what am I doing to motivate cats to buy? we had a pretty decent marketing campaign, what you'd expect for the ship goal -- i won't bore you with details, but it included press, radio, street/lifestyle, ads. the usual.
I feel you dunny - it's a tough fucking grind these days. There's so many more factors now that didn't exist in the "golden era." It would be a tough thing to start your hustle now - stay up, just don't blame the game.
Aww, cmon man, I think I can blame the game a little bit right? I mean, there have been several hundred people stealing my shit ... its not the difference between platinum and 0, not the difference between sink or swim, but its significant for an indie... blood sweat tears and $$ on this end, and college kids stealing it like its their job...
Negative images might have something to do with it. But whats causing that 21% sales decline is BOOTLEGGING.
Hiphoppers are the worst. Theres no rock mixtapes. Its real hood to hook up your boys with the new shit theyre not up on.
My shit, Sound Chronicles Vol I, is indie, but its been posted on 4 blogs (so far), links on Okayplayer, Justus League, Philaflavor boards... and thats just what I know of.
I got dudes telling me about this new "CRazy" track by Sean Price. I'm like actually, thats my fuckin song, and its called "Jesus Price," and its off my fuckin album.
Hiphoppers bootleg. Thats why sales are down. Negative images are a negligible part of the problem.
The Sean Price album is excellent & I'm happy that it saw a vinyl release. Dudes like that need our support. BUY JESUS PRICE SUPERSTAR!!!
i hope i don't really have to point this out but bootlegging of an album does not necessarily mean the loss of a sale. if a mufuckah didn't know about your shit and wouldn't have found out about your shit without bootlegging, that can hardly count as a lost sale. i will say that it's less and less likely for an artist to rely solely on cd sales for income these days.
Another thing that effects these sales, aside from bootlegging/downloading/quality of product, is the sheer availability of hip hop music. It used to be a select group of people who made hip hop, and an entire audience of FANS who's only job was to buy and enjoy the music (or not). Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software). It's not entirely to blame, but certainly part of it. More to choose from, lower sales numbers for all. 10 years ago, it was a lot harder to "discover" hip hop. These days, somebody who's never heard of hip hop could, potentially, click on to myspace and listen to MC Suchnsuch and think they just discovered that real schittt. The amount of options available to the hip hop audience or potential hip hop audience is out of control, really. I think this has a pretty big effect on the mid to lower level artists (read: artists who sell 20,000 or less, or thereabout) in terms of sales. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
i hope i don't really have to point this out but bootlegging of an album does not necessarily mean the loss of a sale. if a mufuckah didn't know about your shit and wouldn't have found out about your shit without bootlegging, that can hardly count as a lost sale. i will say that it's less and less likely for an artist to rely solely on cd sales for income these days.
yeah I've heard that argument, that bootlegging can increase your visibiity. I think it does in fact raise awareness to some degree, but I don't think there is a parallel rise in sales. In other words, it can work as a marketing tool in that it gets your name and music out there, but it doesn't work as a marketing tool in raising sales, in most cases.
I think in most cases, people bootleg and find out about new shit. and then keep it.
And its easy to do a whole album that way now. It used to be just songs. Now its whole albums. Which is crazy, b/c you can't (easily) do that with books, movies and video games. Music really gets it the worst, and hip hop gets it the worst of all in music...
Another thing that effects these sales, aside from bootlegging/downloading/quality of product, is the sheer availability of hip hop music. It used to be a select group of people who made hip hop, and an entire audience of FANS who's only job was to buy and enjoy the music (or not). Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software). It's not entirely to blame, but certainly part of it. More to choose from, lower sales numbers for all. 10 years ago, it was a lot harder to "discover" hip hop. These days, somebody who's never heard of hip hop could, potentially, click on to myspace and listen to MC Suchnsuch and think they just discovered that real schittt. The amount of options available to the hip hop audience or potential hip hop audience is out of control, really. I think this has a pretty big effect on the mid to lower level artists (read: artists who sell 20,000 or less, or thereabout) in terms of sales. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
definitely a factor. you think the market will correct itself though? if all the little dudes go away, you think CD sales will start to go up again?
Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software).
HUGE
EVvryone thinks it's about buying a couple of comps and the road to papes is paved smoothly. even supertoaster thinks he's the next uber-producer while being unable to loop shit cuz some random dude published that for a 15 year old it's not bad.
yeah I've heard that argument, that bootlegging can increase your visibiity. I think it does in fact raise awareness to some degree, but I don't think there is a parallel rise in sales. In other words, it can work as a marketing tool in that it gets your name and music out there, but it doesn't work as a marketing tool in raising sales, in most cases.
i never mentioned a rise in sales. i said that without bootlegging, a lot of artists would still be unknown. in the case of bootlegging increasing your visibility, what an artist does to capitalize on this visibility is completely up to them and their management. ringtones, merchandise, touring, etc are all ways that artists are caking off of and will continue to do so.
music is a very different hustle now than even as little as five years ago and while i sincerely sympathize with you on the bootlegging issue, in this age an artist has to adapt or they simply will not be able to make a living off their music
And its easy to do a whole album that way now. It used to be just songs. Now its whole albums. Which is crazy, b/c you can't (easily) do that with books, movies and video games. Music really gets it the worst, and hip hop gets it the worst of all in music...
not that this has any relevance at all but you can easily do the same with books, movies, and video games. sure the files are larger for movies and video games but they get bootlegged the same. if anything, you could argue that bootlegging movies and video games hurts even more because they have significantly larger budgets than most album releases.
music is a very different hustle now than even as little as five years ago and while i sincerely sympathize with you on the bootlegging issue, in this age an artist has to adapt or they simply will not be able to make a living off their music
Agreed. But 'adapting' is easier said than done. Even JLo's fragrance was tanking, last I heard. And I don't think ringtones are financing mansions. Yeah, adapting is the answer, but I don't think anyone is really sure of how to do that, there doesn't seem to be a formula, certainly not one that works for many..
And its easy to do a whole album that way now. It used to be just songs. Now its whole albums. Which is crazy, b/c you can't (easily) do that with books, movies and video games. Music really gets it the worst, and hip hop gets it the worst of all in music...
not that this has any relevance at all but you can easily do the same with books, movies, and video games. sure the files are larger for movies and video games but they get bootlegged the same. if anything, you could argue that bootlegging movies and video games hurts even more because they have significantly larger budgets than most album releases. Maybe you can bootleg books and movies. I've never done it, and I don't know many that have. Maybe pirated DVD's, thats a problem, but not so much downloading. Its definitely nowhere near as big a problem in those markets
with the number of multi platinum artists in hip hop out there it's really amazing how few of them have figured out the touring world. They have endorsers out the ass yet it seems like Peter Schwartz, Cara Lewis & Mike Mori just hit up the top 25 markets, wait for colleges to over pay them for one-offs and call it a day.
Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software).
im sorry, but i hate this generality. dudes like this example (and all the ones in every other hip hop is dead thread) aren't touring, aren't merchandising, and aren't taking it to the level to even have a reason to complain about a loss in album sales. its moot imo.
im with g*****s on this one, bootlegging did not kill hip hop, nor hip hop sales. just like everything else, shit changes so lets find a way to work around it (or maybe even prosper from it!).
Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software).
im sorry, but i hate this generality. dudes like this example (and all the ones in every other hip hop is dead thread) aren't touring, aren't merchandising, and aren't taking it to the level to even have a reason to complain about a loss in album sales. its moot imo.
im with g*****s on this one, bootlegging did not kill hip hop, nor hip hop sales. just like everything else, shit changes so lets find a way to work around it (or maybe even prosper from it!).
peace.
word, everyone can agree that shit needs to change. but my man, how are you gonna find a way to prosper from stealing? please tell me.
and yes, hundreds of people stealing my shit, and liking it, and keeping, is a very legitimate reason to complain.
i'm sayin. wait til it happens to you. then it'll seem like a bigger deal.
word, everyone can agree that shit needs to change. but my man, how are you gonna find a way to prosper from stealing? please tell me.
and yes, hundreds of people stealing my shit, and liking it, and keeping, is a very legitimate reason to complain.
i'm sayin. wait til it happens to you. then it'll seem like a bigger deal.
create a biz model that accounts for the fact you're not going to see say 20% of your sales due to illegal downloads??? Consider it the new "free goods." Resturants and Retail stores build in product loss/theft into their equation - maybe record companies should start doing a simialr thing.. Oh wait - that's why they were only paying us on 90% of records sold....
Another thing that effects these sales, aside from bootlegging/downloading/quality of product, is the sheer availability of hip hop music. It used to be a select group of people who made hip hop, and an entire audience of FANS who's only job was to buy and enjoy the music (or not). Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software). It's not entirely to blame, but certainly part of it. More to choose from, lower sales numbers for all. 10 years ago, it was a lot harder to "discover" hip hop. These days, somebody who's never heard of hip hop could, potentially, click on to myspace and listen to MC Suchnsuch and think they just discovered that real schittt. The amount of options available to the hip hop audience or potential hip hop audience is out of control, really. I think this has a pretty big effect on the mid to lower level artists (read: artists who sell 20,000 or less, or thereabout) in terms of sales. Correct me if I'm wrong here.
Co-fuckin sign. Its really outta control. Cats that have no marketing or any suport or sales or FANS trying to sell their shit for $10 a pop. Its beyond annoying. And if you try to tell them to take it back to the lab and work on their craft... You immediately become a "hater".
create a biz model that accounts for the fact you're not going to see say 20% of your sales due to illegal downloads??? Consider it the new "free goods." Resturants and Retail stores build in product loss/theft into their equation - maybe record companies should start doing a simialr thing.. Oh wait - that's why they were only paying us on 90% of records sold....
true. but that sucks, doesn't it? 10% free goods, + 20% stolen goods.. so now you only get paid on 70% of records sold? i mean thats adapting, kinda. more like just taking it. just finding a way to take it, accepting the fact that every record will do 20% worse than its supposed to. you may be right, but that would be depressing if that was the solution.
true. but that sucks, doesn't it? 10% free goods, + 20% stolen goods.. so now you only get paid on 70% of records sold? i mean thats adapting, kinda. more like just taking it. just finding a way to take it, accepting the fact that every record will do 20% worse than its supposed to. you may be right, but that would be depressing if that was the solution.
it's a process. when the record industry wants to do something more than a quick fix to the download problem, you'll have to stick & move. It's amazing we have all these encryption technologies and there isn't a way to make files unsharable. not that I want THAT or anything... I'm off to soulseek....
Now, the fan IS an artist, there's hip hop around every fucking corner, every jim joe john mary sue and jan are making it, so there's less focus on the "real" artists who existed before the explosion of consumer-level music production equipment (and software).
HUGE
EVvryone thinks it's about buying a couple of comps and the road to papes is paved smoothly. even supertoaster thinks he's the next uber-producer while being unable to loop shit cuz some random dude published that for a 15 year old it's not bad.
I plan to illegally download Supertoaster's first album
true. but that sucks, doesn't it? 10% free goods, + 20% stolen goods.. so now you only get paid on 70% of records sold? i mean thats adapting, kinda. more like just taking it. just finding a way to take it, accepting the fact that every record will do 20% worse than its supposed to. you may be right, but that would be depressing if that was the solution.
it's a process. when the record industry wants to do something more than a quick fix to the download problem, you'll have to stick & move. It's amazing we have all these encryption technologies and there isn't a way to make files unsharable. not that I want THAT or anything... I'm off to soulseek....
