MPfrees
Interesting post about Fabric 35 over at Ewan Pearson’s blog which yielded a little debate about the merits and demerits of mp3 blogs, after Ewan ended the post with the following disclaimer.
“This information is for those of you who’ve decided that people who have chosen to make music for a living - rather than making cakes or shoes or selling weapons or teaching joga - are still entitled to some kind of financial reward for what they do and so who haven’t already downloaded it from some Russian bloodsucker or collector nerd with a blog masquerading as a ‘fan who’s just helping to promote the music they love, man.’ Your reward is a lovely tin box with my name on it and the ability to sleep at night. I, and much more importantly all the producers and labels included who struggle to survive in what are frankly difficult times, salute you!”
Meanwhile some of you may have noticed I deleted a post from last week, this is after the artist mentioned in it commented on it and asked that I take down his MP3. It seems more than a coincidence that this happens the exact day of this discussion.
Anyway, the comment, which was intended for public viewing before I deleted the post, was “hey thanks for diggin my tracks, but i live from music and half of the money i get from selling mp3s. so its not nice to give them away for free so i loose my money there is a free prelistening function on my website and that should be enough. dont make me loose money and put the mp3 down i have to pay my rent and have to eat. u dont work for free too”
Which puts an interesting perspective on the whole thing, if every artist being blogged about did this there wouldn’t be any mp3 blogs I suppose. I guess the issue then is whether dance music would be better off without them. I’m genuinely not sure.
As I asked over at Enthusiasm, is being mentioned in glowing terms on a blog where 200 or 300 people might read about your single or label worth the loss of sales you incur by a percentage of those people getting an mp3 track for free? Isn’t it possible you make that money back three times over by the increased exposure that gives you?
I also feel that a decent percentage of those downloading tracks from here or other mp3 blogs would never buy the records in question anyway. Not because they’re tight fisted or never buy music either! I get a lot of emails from people who are casual techno fans and read a blog because it’s a good filter for what’s an intimidatingly large body of music to approach. I don’t think this audience is to be sniffed at either. They’re the ones who’ll buy a CD, who’ll pay 15 or 20 euro to see a DJ or live act.
Of course there must be some DJs who never pay for any records, and download everything illegally, but I doubt these guys are relying on blogs rather than P2P to do this.
Then there’s the issue of promos. It is pretty easy to criticise people for not paying for music on the face of it. But then how many of the people within the dance industry who would make such criticisms are spending as much money on music as the average fan? How many are sent so many promos that they don’t have to buy anything like as many records as the average fan? That not even downloading every single MP3 on every single blog would yield the same amount of free music?
Might it not be a little rich to complain about people leeching records for free when the entire industry seems to be built on the hype generated by these promo records that are given away? Can the dance industry really whip up this hype and then complain when there’s a feverish demand for leaks of these unreleased tracks online? Isn’t the net effect the exact same: less money going back into the industry?
Similarly have the A-list DJs earned the right to not pay for music by dint of their talent or popularity? Perhaps more than you or I, but it is an inequality in a field which shouldn’t necessarily be two tiered. I mean, at some point in this cycle of giving free music to some but not to others, you’re saying “he shouldn’t have to pay for this record, but you, you should”. Not only that but you’re also using the fact you gave it to the first ones as a way of selling it to the next, and that rankles when put under the microscope. And I say that as someone who has benefitted massively and saved a lot of money by being sent records to play on the radio show.
Also, are there any techno fans these days who never download illegally? Because, as far as I can see, based on the activities of practically every single techno fan I know, and based on the habits of every single person I know that puts money into techno, the entire rebirth of the industry in the last few years owes a huge amount to the internet as we know it. And perhaps the backbone of that internet usage as regards dance music is downloading, both legal and illegal, from P2Ps to MP3 blogs.
Then there’s the fact that there are actually a multitude of possible reasons for falling record sales, not all to do with downloading. First of all the modern record shop is massively more well stocked than the local shops that are fading out, and the level of choice dictates that big labels are shifting less than their equivalents ten or fifteen years ago. The scene in general is more competitive, with more labels and music more easily available than ever. Does anyone even know how many dance 12s or mp3s are shifting a week, in total? Is there any kind of industry study?
Then there’s the simple fact that dance music may not actually be very popular at the moment. There are no major album selling acts anymore and dance isn’t really in the public consciousness much as far as I can tell.
I mean, I seriously believe that most illegal downloaders also buy lots of music. I know so many people in this boat that I honestly think if all illegal downloaders stopped listening to techno tomorrow, then the genre really would be in dire straits.
I’d certainly like to hear how people feel about this.
To what end « Little White Earbuds on 28 Aug 2007 at 2:08 am
[…] deal of money spent making the product available. The internal debate intensified as Ewan Pearson, Ronan and JBH spoke their mind on the issue, providing convincing arguments for and against the practice. […]