A few stray thoughts about downloading
There is a topic we have never discussed here at Blog on the Tracks. Well, not as a main conversation. So - let's do it. I guess it could be a continuation of yesterday's "fad" suggestions. But maybe, for you, it's all you know. Maybe it's the way you get your music - all the time, click of a button...
Yes, today we look at the music download. Maybe you were a fan of Napster. Maybe you only purchase things via iTunes or some other registered site; above board. Perhaps you have downloaded from a particular artist's site; or maybe you don't download at all because you do not believe in it. Let's share some opinions on this.
I don't download. Well, every now and then I am given a legitimate download code to access music for reviewing purposes. And sometimes I will go ahead and do that - so that I can hear the music. But talk of torrents and codec chat has me lost.
Let me clear this up: I have no moral issues with downloading. I do not for a second think it is killing the music business. And I don't believe that an artist is missing out by having their music discovered this way. It's all about extending your brand - about getting found out; about people discovering/rediscovering you.
Now of course you might have an album for sale and you might feel that you legitimately missed out on sales. You might even know people that downloaded your album - without paying. But I bet they shared the music around; I bet they came to the gig, or wrote about your music - maybe using Twitter or some of those other fads we discussed yesterday like MySpace and Facebook.
Anyway, let's get the emotion out of it - easy for me to say, you are probably thinking - let's concentrate on this spread of information. People who download music, possibly your music, are music listeners; they are consumers. They will buy your T-shirt, gig ticket, poster, tour diary...They might not buy it all and not every single one of them will part with cash - but you will net some sales from these trawlers. You will.
I buy a lot of music. I always have. I always will. I bought tapes from the age of eight to 16. From there I bought CDs (and I sometimes still do). I started buying records when I was about 18. Nowadays I buy more vinyl than any other format - I used to collect music on VHS and still buy plenty of DVDs and I have been buying music books since I was 13 and fell in love with them via an unauthorised bio of Mick Jagger and a book about the murder of John Lennon. I'm a consumer. I obviously receive a lot of music "for free" - I put it in quote-marks because nothing is ever quite free; it comes with a price.
I've refused to pay that price where some record companies are concerned and so they now refuse to service me with CDs. So, music that they have a supply of; that they are given to allocate for promotion, now goes to people that are prepared to say kind things; that are prepared to buy in to the hype and regurgitate the press-releases.
Well, (this) homie don't play that game.
Warners will no longer reply to my emails. I asked them for a copy of the Janelle Monae album to review. You'll remember that just last week I raved about Tightrope; calling it the link of the week.
No luck there. So I went and bought the album. I could have downloaded it, sure. But to me, buying it was easier. But buying every Warners album is going to be a costly move, so maybe I should start downloading all Warners albums that I am not serviced? And then when I am busted I can plead that the record company drove me to it. What do you think? Smart move? Perhaps not.
Rest assured, I won't do that. I don't have the time and I'm not a tech-savvy person. I manage to write a blog and post links (from Wikipedia). That's about it.
I'm just saying - and it's not meant as any kind of threat - that I could download the music.
So you see downloading is not killing the industry in my books. The music companies are; particularly the ones that can't see the promotional-wood for the not-agreeing-with-them-every-time-trees.
You will tell me that downloading takes no time at all; just set it up and let your computer do the work. You will tell me that I don't have the right to just expect CDs to review (actually, in a way, I do). You will tell me that if I really wanted an album I should just buy it - like the rest of you. But you see by my guesstimate I do spend more on music than you, well, more than a lot of you.
Downloading is saving music - it's making it about the music and about access. It's allowing people the choice - most people that download (and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just guessing here) will either a) still spend money on music in some way/shape/form or b) share the music around and share thoughts on the music - therefore they are promoters, enablers, enthusiasts that care about the music.
Some of you will say that downloading is wrong - not for any moral reason but because the Mp3 format is terrible, it sounds ghastly. Well, that's definitely one of the reasons I do not get too excited about it. For sure.
I have spent so much of my life listening to music, talking about music, writing about music, sharing music and - basically - caring about music that I still want it to be a tactile experience. That's why I favour the LP format when I have the time/chance. Of course I own an iPod (two, in fact). And they are very practical for playing music on the go. Of course I still play CDs - particularly in my car - as a reviewer I try to grab whatever small spaces I have to listen to music; as a blogger I'm always hoping a topic will arrive easily, one I don't have to wrestle with into the night.
But when I get my time to sit and listen to music - well you won't find me with a broadband connection searching and destroying; you won't find me downloading.