You're right. It seems as though encryption technology could seriously reduce the amount of ripped and uploaded albums. There will always be a way around it, but it could sginificantly cut the numbers. However, I'm also somewhat understanding of the idea that "illegal downbloads" are also a very effective means of promotion (ESPECIALLY for artists who do not already have a large following/audience). Just another side of the coin. That said, one thing that nobody can steal from you is your live performance. If you get your name big enough from promotion and "illegal downlaods" and whatever else, you should be able to see the benefits upon touring. It's all in how you put it all together. From what I've understood from the countless underground acts that I've talked with, record sales don't get you shit until you're moving something like 50,000 copies independently, and then it's still not that much (hearsay?). Tours are what make the money for these acts. I don't think that's really changed. I don't think Slug was really banking off record sales like he was on concerts (seen it go down in CO, I know how he was banking when he first blew up here). I don't think 2mex's CD-R's were paying the rent as much as his shows were. Plus, selling exclusivce "tour merchandise" pulls in the money as well, even if it can be bootlegged after the fact, the people who attend the show will cop. I've seen this first hand. I've literally seen artists make more money from their merch at an underground show than they get for performing in the first place. And way more than they ever got when they put an album out through a label of some sort. I don't know, it's just one of those things, as previously stated, that you have to accept and learn how to work the angles on. You can feel free to complain all you want, but you and I both know that's not going to put money in your pocket. It's also not going to stop people from downloading music for free. Put it this way, this shit isn't supposed to be easy, and adding to my previous point, the more people you have out there making this music, the more competition and the less fans you have. It's going to be a fight whether it's a fight with illegal downloaders, labels, or other artists. The game ain't pretty (not sayin' this like you don't already know, just sayin')!
edit: Just wanted to say I was somewhat responding to yoigotbeats but toward the end, I suppose I was more or less talking to El Mezcalito. sorry for the confusion.
one thing that nobody can steal from you is your live performance. If you get your name big enough from promotion and "illegal downlaods" and whatever else, you should be able to see the benefits upon touring. It's all in how you put it all together. From what I've understood from the countless underground acts that I've talked with, record sales don't get you shit until you're moving something like 50,000 copies independently, and then it's still not that much (hearsay?). Tours are what make the money for these acts.
I said this already, but you're absolutly right. when are groups gonna go out punk rock style and play every nook & cranny to get their shit out there??? You need a Grand Cheerokee size car and the balls to play for $50-200 a night (which should be enough for gas money) and make it happen. the big city, big money dates should make it possible to do the shows in between major markets easy. You just gotta want a career in music instead of whining why your hobby of the month isn't bringing in the easy money.
and yes, hundreds of people stealing my shit, and liking it, and keeping, is a very legitimate reason to complain.
One more thing, in regards to this comment above, how can you be so sure that those people who are "stealing" your music are not going to go out and buy the CD or the 12"? Granted, some of them won't, but some of them probably will, right? And how can you be so sure that anybody who is "stealing" your album would have taken a chance on buying it if the download wasn't available to them? Would you rather have somebody who would otherwise never hear your music hear it and know whether they like it or not than somebody spending their money on it and NOT liking it? I mean, I'm just sorta playing DA here, but I am curious to hear your thoughts on this. Is letting some of your music out for free and getting promotion better than not getting promotion and trying to keep your music locked away from people who don't intend to take a chance on buying it?
the only way encryption is going to remotely work is if either
a. all cds that come out are encrypted and this will most likely kill cd sales
b. labels discontinue selling cds and only sell digital files that are encrypted. some kid in fucking sweden or some shit finds a way around the encryption and publishes it online for everyone to know.
in both examples, there are several ways around either of them but for the average music fan (aka most of the sales), these ways are just too much of a pain in the ass.
one thing that nobody can steal from you is your live performance. If you get your name big enough from promotion and "illegal downlaods" and whatever else, you should be able to see the benefits upon touring. It's all in how you put it all together. From what I've understood from the countless underground acts that I've talked with, record sales don't get you shit until you're moving something like 50,000 copies independently, and then it's still not that much (hearsay?). Tours are what make the money for these acts.
