Services like Spotify then, finally, have provided a sort of middle ground. A nice, convenient mid-point which doesn't rob anyone, but helps pay the artists
I've read the sums the artists get from Spotify are ridiculously low. Only the really popular artists can benefit from it, the smaller bands would make much more money selling the actual CD on their website or at a concert. So I'm not sure about how good it is really for the artist. Good for discovering one, I suppose, but it won't pay his bills.
Emphasis - "
helps pay the artists." Picked my words carefully. It's not a solution on its own, but it's part of one. Nobody's saying the problem's solved. But we're finding, pursuing, and actively changing our listening habits in ways that begin to solve it.
Building on Adami and Reapsta's posts...Bands nowadays know that money is made on touring, not album sales.
They do need records to tout, though, they need to keep producing new music to play on those tours, and record labels are great for making that music happen. Sure, there are a few legacy bands to whom this doesn't apply as much - Bob Geldof could dine out for decades on I Don't Like Mondays - but largely, the albums and the tours will feed one another, a new album that sounds great will sell more tickets than one that doesn't, and just because the band doesn't get that much money from an album doesn't mean the people who produced it don't need payment for their part in keeping the band and the tours rolling like they should.
Not really. An upcoming band needs to play live to stay alive. Its good as a band to have many songs in your repertoire before you announce yourself as one. In a way thinking back to the olden days before internet.
I agree, I just don't know how this contradicts anything I've said. Possible that I'm reading it wrong. Might have to ask you to rephrase it a bit - I am kind of a dolt.
It needs to play live to stay alive, but it also needs fans - and a
fanbase won't sustain itself on a gig every two years. CDs make fans, and fans make live sales. Once the gig's over, you need a way to keep enjoying the band for the next two years, five years, sometimes ten years until it swings back round your neck of the woods. The album is what the band gives the fans, and the live sales are what the fans will give them in return. A band could have the best show in the world, but what does that mean once everyone's back home?
Your fans need something to be a fan of
all year, nobody's a fan for a day, if you're relying on that they'll have forgotten you by the time you come back. The strength of your live sales is based on the strength of your fanbase, and the studio material's what the people are busy being fans of for 364 days a year - and that's an
under-estimate. Even if the artist doesn't directly profit from their debut album, the album is what the people will cherish, and that gives them a reason to buy tickets, and a reason to remember the band next time they come round.
Think of the CD as an advert for the tour. They might lose money on advertising, certainly don't stand to gain much, but it creates a market and breeds loyalty, so even though you might've lost money giving people a reason to care about your brand, by the time the tour comes round people's interest is piqued, and you've laid the foundation for much stronger ticket sales.
It'd possibly be more sensible to start talking about it that way round, actually. Bands don't tour in support of an album, they release an album in preparation for a tour.
Topic: General musings about pirating (Read 5903 times)