I'll be in the lounge, a vinyl playing. I've just listened to The Commodores' Hot on the Tracks. And now it's to Freddie Hubbard
's Red Clay - my first listen to this album; a friend told me I had to hear it; loaned me his LP. I've just posted a YouTube clip of one of the tracks to my Facebook page. It might get some comments. Someone might share that it's their favourite. Someone else might also be checking it out for the first time and will then click on it to say: Like.
Maybe you get the same experience that I get from vinyl by downloading. That's fine if you do. I'm not knocking it; it's just not for me. I can't boast about a full hard drive.
Maybe you have a real problem with downloading and agree with the record company propaganda that it is killing the industry.
It's interesting how whenever an act speaks out about it, particularly in New Zealand, it's someone who has been promised the world by a major label. Do they check to see what the label has taken from them, or is it too hard to turn around and look at the fine print with a label-hand placed strategically?
Some of you will be impatient reading this - you'll be waiting to tear into me, saying that I wouldn't know anything about what it's like to not receive my fair share for something that I do.
Ah, hello - I'm a freelance writer!
Most of my work appears online, people then take it and place it wherever they want. This blog appears on other sites and I do not receive extra money for it - nor does the website that hosts this blog. But that's brand extension, that's the nature of it; I'm happy that people are reading. And reacting.
Also, I made an album a few years ago with a band and we released it to download/stream for free. A lot of people do that. They want the music to be heard - to be accessed. It's the same with writing.
That brings me back to Warners. Maybe they won't return my emails because they can't use my comments about Kirsten Morrell. Well, they could use my comments about Janelle Monae if they wanted to.
I've made a pact - to myself mostly, but also to the readers that care, that want to stay informed. Every single new release by Warners will be reviewed - on this site - I will pay for them until the company gives in and starts sending me review copies again
. Or, you could always download them for me if you like?
So - those are my stray thoughts about downloading. What are yours?
Disclaimer: By the time you read this I will have raved about Janelle Monae's album, The ArchAndroid, on my weekly "Hating and Rating" segment on Radio Active. I'm happy I went and bought the album. I love it. You can listen to the weekly segment live, Friday mornings, 8.15am here. You have my word that I will never hate on a Warners-released product just because I had to spend my own money on it. I want to give you the truth. Well, my version of it at any rate.
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If it wasn't for downloading music, I never would have discovered Gojira, and I never would have gone and bought 4 of their albums. I also would have never known to introduce my friends to the music too, and I know a couple of them were impressed enough to go buy one or two of their albums too. I never would have even heard of the band if it weren't for downloading their music. No music shop stocks any heavy music (most have Nickleback in their so called heavy section) so I wouldn't have come across Gojira just by browsing a music shop collection (it was a suggestion from a friend on Facebook). And there's no way I would've asked a music shop to order in one their cds on the off chance that I might like it.
I do download albums, but mostly so I can take my time checking out a new band, and then if I like it I'll end up buying the cd or vinyl- a try before you buy kind of arrangement. Sure, some bands have a myspace/website page to listen to their music, but I find it preferable to be able to listen to an album several times over to get a feel for it before I buy it. As a struggling musician myself, I'm quite happy for my music to be downloaded- any exposure is good exposure. If it gets my name out there, I'm happy. Obviously, I would like some to pay for it, but in such a competitive market, you have to take a long term approach and start building a fanbase from scratch, and enabling that initial fanbase access to your music for free is a sacrifice that you have to make. Be assured, as Simon has said, the big record companies are the ones destroying music. If I like a band, then I will give them my money, but first I need to listen to it in depth. Unfortunately, myspace have taken away the download part of the site (even though it was an optional feature for the artists), so listeners can no longer get full access to my music, but in a daring display of shameless self promotion, here's a link to my band page, www.myspace.betashine.com. There are tools out there that allow you to download from myspace, so if you like what you hear, be my guest and spread the word!
I have, and do, download. I do not have the time to hang around in music stores (or more accurately, 'Music Themed Product Profit Centres') so will trawl for recommendations and suggestions then download a copy. If I like it' I'lll buy it. Music is a sensory thing, both tactile and audotiry, and being a child of the 70's I like to browse the liner notes.
Downloading for me represents a clear signal that the music companies have got it wrong. It reflects the commoditisation (if that's even a word) of art, and the Simon Cowells of this world are squarely to blame. You treat it as nothing more than a profit driver, and it will be taken less seriously as a result.
People pay for music they like, and most will pay as the music reflects the blood, sweat, tears and cramped tour buses that got the artist to where he/she/they are now. I do not for a moment believe that there is any such 'soul' in a good 80% of the tripe foisted as music these days (are you listening, Justin Bieber/Lady Gaga?).
