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81 Comments
- inactive, on 04/28/2008, -2/+14Dell was calling the iPod a fad 3 years ago and now Apple is bigger than Dell. I wouldn't count on it.
- curme, on 04/28/2008, -1/+12Did you know that disco record sales were up 400% for the year ending 1976? If these trends continue...
- Karmavs, on 04/28/2008, -0/+7Yes, because it's Apple's objective to have to hire more staff; have more servers and infrastructure, and to limit user choice; in order to decrease their possible reach and profits.
Blame the labels. Look at the stupid decisions they make elsewhere… - NSResponder, on 04/28/2008, -0/+6Take it up with the labels. Apple would love to have just one global music store.
-jcr - knazo, on 04/28/2008, -4/+9Who gives a #^$* - PirateBay did that in 2001.
- joeanon, on 04/28/2008, -0/+4If you want to give money to the band... usually the best route is through merchandise not through music.
The bands almost always get more out of merchandise per sale.
No the give the money directly the artist is not ***** actually.
Just look at NIN and Radiohead. An artists can sell his CD for download for a dollar and probably still make more than going through a record company or iTunes.
The PROBLEM is getting new quality musicians exposed in a world of one hit wonders and INSTANT music.
Plus you assume that all record contracts are the same... they are not.
Different bands run their show more or less to their own extent and most of them do their own promotional work and set up their own gigs.
Patches, t-shirts, and other .. gear pays your band the most AND they get free advertising.
Most well known musicians don't really need a lot of promotions. Their fans come out for them. Look at Bob Dylan breaking sales records on his latest album and he isn't the mass advertising type.
It depends on WHO you are to HOW you make the most money. There is no one simple formula as you suggest.
So YES it does matter if you buy a CD or buy merchandise or just send the band money. The more middlemen you cut out, the better it is for the musician.
Though arguably some musicians NEED the guidance of a record company to keep them sober enough to stay on tour.
That's why the solutions are not so one sided as give it to the record company or give it to the musician.
Musicians are businesses and they all run a little different. Some bands go totally on music sales while others make tons on merchandise. You have to look at the market and see what you fans in particular want.
Just like any other market. You cater to the consumer and that gives the consumer more outlets to give you their money. :)
Just like the bands don't get paid the same percentage for all concerts. Some places are more profitable per person. You have to negotiate the bands take on the proceeds. Then hope people show up.
It's not so simple as I'm gonna sell a X amount of UNITS and make X amount of dollars. Business management is much more complicated than that.
What most people don't know is being a musician is 40-60% business, not doing drugs and writing songs. *****.. witting the songs is the easy part. Find the right demographics for your music and figuring out how to sell it and getting gigs is the hard part.
Many bands that made it huge like GNR or Metallica did a lot of this ***** on their own for years and years. There was no internet, just club after club after club.
All in all it's probably better for the musician and fan to be out there playing clubs instead of tweaking their myspace page. You can't really learn anything distributing music over the internet. People promise a lot and do very little on the internet. In the end... hot, moving bodies at your shows is what matters.
Sometimes that means busing in a load of friends to keep the show energy up and hope it catches on.
The world needs more jam bands, more musical communities... in real life... where people meet face to face and get to know each other and share culture.
The internet, while great, only allows so much honest communication and you can only get you point across so far through text.
Certain NIN at least proves.. YES it does matter where the money goes. Musicians have been complaining for DECADES that they don't make enough money.
The truth is their contracts vary wildly. You can bet The Monkey's probably made more money than Ray Charles, but DAMN if Ray Charles isn't the better musician who's name will lose through time longer.
So... the idea that you can just buy music and your artists always gets a fair deal is ... WRONG.
That's the opinion of someone who knows JACK about the music industry. Working musicians all throughout the world KNOW where they want your money to go..
Right to their pockets... skip the record company, buy the CD's and shirts from me. That's how you MAKE A LIVING as a musician. Some fraction of these people eventually get picked up by a label or create their own.
People like Justin Timberlake or Brittney Spears are just rich kid freaks of nature. Most musicians are working clubs, getting friends to do discount album art and promo photos and trying to keep the band size down so they have a bigger take home.
The power trio is a popular setup. There people charge 300+ a night and you can make decent money if you can draw a crowd. Plus it's a hell of a lot more fun than real work and there is usually at least one drunk girl who wants to go home with the band :P
Another great thing you can do for your favorite bands is simply introduce your friends to the music. - wacomwacoff, on 04/28/2008, -1/+5Apple doesn't use DRM in their 256kb files.
