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A Sad Week For The Music Industry-a note by Nick Warren (pg. 11)
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| stripped99 |
| quote: | Originally posted by THE_Chris
everyones just sat back and farted about. |
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| THE_Chris |
| quote: | Originally posted by dj christian
The quality of ripped mp3's are generally . They aren't supposed to be played in medium to big clubs even the highest encoded mp3 won't cut it. If you though mp3's on beatbort are expensive what about the wave format? You can't even get wave format on beatbort. I only know about Juno but they don't have ripped wave format on all their back catalouge. |
You can buy wavs on Beatport. Its €1/£1/$1 more, and the vat increases slightly. With this, it can cost over €30 for an 11 track new release album in wav format. |
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| stripped99 |
i've seen that on the seaman's website:
"Hello there...
As 2008 draws to a close, here at Audio Therapy HQ, I'm sorry to say it's been an unhappy case of deja vu. Just as last year finished with the news that our then distributor Amato had gone into liquidation, we've just learned that our current distribution company, Pinnacle, has followed suit. We are not the only ones. Rough Trade, Bedrock, Hope, Cr2, Hed Kandi, GU and many many more are all in the same boat. It's an unfortunate case of history repeating and one which really does underline the sad state of the record industry. As a label, we really are running out of options.
The remaining distribution companies out there are few and far between and we're left wondering just how long it will be before the "physical release" will become a thing of the past -Restricted to nothing more than an occasional "special edition" for the sake of nostalgia. As someone who grew up in and around the buzz of record shops, it was hard to imagine that that culture would ever die but now, I must come to terms that it's an immediate reality. Personally, I would always rather own a "real" object than a "virtual" one but I'm afraid it seems I'm a dying breed. Probably within the next next generation. The problem we face as a label though is not so much the fact that there will soon be no more tangible product, it's that the digital future is still so unregulated.
To give you some sort of idea of what we are dealing with, our latest release, 'Lost In Translation' by Behrouz & Andy Chatterley was released on Beatport a couple of weeks ago and within the first couple of days we had registered around 500 downloads. Meanwhile, during the same period, about 20 different blogspots or illegal file sharing sites had uploaded our track and given away, at a conservative estimate, about 1500 copies. Three times the amount we had sold! As the margins are so much tighter with Mp3s, this is a statistic that, as a business, we simply cannot sustain.
It really is coming to the point where illegal file sharing is going to kill the independent record label. And it will be a very sad dawn for electronic dance music and indeed, all genres of music, when that day comes. So please, next time, think twice before you download something illegally. You are contributing to death of the scene as we know it." |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by stripped99
The remaining distribution companies out there are few and far between and we're left wondering just how long it will be before the "physical release" will become a thing of the past -Restricted to nothing more than an occasional "special edition" for the sake of nostalgia. As someone who grew up in and around the buzz of record shops, it was hard to imagine that that culture would ever die but now, I must come to terms that it's an immediate reality. Personally, I would always rather own a "real" object than a "virtual" one but I'm afraid it seems I'm a dying breed. |
I would also rather own a tangible product. |
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| hooknife |
| quote: | Originally posted by stripped99
One of the main reasons for this downfall is the illegal files haring and downloading of music. It would be a much needed boost to the whole music industry if people stopped file sharing and illegal downloads. It will be a sorry day when all your favorite artists can't afford to make music and all your favorite labels are gone.
Nick |
Are you kidding? Could it be that the company is mismanaged? If you are in the music industry you should be taking file sharing in to consideration when running your company. Its so easy to blame people for downloading music as the cause for your company's failure. Silly, and NOT necessarily true. |
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| _Ocean_Drive_ |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr.Mystery
Nobody's denying it. It's just that the illegal file sharing excuse has been used time and time again to cover up for poor management skills.
It's hardly a surprise record labels/distributors are going down in this day and age. But don't take us for fools. |
Spot on.
| quote: | Originally posted by Progsounds
To say they are the product of their own potential downfall is not really taking all factors into account.
You cannot argue that labels have not tried to cater for people's needs, many labels release vinyl, cdrs, and digital releases where you can either buy the whole EP or tracks. Of course the pricing structure on digital can leave a little to be desired when the whole EP digitally can now cost more than a physical product, but they have to sustain the running of their business somehow, while trying to provide as many different options as possible. |
Rubbish. Territory restirctions are absurd. "We're gonna stop you buying music legally 'cos you live in a different country, but then we're gonna moan when you get the file by illegal means."
If they go out of business, I think that's a good thing. It'll make them think about the way they do business. |
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| ponsshin |
This brings something to my mind: what is up with beatport making promos free on tracks THAT ARE ALSO available on the exclusive catalogue, hence not free?
For example, there was DJinn & Xpansul - Parasol available fot free in the Ovum promo pool and it was also available for 2.6€ in the regular catalogue at the same time.
Beatport needs to eliminate those kind of discrepancies if they want to convince people to stay on their site and off filesharing networks.
