The owner of the Pirate Bay kind of touched on this and the RIAA in an interview at the Open Video Conference a couple months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PZpJCTsNtw
Was an awesome conference.
SamanthaTan
· 4 months ago
Good article Dave. I can't remember the last time I bought a cd. I agree the music/artistic industry is changing, but I think it's a step in the right direction given all the technology that's available. I'd say popular music is still based on image, but at least today the educated consumer is able to preview their music, rather it being a surprise once the cd package is ripped open. This makes music based on artists' skills and talent rather then marketing ploys. I would say its not only up to the industry to evolve around technology, but it's up to the audiences to catch on to all the music available for free on the web and not be constrained popular radio music.
Phil Johnson
· 4 months ago
A good overview. Though I always have a problem with the "band as brand" argument using Nike. Yes, there is more to Nike than shoes, BUT it's still their core product and you don't see them out offering shoes for free on the street. Lots of other things, tshirts and whatever. Plenty of advertising to their target markets. But people still buy their core product. Shoes. And at premium prices.
What has flipped it in the music world is that it's cheaper to give away an MP3 than a shirt or whatever else. And so that leaves us giving away our core product. Not to say it's not working right now, but it's a dangerous road nonetheless.
Akshay Dodeja
· 4 months ago
Thanks for the post David. I was planning on writing something similar. You hit on a really good point that it really comes down to branding. Band as brand holds very true for the success of an artist. In fact it has always worked like that, and it will be more important in the future. If you look at big labels, they really do have the power to build the brand. The artists that belong to big labels can use the resources (money, PR machine, radio etc) to increase their brand value. Big labels are/were really good in driving sales. Although as you mentioned no one is buying music, people are still consuming like crazy.
Bands/Djs/Artists who invest in creating brand value will see long term success. They don't need the power or labels any more because there are much cheaper and efficient ways of promoting your band today. The problem I see is that Artists/DJs don't realize this, they still think that they need to sell as many tracks as possible, only THEY should have the access to put up videos on youtube (banning) etc.. Its the mindset. Creativity is very important, this is why Deadmau5 as a brand has been extremely successful. People can releate to it, "Deadmau5" is something new and very different from other artists. His music plays a big role, but if you come out of his concert people talk about the mouse head and not the last track he played. This at the end of the day drives music, shows, apparel, sponsorship and other sales.
@raodside Nike is about the brand and not the shoes. The only reason you pay premium price for their shoes is because it says Nike on it. The technology of shoes hasn't changed much in the last 2 decades, yet people still pay high prices for their shoes. Its like Google vs. Yahoo. The search technologies are good enough. Yet everyone uses google, its because of the brand. They are able to charge higher rates for advertising etc..
alexthecamel
· 4 months ago
I bedroom Dj and have bought quite a lot lately from Beatport, having not actually paid for a CD for years, prefering live mixes from some questionable sources round and about.
I'm much more likely to buy from a producer who either has his/her own label or is closely affiliated to a non-major. I'd be even happier again if I could just go straight to randomproducer.com and paypal him/her my money. I apprecite the value of labels in terms of genre and promotion, but in such a fast moving and mostly self sufficient industry, why do we need branding at all? I actively seek out the music I like, and I think we have a growing generation of consumers who see this as the norm.
David Akermanis
· 4 months ago
Thanks for your comments Alex.
When it comes to branding I think it really has to do with not only longevity, but sustainability. With the value of a copy at zero, or near zero, artists have to find some way to monetize peripheral products and services.
It's pretty difficult to achieve this without a strong brand imho.
I'll echo your point that we do indeed have a generation of music lovers who actively seek out music they like, and see this as a norm but it's up to artists to create a sticky factor for themselves to keep these people coming back - and ultimately bringing their dollars to the table. I'm not sure that quality music -alone- is enough. Take a look at the Dresden Dolls article linked within my post above and tell me what you think.
Cheers, Dave
MrMarkAZ
· 4 months ago
This is a very thought-provoking and informative comment about the music business and how it works. Being one of the every day enthusiasts, the professional careers of dance club DJs and artists have been something of a mystery to me.
I think the poets of our age caught onto this idea a long time ago. Poetry in and of itself doesn't pay. What pays are the teaching positions, readings, workshops, and commissioned works that come from establishing a consistent voice, or identity.
