- Deke Sharon • 800.579.9305 • http://www.dekesharon.com
DekeSharon wrote:Many things to respond to (forgive my ascii quoting):
It's actually rather amazing how quickly this perspective has changed in our society. Recorded music is free now. In fact, I'll bet people's perception around this will soon be (if it isn't already) that when they do pay for music, it's that they're paying for the convenience, not that there's a specific amount of money owed the recording artist et al.
***"CDs are nothing more than really expensive business cards."
They didn't use to be. And, frankly, they shouldn't be, any more than any artist "should" give away his art and receive no compensation.
Indeed - there are expenses that are purely promotional (like making a 3 minute promo video, or a snippits recording for corporate gigs), but a full-length album of original music has not historically been one, and I don't think it "should" be (or, if there's a sea change, then all art should be free, which then makes me wonder - should I have free medical advice? Car repair?)
***"It seems it would benefit these groups to really gain a regional following and try and make their living from live performances and merch sales"
This statement is a little like saying "oh - you're not getting paid as much for your work because people are stealing from you, well, go get a second job."
(and personally with 2 kids at home, I'm not interested in doing 250 shows a year as I did back in 1994, fun as it was. The House Jacks is only a limited percentage of my a cappella income, so it's not ruining my lifestyle - but that percentage of my income has taken a significant hit).
Also - selling CDs right after your show is the #1 best place and time: people are excited, still have the tunes in their head, then they get it signed by the band and feel they have something special. Who knows how many have that same connection to tracks they pull down from the internet.
Enough. I apologize if I'm perceived as whining. I don't mean to be. Bitching, perhaps.
But more over, I want to make sure the people here clearly see what is happening - the effect that their actions are having on an industry that matters to them. This stuff does not make the local news, and people's rationalizations here have already proven largely bullet proof.
Nonetheless, the truth needs to be told.
MattOOTB wrote:The mean half said "what an idiot! He'll never get that back, and he knew it from the start".
MattOOTB wrote:Why are people paying so much money to make the CDs in the first place?
MattOOTB wrote:Will that 2nd $15,000 lead to twice as many CD sales? Really?
Bill Hare Some dude who records and mixes people who can't play instruments. http://www.dyz.com
mcbc wrote:As far as semi-pro v. college, uhhh the only thing I'll add for now is that the list of pro groups that have "broken through" really hasn't changed in a decade or more ... The Bobs, The Nylons, Rockapella, Sweet Honey, Take 6 and few others. Whereas the college group "break throughs" are growing. (The one possible exception is Kid Beyond -- but that jury is out at the moment.)
- Deke Sharon • 800.579.9305 • http://www.dekesharon.com
yahtzeealum wrote:I buy albums. Not as often as I did when I was in my teens, but I buy them. I've never once used the itunes music store to purchase music, and I haven't stolen music from the many available free music dealers(!) on the internet since Napster back in the day before they were legit, and even that was only an initial curiosity (about 10 songs total).
yahtzeealum wrote:But I can certainly see I don't represent the whole here.
yahtzeealum wrote:I work in schools where I'd bet 99% of the students think it's OK to steal music on the internet. You can explain to them until you're blue in the face about the morals of it, but it's kind of like saying "if you find a $20 bill on the ground that is not yours, it's not right to take it". They'd say, "forget that! that's $20! i'm taking it!" Until the problem is addressed properly, the problem is going to be there.
yahtzeealum wrote:I see 3 scenerios it goes away,
1) CD companies are not allowed to print blank CDs and produce CD burners (for those who use them as part of their business, you could limit them by making them apply for a license and get special permission to use the products). I believe this was the first HUGE mistake that was allowed to happen in the 80s with cassettes and dubbing.
2) The government and the RIAA is so tough on cracking down on the free music servers that it would deter future developers from even thinking about it.
3) Encoding media so they can not be copied. Although with any technology, it's bound to be cracked.
- Deke Sharon • 800.579.9305 • http://www.dekesharon.com
sahjahpah wrote:I've always thought that the Phish model was best. They had a bunch of studio albums but they toured really aggressively and encouraged fans to record and exchange live shows. Although that requires you to have a distinctive sound and lots of skill/confidence in your fanbase to come out and see you. Of course, that all might just be a factor of jamband culture...
DekeSharon wrote:And yet, many of those groups still refuse to completely die: Blenders. Five O Clock Shadow. Boyz Nite Out. People want to hear them, and they oblige with concerts each year.
By the middle of last year, [Coulton's] project had attracted a sizable audience. More than 3,000 people, on average, were visiting his site every day, and his most popular songs were being downloaded as many as 500,000 times; he was making what he described as “a reasonable middle-class living” — between $3,000 and $5,000 a month — by selling CDs and digital downloads of his work on iTunes and on his own site.
...
In total, 41 percent of Coulton’s income is from digital-music sales, three-quarters of which are sold directly off his own Web site. Another 29 percent of his income is from CD sales; 18 percent is from ticket sales for his live shows. The final 11 percent comes from T-shirts, often bought online.
...
Remarkably, Coulton offers most of his music free on his site; when fans buy his songs, it is because they want to give him money. The Canadian folk-pop singer Jane Siberry has an even more clever system: she has a “pay what you can” policy with her downloadable songs, so fans can download them free — but her site also shows the average price her customers have paid for each track. This subtly creates a community standard, a generalized awareness of how much people think each track is really worth. The result? The average price is as much as $1.30 a track, more than her fans would pay at iTunes.
DekeSharon wrote:College a cappella is growing, and there are many new groups formed in the past decade, but "breakthroughs?" Into the national or international eye? No. Not yet. Not until a big book or movie presents our collegiate community to the greater world.
Joshua S. Duchan, Ph.D.
Department of Music, Wayne State University
Univ. of Michigan Amazin' Blue, 2001-2007
Univ. of Pennsylvania Counterparts, 1999-2001
JamesQ84 wrote:I think it's so cool that you wrote your dissertation on a cappella. Out of curiosity, could you possibly give us a relatively brief description of your findings?
Joshua S. Duchan, Ph.D.
Department of Music, Wayne State University
Univ. of Michigan Amazin' Blue, 2001-2007
Univ. of Pennsylvania Counterparts, 1999-2001
Bill Hare Some dude who records and mixes people who can't play instruments. http://www.dyz.com
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