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A Sad Week For The Music Industry-a note by Nick Warren (pg. 9)
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| XaNaX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Progsounds
Your statement to a point is warranted, although in many ways its an altogether sweeping generalisation of A+R people and label owners. Yes there have been labels that have exploited artists in the past and there will no doubt always be those people who are purely in the music industry to make money, bouncing from one business venture to another and leaving many people owed advances/fees for remixes/royalties etc.
However, there are many people, like Nick Warren as a matter of fact or like Dave Seaman who don't run their labels to make any money or because they have a need to - they run them simply to provide an outlet for the producers they come across on their travels around the world. The fact these producers are practically unknown makes no odds to them as they just want to help these people. Ultimately its the good people of the dance scene that suffer the most for trying to do something beneficial. |
well if you are not running a money grubbing label then what I said wouldn't apply to you. And if your desire is to help people and provide an outlet for producers then you wouldn't have any objection to providing people the option of purchasing the digital version of a release at an appropriate discount. What I was referring to is more the larger labels who are clearly trying to continue to force people to purchase physical CDs when they don't want them in order to maintain the business model and revenue stream they have historically always had even though it is clear that technology and consumer demand have made this model obsolete. It is hard to continue to demand that consumers purchase your product in a form they don't want at a premium price when your product can be obtained in the format they do want quickly, easily, and for free. |
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| RTP |
| quote: | Originally posted by Progsounds
The problem with these threads is that they descend into the old debate about file sharing. Yes it was a contributing factor to the demise of these companies and will lead to the demise of record labels / artists leaving the business as they cannot make anything from it, but no one is really saying its solely the fault of file sharing, even Nick Warren's post didn't.
The most reoccuring thing i've noticed the last few days is that people think that the digital domain can solely provide the same kind of operating revenue some of these labels are used to obtaining from sales across a variety of mediums. At this time this is nowhere near the case aside from those singles that manage to achieve Beatport Top 10 status and a few others, and realistically due to factors stated elsewhere in this thread will be another challenge for those labels that are lucky enough to have remained afloat even though some of them have been left with no recoupment of revenue from their distributors twice in the last 12 months.
Realistically though, whilst revenue does come into the equation, ultimately some of these DJs and label managers invest their heart and soul into some of these projects, lets say for example something like R&S compilation 'In Order To Dance', Buzzin' Fly's '5 Years In The Wilderness' and Bedrock's 10th anniversary. Collating all the material for these albums is a vastly time consuming process when you take all the stages of the process into considration. They do this to try and provide something great for the end user, but ultimately no one will want to invest time and energy into projects with no benefit at the end of it, monetary or otherwise. |
a nice post that sheds a new light on the issue...
what to do now?
the music industry needs to restructure its distribution ways and recalculate its money needs in order to get a stable system that's generating enough cash for everybody to live...
but for this restructuring it's inevitable that some heads must roll.
this time it was a big one. |
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| DJ NEMESIS |
A few things here..
right now I'm working fulltime 7 days a week in my studio, which is not easy to be able to do for people who don't live with their parents and have mortgage payments, car payments, and usual monthly expenses. There's no way I'd be able to do this without my DJ shows. Generally you're going to get better end results from people who can afford to commit serious chunks of time to it than the occasional evening hobbyist. If every decent producer out there had his bills paid for him you'd likely see a big increase in the quality of music being made and innovation in music, but it's an unrealistic scenario.
Most don't succeed at being able to make a living off their art. Anyone who thinks producers should just make music for the sole purpose of putting a smile on your face should come back to planet earth. As for the cash cow labels who live large and screw the artists, sorry that's anything BUT the norm in EDM. Many of the labels are started/run by DJs & producers. Most do it for the love of the music and to promote their material & artists and to try to make some sustainable living from it. It's sure the not your best bet for a get rich quick scheme.
NOW.. all that being said. The reality of things these days is you're going to need to be doing shows to make money. Any idiot knows this. Do what you can, but the time you spend crying about people downloading your stuff free will change little and is BETTER spent making good music and following it up with promo/marketing/booking shows. As mentioned, the arguement of "5000 people downloaded my track free so I just lost all those sales!" is obsurd. People like free . It's no risk for them so what the , may as well check it out. If your music's any good then you likely just boosted your fanbase in a way that otherwise wouldn't have happened, which should be valuable to you if you are on top of your business as a whole.
The current state of things is what it is and really pushes the creators to get out and perform live in order to make a good living, which means a lot more live music and and people who actually make your music DJing for you. This is good because it also lends itself to producers integrating their production tools/methods into their sets and a higher content of exclusive material.
TA's favorite Mau5 was right in what he was actually trying to say, which is that the days are numbered for this big fascination with superstar DJ gods who just simply mix other people's music. Being a producer is becoming more & more a prerequisite to being a successful DJ as each day passes. At the same time though, producers with years of DJ experience will have a definite advantage over those with none.
So yeah there's my big epic novel for the day. I'm hungry now, time to make some food and get down to work.
-T |
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| Adam420 |
| ...and with that said, we can now hopefully lay this argument to rest. |
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| elFreak |
| quote: | Originally posted by Adam420
...and with that said, we can now hopefully lay this argument to rest. |
i told minilogue on you...they are coming and are hopping mad!:p |
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| Adam420 |
| quote: | Originally posted by elFreak
i told minilogue on you...they are coming and are hopping mad!:p |
I will buy the digital release when there is one!
btw is there a place in Montreal to buy CDs other than Atomhart? I think I wanna buy the new Diynamic CD but I don't want to wait a month for it like I did with the Lee Jones album. |
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| elFreak |
| archambault near berri has a decent edm section. |
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| Adam420 |
| Also I've been meaning to mention this but I think that one of the reasons digital releases are simply the best is a very very simple one: when you purchase a vinyl, or a CD, you can't mix together tracks on the same release. Yea I know who'd wanna do that but in the case a an EP having an A1, A2, B1 and B2 and it is from various artists, having the option is nice. Or even like mixing up two versions of the same track which can result in a really cool effect sometimes. |
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| elFreak |
| its called buying 2 records...something that has been done for a very long time and could also be said is part of the essence of djing...this goes beyond edm. |
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| Adam420 |
| quote: | Originally posted by elFreak
its called buying 2 records...something that has been done for a very long time and could also be said is part of the essence of djing...this goes beyond edm. |
Really? 2 copies of the same record? That's news to me, I really didn't know people did this. |
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| elFreak |
you can do so many tricks this way it is crazy...turntablists use this alot.
not just for different tracks...often the same one. |
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| Armitage |
| quote: | Originally posted by Clovis
I think problems labels like Hope and Bedrock might be having would have more to do with prog not selling anymore than mp3 downloading though.
IMO labels like Crosstown Rebels and Wagon Repair have it right, the records they release are amazing, and the art on the sleeves is usually interesting and unique. Crosstown had a 4 EP stretch of interesting sleeve art that formed a single large square piece when you put them next to each other. That is something people are more likely to buy.
Looking at sleeves in Hope's catalog, everything looks bland and the same, rehashing their logo. Records need to more unique and special if we want people to buy them... |
Spot on. Digital distribution needs to play to its strengths, physical releases need to play to their strengths. If you're releasing a PHYSICAL product, it better be PHYSICALLY interesting. Cool cover art, liner notes, weird add-ins, whatever, just make it so that you're actually getting a better experience by putting down cash. |
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