The more relevant comment I have, other than that I'm really glad to see your podcast back in my iTunes list, is that I wonder if the perception among the artists would change if they could see, directly, just how the podcasts and microblogs and other social networking stuff drive sales at sites like BeatPort. I would estimate that 95% of my Trance/Progressive collection now comes about as a result of having heard a selection on Progressive Aggressive or Rotation, found the name and artist in the track listing, and went searching for exactly that track, along with similar mixes, remixes, other stuff by that same artist, in that same genre, or related to that genre.
I have no idea how that would be done, I'm just saying that if there WAS some way to generate some hard data, that might cause other people to start looking at the value of their "sound," their voice, as their product.
Too, I think the role of the audience/everyday music lover is evolving beyond that of a passive recipient (attend/applaud/purchase/go home) to one of a more interactive role. The availalability of free or nearly-free mixing software has allowed rank amateurs like me to start experimenting with how we listen to music. What I do now with creating mixes for my iPod at the gym and at work goes way beyond anything I could ever do when I was younger with Mom and Dad's turntable and a cassette deck. I don't know if there is any direct commercial value in the increasingly creative role the audience takes, but I think it's interesting that professional artists inspire creativity in others. You probably can't collect fees for it, but it enriches all of us just the same.
Dave, thanks again for a great article. I look forward to the next installment.
David Akermanis
· 4 months ago
Thanks for your comments man :) Glad to hear that PA is helping you discover new music.
Akshay, who has posted above here, has developed a really cool web-app called Mugasha - check it out - loads of good music there!
DJ Ampz
· 4 months ago
Some very good thoughts :)
All about the venue now, which is sad cause no one wants to go out in a recession.
Barry
alexthecamel
· 4 months ago
Just had a chance to read through some of the links that you have extremely thoroughly provided.
I feel that the DJ exclusivity situation is making things worse. I can only comment about the UK, not sure the situation in the states or anywhere else, but we have a pretty mature scene here, with National Radio providing excelent coverage of both new releases and providing near blanket coverage of events such as MWMC and Ibiza. I appreciate not all tracks are available for broadcast, but often unreleased tracks are. If I really want that track, I'm able to rip it one way or another, tidy it up in any one of a number of programs and it's in my set. I assume you deliberatley avoided wading into the rights and wrongs of this sort of activity, but the fact is it happens, and no, it's not as good as high quality WAV but it will do. I have money in my pocket, I'm quite happy to pay, but even if I want to I'm unable to buy the track right now. By the time it comes round to release it's old news so I'm less likely to pay. You might have gathered i'm not a big fan of majour labels, but they shoulder most of the blame. We have the technology for you to make a track this week, make it available on Friday, and me be playing it out Saturday night whilst hopefully your spending my $2 on Cuban cigars and looking at buying new kit for your studio.
I think we could learn a little from the Movie industry, where simultaneous global releases at least take away the moral arguament that downloading a movie from a torrent site is the only way some of can get to see it for a defined time period.
DANIEL FURLONG
· 4 months ago
Great Column David!!!
Very interesting subject! Labels should work on revolutionizing direct marketing to the people who buy cd's!!
DANIEL FURLONG
· 4 months ago
Great Column David!! Record labels should work on that. Still love your Remix man!! One of my fav's!
Daniel
AlexanderSynaptic
· 4 months ago
Electronic dance music is perfectly suited to new modes of distribution. I've been working for years to revolutionize the psytrance industry and, with the help of countless netlabel partners and forward-thinking producers, have had a great deal of success doing so. Have a look at my site to see it in action: http://www.ektoplazm.com/
All Comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PZpJCTsNtw
Was an awesome conference.
I can't remember the last time I bought a cd.
I agree the music/artistic industry is changing, but I think it's a step in the right direction given all the technology that's available.
I'd say popular music is still based on image, but at least today the educated consumer is able to preview their music, rather it being a surprise once the cd package is ripped open. This makes music based on artists' skills and talent rather then marketing ploys.
I would say its not only up to the industry to evolve around technology, but it's up to the audiences to catch on to all the music available for free on the web and not be constrained popular radio music.
What has flipped it in the music world is that it's cheaper to give away an MP3 than a shirt or whatever else. And so that leaves us giving away our core product. Not to say it's not working right now, but it's a dangerous road nonetheless.
Bands/Djs/Artists who invest in creating brand value will see long term success. They don't need the power or labels any more because there are much cheaper and efficient ways of promoting your band today. The problem I see is that Artists/DJs don't realize this, they still think that they need to sell as many tracks as possible, only THEY should have the access to put up videos on youtube (banning) etc.. Its the mindset. Creativity is very important, this is why Deadmau5 as a brand has been extremely successful. People can releate to it, "Deadmau5" is something new and very different from other artists. His music plays a big role, but if you come out of his concert people talk about the mouse head and not the last track he played. This at the end of the day drives music, shows, apparel, sponsorship and other sales.