- Karmavs, on 04/28/2008, -0/+4They'll never do FLAC. Though there is a tiny bit of hope that if internet infrastructure ever allows, they'll start doing Apple Lossless (obviously, being a lossless format, if you need FLAC then you can convert to it, no loss)
- wacomwacoff, on 04/28/2008, -0/+4Any musician can put their music on iTunes. ANYONE. It's an open system that allows anyone to be included -- yes, even you. Thousands and thousands of independent musicians are on iTunes... that's what it's made for.
- mikephimikephi, on 04/28/2008, -3/+6yeah ok, so this article assumes that the world of e-commerce and music will stand absolutely still and offer no innovation in the next 4 years. I know i'm in a bad mood - but god damn! These wired articles suck donkeyballs.
- wacomwacoff, on 04/28/2008, -1/+4No, you've got your facts incorrect. The music you buy from iTunes is YOUR MUSIC, no DRM, nothing. You can play it through iTunes, burn it to CD, put it on any device, anything.
- benguild, on 04/28/2008, -3/+6Meh, tried iTunes, didn't like it...Not for me...I very rarely buy CD's, and when I do, it's a band I *really* enjoy, and want to give my money to...Even though the record execs take it before the band gets it...And I buy it because I like having a physical collection. There's nothin' like chucking in a CD or some vinyl and chillin', reading the inserts...But soon those days will be gone...
- timusca, on 04/28/2008, -2/+5Don't you think they would if they could? That would mean much more revenue for them... it's the RIAA that keeps them from making one store for every country.
- EpicSelekta, on 04/28/2008, -2/+5Meanwhile, the RIAA get flexible and kiss their own asses goodbye.
- NSResponder, on 04/28/2008, -0/+3"I don't think this is a good thing."
Then start a competing business. Good luck.
-jcr - NSResponder, on 04/28/2008, -0/+3Millions of people. RTFA.
-jcr - Nick519, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2THANK YOU. people keep parroting the FUD of apple's music system, but really, it's quite nice. i have never run into any problem with the music i've bought from the itunes store, and i can share it with as many people as i please.
- MarkHunneyman, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2I would instantly stop purchasing music at Amazon MP3 if Apple's iTunes Music Store offered DRM-free music. Until then, I will continue to be loyal to Amazon.
- xerexes1, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2Well, I live in Canada and we don't have access to the iTunes movie store or the full US selection of tv shows. I don't think that Apple is deliberately trying to shut out the global markets, the studios and record companies are holding up access. Remember the whole NBC fiasco of pulling its tv programs from the US Apple iTunes store because they (NBC) wanted to charge more per show?
- bmson, on 04/28/2008, -2/+4Why are you digging him down?
He's right.
I'm from Iceland and we will probably never get iTunes Store, because of or size.
So If I want to buy music from US store, I have to buy it illegally (secondary address on my card and pre-paid cards)
I can only steal foreign music, online. Steal vs. Buy it "illegally"
This is the Internet and these restriction must be put to an end. - NotaFanboy87, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2I think musicians do...
- spikyface, on 04/28/2008, -1/+3Whatever, private trackers are still better for music and d'you know what?
If there 's a song that I want that isn't up there, I can request it and someone will actually take the time to upload it for me
Now that's love - Karmavs, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2Well, the first four paragraphs were OK…
Most music has always sucked. When we look back at the music of the past, most of us compress it down; forgetting all the_forgettable_crap that was popular for shorter periods of time. [Like, WIlliam hung?]
The mp3 player is not a fad, CD mp3 players are not better than flash/HD ones [WTF? I cannot see a single advantage]
In one paragraph you decry the individualisation of music; while later you denounce mass distribution. WHAT DO YOU WANT?
(and, YOUR, not you’re) - inactive, on 04/28/2008, -1/+3Oink already did that with better service, quality and speed. RIP.
- MWeather, on 04/28/2008, -0/+2That would make them responsible for almost 1% of all music stored on iPods.
- daftman, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1I guess taking books from the library also constitutes as stealing, same as taking notes in lectures and taking pictures in a football match.
- LeeSoong, on 04/28/2008, -2/+3No excuses, Apple needs to convince the labels they are only hurting themselves.
Opening up sales to the whole planet surely would be a big boost to revenue - untapped profits just waiting to be collected . . .