I said this already, but you're absolutly right. when are groups gonna go out punk rock style and play every nook & cranny to get their shit out there??? You need a Grand Cheerokee size car and the balls to play for $50-200 a night (which should be enough for gas money) and make it happen. the big city, big money dates should make it possible to do the shows in between major markets easy. You just gotta want a career in music instead of whining why your hobby of the month isn't bringing in the easy money.
Sorry, I must have missed that. But yes, I completely agree. It takes that extra desire to succeed in the game!
the only way encryption is going to remotely work is if either
a. all cds that come out are encrypted and this will most likely kill cd sales
b. labels discontinue selling cds and only sell digital files that are encrypted. some kid in fucking sweden or some shit finds a way around the encryption and publishes it online for everyone to know.
in both examples, there are several ways around either of them but for the average music fan (aka most of the sales), these ways are just too much of a pain in the ass.
I'm not sure I understand how encrypting CDs would kill album sales, wouldn't it promote them by causing people to buy the album as opposed to ripping it off a friend's copy?
I don't know about in threadstarter's case what the deal is but i dont think there is a question that bootlegging and downloading have strongly impacted cd sales for both independents and majors.
the only way encryption is going to remotely work is if either
a. all cds that come out are encrypted and this will most likely kill cd sales
b. labels discontinue selling cds and only sell digital files that are encrypted. some kid in fucking sweden or some shit finds a way around the encryption and publishes it online for everyone to know.
in both examples, there are several ways around either of them but for the average music fan (aka most of the sales), these ways are just too much of a pain in the ass.
of course there are, but DVDs & video games have encryption blocks by country and/or territory and you don't see them whining aobut their sales. I'm really good friends with the cats at Rock Star Games and I can't get a free game of anything. There simple are no free games to give out. they also seemingly have a more accurate way of determining whether their product is a success. Let it become a major hassle to copy the shit and let's see if we really need an album by the fucking Mayor of H-Town. just stop whining you can't have the cake and be able to eat it to.
the only way encryption is going to remotely work is if either
a. all cds that come out are encrypted and this will most likely kill cd sales
b. labels discontinue selling cds and only sell digital files that are encrypted. some kid in fucking sweden or some shit finds a way around the encryption and publishes it online for everyone to know.
in both examples, there are several ways around either of them but for the average music fan (aka most of the sales), these ways are just too much of a pain in the ass.
I'm not sure I understand how encrypting CDs would kill album sales, wouldn't it promote them by causing people to buy the album as opposed to ripping it off a friend's copy?
Encryption won't do shit, leaks of albums spread like wildfire so all one person has to do is to set it up so that their audio recorder records whatever sound comes out their pc and then they can just record it live and save the mp3s... all it takes is once person to do this and then it's the same as before...
Also, saying guys can tour to make money is all well and good, but what if you're a beatmaker? You can't really tour then...
Comments
Aww, cmon man, I think I can blame the game a little bit right? I mean, there have been several hundred people stealing my shit ... its not the difference between platinum and 0, not the difference between sink or swim, but its significant for an indie... blood sweat tears and $$ on this end, and college kids stealing it like its their job...
I feel where you're coming from here but you really think bootlegging has no effect on sales? Or you just think it gets blown out of proportion?
The Sean Price album is excellent & I'm happy that it saw a vinyl release. Dudes like that need our support. BUY JESUS PRICE SUPERSTAR!!!
yeah I've heard that argument, that bootlegging can increase your visibiity. I think it does in fact raise awareness to some degree, but I don't think there is a parallel rise in sales. In other words, it can work as a marketing tool in that it gets your name and music out there, but it doesn't work as a marketing tool in raising sales, in most cases.