@raodside Nike is about the brand and not the shoes. The only reason you pay premium price for their shoes is because it says Nike on it. The technology of shoes hasn't changed much in the last 2 decades, yet people still pay high prices for their shoes. Its like Google vs. Yahoo. The search technologies are good enough. Yet everyone uses google, its because of the brand. They are able to charge higher rates for advertising etc..
I'm much more likely to buy from a producer who either has his/her own label or is closely affiliated to a non-major. I'd be even happier again if I could just go straight to randomproducer.com and paypal him/her my money. I apprecite the value of labels in terms of genre and promotion, but in such a fast moving and mostly self sufficient industry, why do we need branding at all? I actively seek out the music I like, and I think we have a growing generation of consumers who see this as the norm.
When it comes to branding I think it really has to do with not only longevity, but sustainability. With the value of a copy at zero, or near zero, artists have to find some way to monetize peripheral products and services.
It's pretty difficult to achieve this without a strong brand imho.
I'll echo your point that we do indeed have a generation of music lovers who actively seek out music they like, and see this as a norm but it's up to artists to create a sticky factor for themselves to keep these people coming back - and ultimately bringing their dollars to the table. I'm not sure that quality music -alone- is enough. Take a look at the Dresden Dolls article linked within my post above and tell me what you think.
Cheers,
Dave
I think the poets of our age caught onto this idea a long time ago. Poetry in and of itself doesn't pay. What pays are the teaching positions, readings, workshops, and commissioned works that come from establishing a consistent voice, or identity.
The more relevant comment I have, other than that I'm really glad to see your podcast back in my iTunes list, is that I wonder if the perception among the artists would change if they could see, directly, just how the podcasts and microblogs and other social networking stuff drive sales at sites like BeatPort. I would estimate that 95% of my Trance/Progressive collection now comes about as a result of having heard a selection on Progressive Aggressive or Rotation, found the name and artist in the track listing, and went searching for exactly that track, along with similar mixes, remixes, other stuff by that same artist, in that same genre, or related to that genre.
I have no idea how that would be done, I'm just saying that if there WAS some way to generate some hard data, that might cause other people to start looking at the value of their "sound," their voice, as their product.
Too, I think the role of the audience/everyday music lover is evolving beyond that of a passive recipient (attend/applaud/purchase/go home) to one of a more interactive role. The availalability of free or nearly-free mixing software has allowed rank amateurs like me to start experimenting with how we listen to music. What I do now with creating mixes for my iPod at the gym and at work goes way beyond anything I could ever do when I was younger with Mom and Dad's turntable and a cassette deck. I don't know if there is any direct commercial value in the increasingly creative role the audience takes, but I think it's interesting that professional artists inspire creativity in others. You probably can't collect fees for it, but it enriches all of us just the same.
Dave, thanks again for a great article. I look forward to the next installment.
Akshay, who has posted above here, has developed a really cool web-app called Mugasha - check it out - loads of good music there!
All about the venue now, which is sad cause no one wants to go out in a recession.
Barry
I feel that the DJ exclusivity situation is making things worse. I can only comment about the UK, not sure the situation in the states or anywhere else, but we have a pretty mature scene here, with National Radio providing excelent coverage of both new releases and providing near blanket coverage of events such as MWMC and Ibiza. I appreciate not all tracks are available for broadcast, but often unreleased tracks are. If I really want that track, I'm able to rip it one way or another, tidy it up in any one of a number of programs and it's in my set. I assume you deliberatley avoided wading into the rights and wrongs of this sort of activity, but the fact is it happens, and no, it's not as good as high quality WAV but it will do.
I have money in my pocket, I'm quite happy to pay, but even if I want to I'm unable to buy the track right now. By the time it comes round to release it's old news so I'm less likely to pay. You might have gathered i'm not a big fan of majour labels, but they shoulder most of the blame. We have the technology for you to make a track this week, make it available on Friday, and me be playing it out Saturday night whilst hopefully your spending my $2 on Cuban cigars and looking at buying new kit for your studio.
I think we could learn a little from the Movie industry, where simultaneous global releases at least take away the moral arguament that downloading a movie from a torrent site is the only way some of can get to see it for a defined time period.
Very interesting subject! Labels should work on revolutionizing direct marketing to the people who buy cd's!!
Record labels should work on that.
Still love your Remix man!!
One of my fav's!
Daniel
http://www.ektoplazm.com/