Originally Posted by CMcG
This TV series looks really interesting. I'll have to check it out at some point!
I'm also a musician and I feel you pain. Consider for a moment, however, that the "music business" being synonymous with the "record business" is actually an aberration of the 20th century. In a broader perspective, the music industry is growing; in the 21st century, that just means different things.
I'm giving away my latest album for free. People can buy it if they want to (iTunes, Amazon, etc), but over the last three months I've had tens of thousands of free downloads and only two people have paid. That speaks volumes about the state of the record industry.
Read my blog post about the value of music HERE. I make money as a music scholar, a teacher, an audio engineer, a DJ, and royalties/commissions from licensing my compositions...
Sorry, all, for getting so off-topic!
I hear you but, respectfully, it devalues music and hard work when we give it all away. Why not use the restaurant business model? Give away SAMPLES (i.e. A song) but make them BUY the rest of your album.
I work too hard on my music to give it away. Indies need the sales more than majors.
Have you read Bobby Borg's work? He discusses this very thing a LOT.
Traditional revenue streams (placements, live gigs, merchandise) are all drying up. Even with a good agent a lot of artists still have a rough time getting placements and paying gigs. It may be different for the electronica scene but in hard rock it's pretty dry right now...too much urban music being pushed because it's cheap to produce and the artists are easy to find.
Consider what it costs to produce music, make artwork, submit your songs to breakdowns, create merchandise, run websites, produce music videos (a MUST in today's industry), and create and mpliment a marketing strategy...WHY would you give your music away?! You are robbing yourself!! Congratulations...you got a bunch of downloads...but only two people paid. That speaks volumes, my friend.
I'm finished ranting now. No disrespect intended, mate. We can agree to disagree with all friendliness intended.
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