I thought Alex's article (a few posts down) touched on a great topic and while responding to it in the comments I realized I was writing a lot so I decided to turn my thoughts on the topic into its own post.
I mostly buy CD's for artists that I really like. I like to check out the album booklet and see what the musician(s) were feeling about the album. Also it's nice to have lyrics to look through.
For me and my friends, Tower Records was a huge source of music for us growing up. Although overpriced, it had a huge selection and was very close to most people, walking distance for me. I enjoyed walking in and spending time in the store looking at albums, books, magazines and such. There was always a weird phenomenon that would occur when I walked into tower records. If I did not have a specific artist or album in mind I would forget most of the artists I listened to. All the mainstays were there, artists that I had multiple albums of, but I would forget newly found and less listened to bands. So it would take me awhile to walk around a spot an artist that I knew. I feel like the lack of and closing of music stores that have a wide selection is a big part of why people don't buy albums and pay for music. The accessibility of the stores plays a big role because I know when I want an album that is out I would rather have it now then wait a week or so for it to be delivered by mail through amazon or towerrecords.com. So why not just download the album in a few minutes through torrent websites for free? At least in your mind you were willing to pay for it and that counts for something right?
I'm sure you have been thinking well what about Itunes? Personally I would never give Itunes a cent. Not a damn cent. They, to me, are destroying music. From artists only selling their album on Itunes, to artists giving people who buy the album on Itunes first picks on concert tickets (The Mars Volta for example). If anything this is killing CD sales. Why wouldn't someone want a pre-sale spot on their favorite artists' new tour. Why look for the cd in a store when you could just go to itunes and download it? It is hard to argue against that. However, like I said earlier I like looking at the album booklet and I just like to have the actual CD and CD case. If my portable hard drive decides to die one day a chunk of my life will have died with it. The cds I have left will be the only source of music I would have until I downloaded over 33 gigs of music back.
Another argument for downloading for free is why not just download it for free instead of downloading it off Itunes and paying? I would rather get an album that I am not too sure I will like for free rather than paying for it and giving another web service my credit card information.
I'm well aware, as most who download music for free, that it is hurting the musician(s) for our benefit. This is true and looking back at it it can make one feel a little guilty. But usually I'm paying more attention to my funds than the musician's funds. This may be self centered but that is just the way it is.
So, for me, in order to encourage people to start buying CDs and paying for music we should re open stores like Sam Goody and Tower Records, lower CD prices, and also get rid of stores like Itunes. All of these would make me extremely happy also. I'm not saying these are the only solution but it would be a great start.
Any other suggestions?
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4 comments:
I don't think we can ever turn back the clock like that. People have come to expect their music in a nice and easy package and a lot of them don't care about owning the physical cd anymore. Besides what some bands are doing now to help get some revenue, I think this ordeal has to go federal. The government can set up guidelines where ad supported torrent sites and programs dish out the profits to artists based on download numbers. If different sites focus on different genres then it'll make it easier to spread the wealth around. It's like what hulu is doing for tv. They have stopped the pirating of so many shows by just making it easier for people to watch them on an ad supported site. And while I agree with you that iTunes is ruining the album by making a generation of impatient people who just want one song, I don't think they are ruining the music industry as a whole. They have at least provided a new idea that has proven to be very successful and has been followed by sites like amazon.
Sorry if that comment was undecipherable, I wrote it at 4 in the morning as Emmy was screaming all night so I took her downstairs. Anyway, I don't think it needs to be federal, as that will probably never happen, but I assumed that that would be the only way to get all the record companies on board. Hulu is a collaboration of Fox and NBC so just like that the record companies could either team up or do their own thing. Who knows if they ever would but I just feel like they will never stop it no matter how many people they try to sue, so they should embrace it. The movie industry didn't get anywhere when they tried to kill the VCR, and the music industry didn't when they tried to kill cassettes, they just need to go with new technology and stop trying to fight it. Instead of spending all your time and money trying to stop it, use those resources to find a way to make money off of it. That's all I have to say I think.
not buying a cd hurts record companies just as much if not more than the artists. forever it has always been the middle man who makes the most profit, just for being in the right place at the right time.
the idea radio head had, i think, is the best. that is directly from the band to the listener, where the money goes directly from the listener to the band. more bands need to sell downloads directly off of their websites. i don't know how it works but it'd be awesome to see. each artist would essentially have its own shop on the web.
I was thinking about this again.
The idea radiohead had was great, but it was only on one website. Perhaps if an independent collection of artists and their music were combined onto one webpage. All proceeds would go directly to the artist.
And if all music wasn't to be available for free? Just give a minimum price for everything, and cheaper packages for entire albums or discographies.
I would love to see the artist really get the money they deserve.
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