I think in most cases, people bootleg and find out about new shit. and then keep it.
And its easy to do a whole album that way now. It used to be just songs. Now its whole albums. Which is crazy, b/c you can't (easily) do that with books, movies and video games. Music really gets it the worst, and hip hop gets it the worst of all in music...
definitely a factor. you think the market will correct itself though? if all the little dudes go away, you think CD sales will start to go up again?
Wango - blown out of proportion.
HUGE
EVvryone thinks it's about buying a couple of comps and the road to papes is paved smoothly. even supertoaster thinks he's the next uber-producer while being unable to loop shit cuz some random dude published that for a 15 year old it's not bad.
music is a very different hustle now than even as little as five years ago and while i sincerely sympathize with you on the bootlegging issue, in this age an artist has to adapt or they simply will not be able to make a living off their music
not that this has any relevance at all but you can easily do the same with books, movies, and video games. sure the files are larger for movies and video games but they get bootlegged the same. if anything, you could argue that bootlegging movies and video games hurts even more because they have significantly larger budgets than most album releases.
Agreed. But 'adapting' is easier said than done. Even JLo's fragrance was tanking, last I heard. And I don't think ringtones are financing mansions. Yeah, adapting is the answer, but I don't think anyone is really sure of how to do that, there doesn't seem to be a formula, certainly not one that works for many..
not that this has any relevance at all but you can easily do the same with books, movies, and video games. sure the files are larger for movies and video games but they get bootlegged the same. if anything, you could argue that bootlegging movies and video games hurts even more because they have significantly larger budgets than most album releases.
Maybe you can bootleg books and movies. I've never done it, and I don't know many that have. Maybe pirated DVD's, thats a problem, but not so much downloading. Its definitely nowhere near as big a problem in those markets
im sorry, but i hate this generality. dudes like this example (and all the ones in every other hip hop is dead thread) aren't touring, aren't merchandising, and aren't taking it to the level to even have a reason to complain about a loss in album sales. its moot imo.
im with g*****s on this one, bootlegging did not kill hip hop, nor hip hop sales. just like everything else, shit changes so lets find a way to work around it (or maybe even prosper from it!).
peace.
word, everyone can agree that shit needs to change. but my man, how are you gonna find a way to prosper from stealing? please tell me.
and yes, hundreds of people stealing my shit, and liking it, and keeping, is a very legitimate reason to complain.
i'm sayin. wait til it happens to you. then it'll seem like a bigger deal.
create a biz model that accounts for the fact you're not going to see say 20% of your sales due to illegal downloads??? Consider it the new "free goods." Resturants and Retail stores build in product loss/theft into their equation - maybe record companies should start doing a simialr thing.. Oh wait - that's why they were only paying us on 90% of records sold....
Co-fuckin sign. Its really outta control. Cats that have no marketing or any suport or sales or FANS trying to sell their shit for $10 a pop. Its beyond annoying. And if you try to tell them to take it back to the lab and work on their craft... You immediately become a "hater".
true. but that sucks, doesn't it? 10% free goods, + 20% stolen goods.. so now you only get paid on 70% of records sold? i mean thats adapting, kinda. more like just taking it. just finding a way to take it, accepting the fact that every record will do 20% worse than its supposed to. you may be right, but that would be depressing if that was the solution.
it's a process. when the record industry wants to do something more than a quick fix to the download problem, you'll have to stick & move. It's amazing we have all these encryption technologies and there isn't a way to make files unsharable. not that I want THAT or anything... I'm off to soulseek....
I plan to illegally download Supertoaster's first album
talk about hella burning!!?!?!??!