Once again the labels are hurting the artists and reducing profitability,
that is financial mismanagement and any executive blocking international sales needs to be removed, for the benefit of shareholder profits. - Moviespo, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1You can already do this with iphone remote:
http://code.google.com/p/telekinesis/ - LeeSoong, on 05/04/2008, -0/+1NBC is Short sighted and counter productive - lowering profits and hurting share holders.
I had purchased a couple of shows, liked them - and then I went to buy the rest and order the next season.
But NBC killed the deal, so I didn't buy the rest of those seasons for all of those shows, and I never will buy them.
If it is not on iTunes, it does not exist. - wacomwacoff, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2Oh, sorry, do you use some definition of stealing that doesn't include "taking things you didn't pay for"?
- kaffein, on 04/28/2008, -2/+3I know it's not because they want to sell you mp3s and THEN sell you flac later on.
The extra bandwidth wasted ruin their yields...
Hence why I don't buy anything on iTunes.
FLAC or CD only for me. - timusca, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2Not The Beatles. That's the other 3/4.
- TheInformer, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Now you've done it. You've exposed their thinking hehe, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if what you said is mostly true.
- NSResponder, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2", I'd probably slap them around with a wet fish until they came to their senses."
You better get a good layer of oil on the fish first. That way, it won't hurt as much when they shove it up your ass.
-jcr - jeriqo, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Huh, i didn't talk about recording studios, and was clearly talking about signed artists.
unsigned artists are just wannabe-signed artists, anyway. - wacomwacoff, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1You're a musician. An iPod is a device that plays music. If you put your music on iTunes, you can sell it for people to play on their iPods. Why do they suck?
You're just endlessly complaining without actually offering ideas. - ronaldmonster, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2Sorry but if the entire world moves onto digital distribution I'm not buying anymore media. I love having the actual stuff in my hand and I can actually tell the difference between 128m4a and WAV quality unlike so many people these days. I'll pirate everything and but a T-Shirt once in a while if we move onto digital distribution, screw that crap.
- colincornaby, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1What disgusts me about people who steal music is they use the whole "but the RIAA takes the monies!" excuse. Look, are you telling me you're actually putting money in an envelope and sending it to the artists? And if the music these days sucks so badly, why are you stealing it?
The number one reason people steal music is because they are lazy, cheap, and they don't want to pay anyone for the music they download, artist included. - Rotzooi, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1...here we go...
- electrifried, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2well hopefully there'll be more stores opening like amazon or something coz i hate buying from itunes...such a bloody rip off
- MacParrot, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Well you can certainly SAY monopoly, but that doesn't make it true. How many different music stores are out there? Every single one of them you can buy music from and put on your iPod (as long as it doesn't have DRM). Amazon even made it easy and includes software that will put it in your iTunes library without you having to don anything. If Apple was acting like a real monopoly, they would have prevented that but they didn't. Know why? Because they don't care as long as you're buying hardware.
- Karmavs, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1wired.com editor: Look! Our pageviews are up 20% this month! if this trend continues, they will increase fivefold by the end of the year!
- astrotrain, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Nope. And the music they do sell is all polluted with DRM protection.
- astrotrain, on 04/28/2008, -1/+2And soon as you tell Apple to kiss off.... all of your 160gb of itunes content, is useless 1's and 0's now that you can no longer play.
Just say no to DRM.... - abcda, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1*MAY*
- CrushThemTorg, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1So I see that DRM's winning.
- fliped, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1You could always buy the US iTunes gift certificates off the internet somewhere.. eBay or something and use it just the same and it works..
- NotaFanboy87, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1Your analogy suffers horribly. I can play my iPod or any CDs I burned from iTunes anywhere I want, I don't have to license a listening location. When you bought that 8-track, you WOULD'VE HAD TO LICENSE it to distribute copies of it legally. What kept people from doing that was b/c it USED TO BE a pain in the ass, but now you can distribute a song to a billion people at the click of a button.
- astrotrain, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1I pay for my tunes, but I do not buy or support DRM music. If a tune is not sold at DRM Free stores such as AmazonMp3, emusic, etc. Then I just keep moving on.
- CrushThemTorg, on 04/28/2008, -0/+1That could have been the most rambling, incoherent, inane thing I've ever seen on Digg. Believe me, that's an incredibly high standard.
Please go grab a sippy-cup of juice and your CD player so the grownups can enjoy discovering the vast breadth of good music that's out there on the internet and keep it responsibly on their hard drives. -
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