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I hate it (continuing thread below) but it does seem...
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TOPIC: I hate it (continuing thread below) but it does seem...
#15756
I hate it (continuing thread below) but it does seem... 18 Years, 4 Months ago  
That music has entered the "free" area.
Like it or not, the advent of downloads combined with iPods means most consumers consider music to be free and swappable.

The old days of messy cassette copies saw a huge and expensive "Don't Pirate" campaign which had no effect at all (the majority simply did not bother - it was too complicated in the physical world).

But now it is so easy that I suspect it will indeed cause music to be regarded, in the future, as free (those bloody industry approved giveaway cover mounts did not help).

Ditto internet/radio/TV use.

We had better get used to profiting via other routes.

Which will cause fewer one offs and novelty hits (the backbone of our industry in my opinion) and push us back into the "turn people into artistes/careers/brands" philosophy.

Except for the few (ME PLEASE) who will do it simply because they enjoy it and not for the profits.

And not (I hasten to add) in order to satisfy lust either!
 
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#15757
Re:I hate it (continuing thread below) but it does seem... 18 Years, 4 Months ago  
If I might add, that not only have the fees from playing live been reduced incredibly, but the increase of "pay to play" is now shocking.
I love open mic nights and it is a great source of new acts, but on going to one recently and seeing eight acts with no fee coming from the venue owner except the space and the electricity, it is rather disturbing really.
 
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#15785
Re:I hate it (continuing thread below) but it does seem... 18 Years, 4 Months ago  
At the turn of the last Century there were people who, more or less, did the same act for years. When recordings and radio came in they thought their livelihood was ruined.

For some it was ruin but for many others it was opportunity.

Apart from everyone hearing "all my material" so I have no act left the idea that somebody could pay once and listen many times without further payment was horrific to some.

In the event live performance did not disappear.

Cinema attendance certainly dropped significantly in the television era but Hollywood managed to survive. The Picture-House was their version of "physicals" and could be considered as a very expensive way to distribute product.

We seem to be in a comparable position, musicians think their livelihood is done for. We must be careful not to convince ourselves that the whole thing is over.

The threat is also an opportunity.

The only example I can offer is broadcast of a live performance. By using satellite and/or Internet broadcast the revenues can be increased from a single gig.

Granted that's a bit of future thinking but as home entertainment systems develop where my TV may be getting it's input via the aerial or along the telephone wires there is opportunity.

We have have "Sports Pubs" with their large screen football matches, why not music pubs? It would have to be an event - as televised football matches are - but the potential is there for one off event that "we all" want to see NOW (Do people watch videos of football games in any significant numbers?). A copy of the "event" is not as desirable as being there.

Profits may have been reduced but expenses reduced too, for some it was a loss for others a net gain.

Costs are coming down so access to the means is becoming affordable. I could imagine in somewhere like the USA you could have a Battle of the Bands type event spread over several locations within a State or a County.

Payment from sponsorship and/or telephone voting can generate income, for example.

(The emergence of a cheap easy way to make small payments would be very beneficial - we see it in embryo form using mobile phones.)

If we keep looking back at what was we won't see what is in front of us. The big dinosaurs died but the little mammals flourished, change isn't the end of the World.
 
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