You're right. It seems as though encryption technology could seriously reduce the amount of ripped and uploaded albums. There will always be a way around it, but it could sginificantly cut the numbers. However, I'm also somewhat understanding of the idea that "illegal downbloads" are also a very effective means of promotion (ESPECIALLY for artists who do not already have a large following/audience). Just another side of the coin. That said, one thing that nobody can steal from you is your live performance. If you get your name big enough from promotion and "illegal downlaods" and whatever else, you should be able to see the benefits upon touring. It's all in how you put it all together. From what I've understood from the countless underground acts that I've talked with, record sales don't get you shit until you're moving something like 50,000 copies independently, and then it's still not that much (hearsay?). Tours are what make the money for these acts. I don't think that's really changed. I don't think Slug was really banking off record sales like he was on concerts (seen it go down in CO, I know how he was banking when he first blew up here). I don't think 2mex's CD-R's were paying the rent as much as his shows were. Plus, selling exclusivce "tour merchandise" pulls in the money as well, even if it can be bootlegged after the fact, the people who attend the show will cop. I've seen this first hand. I've literally seen artists make more money from their merch at an underground show than they get for performing in the first place. And way more than they ever got when they put an album out through a label of some sort. I don't know, it's just one of those things, as previously stated, that you have to accept and learn how to work the angles on. You can feel free to complain all you want, but you and I both know that's not going to put money in your pocket. It's also not going to stop people from downloading music for free. Put it this way, this shit isn't supposed to be easy, and adding to my previous point, the more people you have out there making this music, the more competition and the less fans you have. It's going to be a fight whether it's a fight with illegal downloaders, labels, or other artists. The game ain't pretty (not sayin' this like you don't already know, just sayin')!
edit: Just wanted to say I was somewhat responding to yoigotbeats but toward the end, I suppose I was more or less talking to El Mezcalito. sorry for the confusion.
I said this already, but you're absolutly right. when are groups gonna go out punk rock style and play every nook & cranny to get their shit out there??? You need a Grand Cheerokee size car and the balls to play for $50-200 a night (which should be enough for gas money) and make it happen. the big city, big money dates should make it possible to do the shows in between major markets easy. You just gotta want a career in music instead of whining why your hobby of the month isn't bringing in the easy money.
One more thing, in regards to this comment above, how can you be so sure that those people who are "stealing" your music are not going to go out and buy the CD or the 12"? Granted, some of them won't, but some of them probably will, right? And how can you be so sure that anybody who is "stealing" your album would have taken a chance on buying it if the download wasn't available to them? Would you rather have somebody who would otherwise never hear your music hear it and know whether they like it or not than somebody spending their money on it and NOT liking it? I mean, I'm just sorta playing DA here, but I am curious to hear your thoughts on this. Is letting some of your music out for free and getting promotion better than not getting promotion and trying to keep your music locked away from people who don't intend to take a chance on buying it?
a. all cds that come out are encrypted and this will most likely kill cd sales
b. labels discontinue selling cds and only sell digital files that are encrypted. some kid in fucking sweden or some shit finds a way around the encryption and publishes it online for everyone to know.
in both examples, there are several ways around either of them but for the average music fan (aka most of the sales), these ways are just too much of a pain in the ass.
Sorry, I must have missed that. But yes, I completely agree. It takes that extra desire to succeed in the game!
I'm not sure I understand how encrypting CDs would kill album sales, wouldn't it promote them by causing people to buy the album as opposed to ripping it off a friend's copy?
of course there are, but DVDs & video games have encryption blocks by country and/or territory and you don't see them whining aobut their sales. I'm really good friends with the cats at Rock Star Games and I can't get a free game of anything. There simple are no free games to give out. they also seemingly have a more accurate way of determining whether their product is a success. Let it become a major hassle to copy the shit and let's see if we really need an album by the fucking Mayor of H-Town. just stop whining you can't have the cake and be able to eat it to.
Encryption won't do shit, leaks of albums spread like wildfire so all one person has to do is to set it up so that their audio recorder records whatever sound comes out their pc and then they can just record it live and save the mp3s... all it takes is once person to do this and then it's the same as before...
Also, saying guys can tour to make money is all well and good, but what if you're a beatmaker? You can't really tour then...