscal year.

So suspicion that Beatport is not reporting sales accurately has a very nominal chance of actually being warranted.

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Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

Thanks Eddie. Great post. I forgot about the IRS/tax angle...

Doesn't change the fact that their standards are negligible in other areas.

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Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by Kismet7 This does not answer the question, nor does it explain why 'saturation' in EDM industry affects digital sales to the amount you think it does.

It doesn't affect "digital sales" in general, it affects sales for specific labels/artists/tracks.

Honestly, this is Econ 101, I don't see what's so hard to understand. Demand is going up, yes; I made that exact same point and even linked to a chart showing the exponential growth in online music sales. But supply is expanding even faster now that every bedroom producer is pumping out copycat tracks and every mickey mouse label is putting them up on Beatport. When supply grows faster than demand, the average revenue for suppliers decreases, even if the total revenue for the entire industry continues to rise.

quote:

And basically you're saying people who typically buy EDM music online, buy it randomly. Music is not a random choice, its a conscious choice.

Obviously they listen to it first, same as they used to do in the record stores. But if you think that Bedroom DJ #5991 really gives a crap which label the track is from, you're sorely mistaken. Whatever's in the top 100 or in their preferred sub-sub-sub-genre of epic fluffy floaty uplifting megatrance, that's what they're buying.

quote:

And nope no no...people are fleeting from other genres towards EDM, step outside.

Well, you've convinced me.

Actually I never said that fewer people were listening to "EDM" - just that the "scene" is shrinking because the umbrella genre is becoming more diverse and expanding into other areas (pop, rock, etc.) Again, you have no sense of scale here; demand is bigger but it's spread very thin with all of the different splinter groups.

What's amazing to me is that you continue to argue when we are basically saying the same thing - it's not the fault of the listeners, nor is it the fault of the responsible labels, the problem is that there are 50,000 mickey mouse labels out there who have no regard for quality but are saturating the market with their crap (or diluting, depending on your point of view).

Is this not the very same point that you are trying to make? The only difference seems to be that I'm making an effort to actually explain the mechanics of the process.

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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

Funniest thing about this entire thread and argument is that yesterday, I was listening to sirius satellite Area 33 and there was a live brodacast from Miami (nikki Beach I think).

So the presenter is interviewing some DJ from the club and it goes something like this:

Int: So how come your in to dance music now?
DJ: Well it's all going that way, it's a good place to be and only getting bigger for artits like me
Int: So do you think the trend towards EDM is going to stay?
DJ: We been doing this for a couple of years now so we were some of the first to get in to it and it's blowing up big now. I think it's(EDM) going to get bigger, as more artists like me get in to, it's just growing and we did it first so more are now joining in
Int: SO how to the other EDM DJ's treat you:
DJ: It's all been good, we've been working with my boy(z) like steve aoki and Benny Bennassi and doing studio stuff and it's just getting huge. The clubs are packed and we're looking to get in to this more and more.
Int: So can I can a Wha?
DJ: WHA
Int: So people, coming to you live from Miami, as he take to the decks LIL JON!!

Cue bad house music now.



I cut a lot of the bullshit out of it, but the real gist of it was that mainstream Hip hop is dead and they're moving in to EDM (with "pioneers" like Steve Aoki).

So if hiphop is dead and EDM is where the moneys at, what are we all doing wrong?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN So if hiphop is dead and EDM is where the moneys at, what are we all doing wrong?

You just need to add a rapper to your tunes.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN So if hiphop is dead and EDM is where the moneys at, what are we all doing wrong?

It's who you know.

___________________

Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012