Also, there is no need to be as "extreme" as saying that there should be more 12" exclusives. It's not a bad thing in itself but for a start, having more CD exclusives would be great for sales. Sure it wouldn't prevent people from sharing them but it would certainly achieve that "tangible" effect. |
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| Adam420 |
| And honestly, record distribution is so scarce that I can hardly see the difference. I mean, what are there like 2 record shops in each city? And even then, what are the chances you'll find what you're looking for there? I mean this distribution network is really small to begin with, they were never reaching many people anyway, at least not in these terruitories. In Europe I'm sure it's different where especially in England and Germany I'm sure that record shops can be found quite easily and they will feature new releases. But I mean how often do you see that in North America? It's just that these people are crying about their distribution networks disappearing, where IMO these networks were not very far-reaching to begin with. I think it's fair to say that a lot of people buy their vinyl records online, as I would do if I had tables. But if that's the case, can't these labels just sell their records directly through their websites? And I mean these are niche genres to begin with, what do these labels even need these distributors for? How many records sell more than a few thousand copies? People who buy these records I think usually do so because they know they want them. If that's the case, they will seek these records out in whichever way is necessary. I mean do people really walk into record shops these days and walk out with records they had just heard for the first time in the store? I mean I'm sure that hapens, but I don't think it happens much these days. Like I said, in Europe very possibly, but where I live I think it's pretty rare if not non-existant. |
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| flavdave |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dave Seaman's website
To give you some sort of idea of what we are dealing with, our latest release, 'Lost In Translation' by Behrouz & Andy Chatterley was released on Beatport a couple of weeks ago and within the first couple of days we had registered around 500 downloads. Meanwhile, during the same period, about 20 different blogspots or illegal file sharing sites had uploaded our track and given away, at a conservative estimate, about 1500 copies. Three times the amount we had sold! As the margins are so much tighter with Mp3s, this is a statistic that, as a business, we simply cannot sustain. |
I respect Dave Seaman as a DJ and an artist and I have enjoyed the five compilations of his that I've bought. But I hate this argument.
First of all, I'd like to know how they estimated the number of people who downloaded the track illegally. There is no way to prove those 1500 downloads would have been sales had that free mp3 not existed.
I also hate complaining about margins being tighter for mp3s compared to vinyl. For years the industry got by on selling records for what now seem like outrageous prices. $10 for two or three tracks? It's no wonder why people are switching to digital.
These labels are terrified at the idea of digital taking over physical sales. They either need to find a way to adapt their business or just die off. |
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| raunchy |
| quote: | Originally posted by sleepydragon
He just had to get that in didnt he does he know that as fact? what an idiot businesses go bust all the time. |
It is a fact that piracy has caused labels to lose massive amounts of sales. Talk to anyone running a label, they'll tell you first hand. I run one myself and it's killing us.
I do not doubt that the demise of these distributors is in large part to piracy. |
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| flavdave |
| quote: | Originally posted by raunchy
It is a fact that piracy has caused labels to lose massive amounts of sales. Talk to anyone running a label, they'll tell you first hand. I run one myself and it's killing us.
I do not doubt that the demise of these distributors is in large part to piracy. |
What label do you run? |
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| seneca |
| quote: | Originally posted by flavdave
But I hate this argument.
First of all, I'd like to know how they estimated the number of people who downloaded the track illegally. There is no way to prove those 1500 downloads would have been sales had that free mp3 not existed.
I also hate complaining about margins being tighter for mp3s compared to vinyl. For years the industry got by on selling records for what now seem like outrageous prices. $10 for two or three tracks? It's no wonder why people are switching to digital. |
This entire debate is speculation on what if this, what if that. Some file hosting sites contain a download counter and that is probably how they calculated that number.
I find it amusing that most people assume artists make a killing on the actual purchases and can afford to give up a few hundred/thousand illegal downloads for sake of exposure. Just to put it into perspective:
$1.99 New Release Sale on Beatport
50% to beatport less any processing fees (Credit Cards, etc)
$0.99 avg paid to Distributor
15% to Distributor
$0.84 Paid to Label
50% typical royalty agreement paid to artist after any costs associated with the release (artwork, mastering & engineering, promotion, etc)
$0.42 Per Track Sold.
500 x 0.42 = $210
And royalties are paid on bi-annual basis typically. So it's about 6 months before artists see that money. Now, I'm all about promotion of an artist through word of mouth but there's a tipping point. Sure, the strongest survive but that is when they become commercialized and you will hate them for that because they "sold out". Not all fall into this category as some do it just for fun, are successful and happen to have another source of income to supplement their hobby. But there are some who dedicate their existence to what they love and this "problem" makes it that much more difficult to sustain the basic necessities in life to do what they love.
I recently came across an article on Yahoo's tech blog about the RIAA going after the ISPs now instead of individuals for seeding/leeching music/movies and they will notify you via a letter then reduce your bandwidth or cut off your service altogether. Now, I don't agree with their antics but reading all of the comments below the blog is disturbing. There are people posting that they think it's their "god given right to download whatever they want without having to pay for it!"
see article here: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patters...omment_count=20
If this is the way the next generation is thinking, then people in all industries such as tv, movies and music are in for some hurting. I think solutions will eventually be developed that make it fair for all involved, including the end users such as yourself and I'm all for it. |
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