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Topic History of: Is FREE music the future and selling music passe ?
Max. showing the last 5 posts - (Last post first)
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Mart |
Firstly, personally,I like the "creating a good story" angle a lot when pushing any product and use it regularly on any new music as a pitch, most of the ideas are actually off the wall enough to render the story fairly true anyway, and as has been pointed out, we are actually using the Koopa angle here with the press stories actually thrown in, thats the easier bit.
Making it "bigger" and less homegrown in execution is the hard bit.
I still firmly believe in regional promotion and am not keen on the standard release date ideas that are hardly executable on breakthrough acts anyway.
That said, there is nothing wrong with a "relaunch" although I would prefer to use the term "extra helping hand" on a rainy day.
Secondly, with a broader hindsight,the Kenny Rogers incident (lyrically of course there have been many), showed that with all the jobs doing this , that "x" and of course "y", in major music industry, although back catalogues are the building block of the industry, they are sadly not loved by a department and thats a shame.
How many great records/potential hits and their masters lay untouched after the people behind them moved on for a higher wage or maybe these days none at all?
How much could the UK/Worldwide rights of the next "old" hit be bought for by the right person, who really would have the same ears and foresight as the hunter of new music? |
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Michael |
I'm beginning to look at these questions from another angle: indie movies. And I feel local television can provide a key new element as they have more room and are always looking for good local angles. But the idea is to involve them earlier than the release. Coincidentally, YouTube also plays a role as it is in effect a way to distribute an EPK. So you have the micro and macro angle that can be covered.
However, it is also worth putting just as much energy into building a suitable "story" behind the release. And that's not necessarily easy, particularly in music as there is simply too much so-so music out there. We are all guilty of putting out another single, knowing it's not bad but not exactly "London Calling" or "Billie Jean" (or whatever). This is also part of the filtering JK mentions. But just look at the batting average of the tips here or on ROTD and we can easily see just how few truly standout tracks are being released. And these are tips from ppl that know a thing or two about music and public taste.
What's more, having a good "story" facilitates bringing advertisers on board, as every brand wants to be part of a buzz and movies offer opportunities for premieres, screen-savers, meet-and-greets and subsequently DVDs and downloads. The trouble is that they cost |
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PBS |
Chart places have become less relevant partly due to the lack of any connected TV show such as TOTP, 65 Special, Ready Steady Go, Oh Boy, 45, Supersonic, Lift Off. There used to be so many TV shows which you might appear on if you had a chart placing. I don't think the 24 hour music channels provide the same kind of service to either artist or viewer. There are some acts which would only get TV coverage if they had a chart placing.
I'm not sure that TV filters out the crap to bring us the good stuff. Most of the schedule suggests the opposite, which is why I watch very little TV these days. And radio went downhill once the stations adopted strict playlists. Filtering isn't something I support, because it limits choice. Who's to say that what the filterer thinks is rubbish will not be popular with others? I've known a few awfully bad Number One songs over the years which I'd have gladly filtered out but which were obviously popular.
I agree with JK about subscription if all you want to do is listen. In such cases subscription limits the audience. I clicked on one site to listen to a band only to be told I cannot even hear a preview unless I sign up. Thus, I still haven't heard that band. Plenty of other non-sub sites to choose from.
On the free music point. I chose not to make my Myspace songs downloadable, but I came across a website which allows you to download any music off Myspace for free. It's an extremely easy one click process, and I now know there's nothing I can do to prevent people getting freebies of my songs off Myspace, short of deleting them. That's one downside of digital music, although I guess it's similar to the way people used to tape off the radio.
Thankfully some people are still paying for my music, and the market is big enough to allow for the leaking of free copies - so there's no actual panic yet. And maybe those free copies will help raise awareness of and interest in the choice of music that is available.
Hmm .. I've also gone on longer than I intended.  |
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Mart |
You hit that cross from the left wing with perfect timing for me to head away with precision Manny.
So many people, in all employment, this industry included of course, do not actually realise that technically doing ones job does not end when work ends at whatever hour and there is also no guarantee that it will be there tommorrow.
Does this ethic come only from the self employed or "indies" in the debate in progress?
It most certainly should not, people who do not care about the music that employs them should celebrate life as a consumer and fund their enjoyment, as opposed to obsession of such,in other means. |
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Manny Madman |
Some very good points and interesting comments.
I notice other boards seem less interested in such topics.
Lower level contributions? |
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