When buying an album, I always ask two questions - "will I listen to this more than once?" and "Where will this artist be in 15 years?" if I don't like the answer, I don't buy it. If I download it and don't like it, I delete it.
Downloading doesn't hurt the artists who make real music, as touring will get them more sales than YouTube. Downloading hurts the Music Company execs who are only looking for the next fad and tween idol to manufacture.
My recent purchases? The Dead Weather - both albums are brilliant; John Mayer - Battle Studies (what a mistake THAT was! John, I want my money back, you bland, soulless, vapid, talentless prat.)
Personally I download music for evaluation purposes. If I like the album, I go and purchase it. If I like the band, I may even by an offical t-shirt to show off. Perhaps even go and see one of their concerts?
I personally believe that downloading music is not harming the bands involved, it's just another medium in which to get your music out there, heard, shared and loved. The recording companies on the other hand... well. Maybe if they didn't overprice CDs...
This is an interesting topic and I have something to say about it. I'll say it later.
But something occurred to me... Neil Youngs voice sounds like the old creepy pedo man from Family Guy
Illegal vs legal downloading is a tradeoff between money and time.
If you want to download something illegally, you need a bittorrent client, you need to learn how to use it (not too hard, but not something everyone can do), you need to search for the music you want across (probably) a range of sites, and you need to hope at least a few people are seeding (that is, uploading) so you can download it effectively.
Buy the same thing on iTunes: a single search interface, a couple of clicks, and you've got it.
So the illegal route will appeal to those who have lots of time, but not much money -- students, teenagers, etc. iTunes is selling convenience: if you can afford to buy from it, if your time is worth money, then it's the better option. And -- newsflash -- people with not much money don't buy a lot of CDs.
There is a problem with just "extending the brand", as much as I think it's a fair point, though. There must come a line where the artist /writer / critic who (and I realise in art it's not cool to talk about the "j" word but I can't think of a more arty word for that thing you do that you get your primary income from) aren't getting enough money out of their job to live on so what's the brand extension getting them? It occurs to me that it's probably not cool to talk about "extending the brand" in art either. I've downloaded music since 06, via the not-so-dearly-departed Coketunes, Digirama and now iTunes. Sometimes I've redownloaded songs when the respectie sites have announced higher bit versions (iTunes told me what songs I had previously bought were now new and improved and let me redownload but for some reason Digirama doesn't tell me...and I don't know until i start the redownload. Dumb). I still get CDs - got Florence and the Machine and you're right!! Damn good!! However I only did that because I'd heard the first 3 songs and The Drumming Song an a flight so knew I'd like the album. I buy a CD from an artist I know/suspect I'll like but download singles from say Prince where I like 2 songs but don't like much more than that. And a finely printed photo/album cover/lyric sheet does look better than an Imation 4X CD case cover with "new Cure album" written on it.
Too right!!!!
Brilliant Simon, truly brilliant!
I agree with you almost whole-heartedly. Downloading has done wonderful things for the distribution of music world-wide, that record labels and local stores can't even dream of emulating. MySpace Music is probably the best thing for Indi bands & musicians, simply because it gets their face out to the world. No longer are bands locked geographically, you can produce a song or record, in your garage, and it can be heard by someone in Japan, UK, US and Australia in an instant.
As an appreciator of music I download the occasional song through iTunes or sometimes other less reputable sources, usually recommended from someone else, I usually end up purchasing the whole album the song is from, to see if the band is a one-hit-wonder or not. Like you, I have an extensive CD and DVD collection, and a growing albeit rather small stack of books, bio's or tour diaries.
As an Indi musician, I love the fact that you can get exposure worldwide by simply uploading a track to Myspace/Facebook or Youtube if I can be bothered making a video for them.
I completely agree, the record companies are getting upset because they can no-longer control what music will be produced, and who will listen to it. Before bands 'made it' by signing to a major distributor, now the distribution is at the hands of their peers, if you know someone who knows someone, you could have 1,000 fans in a heartbeat.
It's a wonderful age we're in Simon, exciting and scary. The notions of what is 'good music' or what will be 'popular' are being challenged, and hopefully changed from the better. There are going to be new sounds emerging that will completely shatter the boundaries of genre established by the labels.
For the love of the Music, instead of the love of the money!
Keep ripping the downloads, it keeps artists touring and that's what we really want
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I download stuff illegally that I never would have paid for anyway - either way, they weren't getting money out of me. It's either a song I can't get out of my head, or a band everyone is raving about that I don't want to part with $30 for, but want to check out the music. If I *do* like something, I buy it on iTunes. Or if I can't find it for free somewhere. It's wasteful buying a CD, putting it on my iPod and then not touching the CD again.