What is Digg?322 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -19/+639Did anyone else see "Courtney Love" and "math" in the same sentence and automatically think the submitter misspelled "meth"?
- AniceAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -8/+397Great explanation. You should have left the fact that Courtney wrote it since just her name is gonna stop some people from digging. She makes a great explanation, I guess she does have her sober moments
- Revan01, on 10/12/2007, -10/+206You can get sober by drinking constantly and coming out on the other side..
- Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -5/+134Courtney is incredibly smart. She has a horrible image, though.
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -2/+101Some of the most brilliant people I know are also the most ***** up, sometimes it just goes hand in hand...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+86This is severely old, but still on point. Dugg up because more people need to read this.
- frant1c, on 10/12/2007, -8/+91It seems to me that...
...OK, I'm replying to AniceAtheist, and I'm laughing right now, cool name, back to the point...
...the article is pretty old. She mentions Napster and MP3.com a lot.
Other than that, it's a great read, wouldn't expect that much coherence from Courtney. - controlguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+83Just a point --- that article was written nearly 7 years ago. If we're all talking about it now and saying, "Finally! Something from the other side!", then it shows how very little an impact it made then and, possibly, how little it may make now...
- sup191, on 10/12/2007, -2/+73I was going to skip this article when I saw Courtney's name on it as I've never had a very high opinion of her, but I have to give her props for telling it like it is and not being afraid of throwing names and numbers out there. I think most of us knew the RIAA loves to screw it's artists in the name of money, but it's always nice to see an artist give a written "middle finger" back to them.
Grats to Courtney for speaking out. She has my digg. - Alfdog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+59Something I thought I would NEVER say..."I just gained respect for Courtney Love".
- ezweave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+48This is old, but important.
It ties in with another article by Steve Albini (producer for Nirvana, Jawbreaker, he was in Big Black, etc).
http://www.ram.org/ramblings/philosophy/fmp/albini.html - FickyFicky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+47Wow...surprisingly lucid and well written. This piece is long as hell, but it's worth reading to the end.
- ifonly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33"Add it up and the record company has spent about $4.4 million. So their profit is $6.6 million; the band may as well be working at a 7-Eleven. "
- tyho, on 10/12/2007, -14/+44I applaud her motivation, I just don't trust her to do math. =)
- AK10, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29One of the main points of digging is to get more people to see stuff that needs seeing. Being old does not make it any less valid.
- darkstorm777, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30Old Article, dugg because it needs more exposure.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26good article - so it seems Courtney Love is coherent some times...
- mikelostcause, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23I've been in and around bands and radio for years and its pretty right on what she's saying. I know members of a band that are now on MTV regular play and one of the members is working at a starbucks to make his rent payment. I've seen bands get locked into contracts just to have the label not invest any money in them essentially dooming the band (all content is owned by the label and they aren't going to put out your content). I believe Atlantic currently dooms more than 90% of the bands they sign in this way, the other major labels aren't much better.
Most labels don't really pay actual money to have songs played any more. Most have gone to bartering with CD's, t-shirts, concert tickets, appearances, gifts for radio station crew to get on air adds for shows, drive time plays of the music, and contests for the merch. - DarkXanthos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20@cliffzdude
I think the point she was trying to get across is that the issue that the RIAA is pursuing has nothing to do with paying artists for their music it has to do with the RIAA wanting more money. Her other point is that song swapping is really just a more efficient way for people to trade music. In the 80s and 90s we traded cassettes and that was legal and fine, but now we have gotten more efficient they expect us to believe that that same behavior which was deemed ok before is now amoral because more people do it.
Sorry I just don't follow that logic. - bootle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+181 + 1 - 2 = 0 ??
Please tell me what I'm missing, because I can't see it - dorxincandeland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15FTA:
"Maybe my laziness and self-destructive streak will finally pay off and serve a community desperately in need of it. They can't torture me like they could Lucinda Williams." - edmcguirk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15The Steve Albini article is excelent but there are a lot more people in the music industry with similar stories to tell.
Courtney Love's Letter to Recording Artists:
http://www.gerryhemingway.com/piracy2.html
Janis Ian, The Internet Debacle:
http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html
Janis Ian, Follow up to Internet Debacle:
http://www.janisian.com/articles-perfsong/Fallout%20-%20rev%2011-23-05.pdf
And I am sure there are plenty more. - ThatsUnpossible, on 10/12/2007, -7/+217 YEARS OLD!
- Toast1185, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I didn't even know geocities still existed
- rudy23, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16this aint a fan club message board. shooooo
- argonauta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14if you replace napster and gnutella by Limewire and bittorrent, and remove the date, it's funny that the article could pass as recent. That's the irony, yes, it's old news, but things haven't changed at all.
- Wyzard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"A web store that goes directly between the users and the artists, sort of like that indy Palmgear.com site - 50% of the proceeds go to the store, 50% goes directly to the author."
http://www.magnatune.com/
No DRM and no RIAA. You can download the music in all the major formats, including FLAC. - argonauta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+137 years, but it feels so contemporary. Amazing that after 7 years, record companies, piracy and the RIAA are still issues.
- Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12If they don't sign they won't ever get a contract. That's the problem. There's no such thing as a good record label contract.
If you get a lawyer/manager to look over the contract they'll edit it a little bit to lean towards your advantage *but* even if you have the best contract in the biz, it's still a HORRIBLE contract. That's the price to pay as an artist, and we're pissed and want to change it.
Bands like Metallica are rarities.There's maybe only 10 bands, literally, in all of America that really make the money they deserve from their albums. The thing is that they got there by luck and hype, not particularly talent and hard work. Courtney's figures were extremely generous, by the way. - PuffyC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+137 years old and look how far the music industry has progressed.
- H3LLSL337, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18@Colt
You're getting dugg down because you obviously didn't RTFA. - f0dder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10RIAA bad. Artist Good.
- d1rtfarm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"The only thing that keeps the record companies in buisness is their ability to get exposure for their artists, if people had some way to match this the RIAA would die. "
The Internet. I have "found" so much great music in the decade or so I have had net access, music that I would mever have know about if I was still at the mercy of the Record/Radio industry. I am not alone either, and that is why the RIAA is scared ***** about the web. They don't give a green turd about .mp3s, they are in full-on panic mode because the net offers almost free, unlimited promotion for indie bands who no longer need to sell their souls to make a living. - geoken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9It would be pretty awesome if a large number of artists sided with her and essentially formed their own collective/label. The only thing that keeps the record companies in buisness is their ability to get exposure for their artists, if people had some way to match this the RIAA would die.
- Rikkochet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Her article brings to mind 2 ideas that someone (I am not that someone and I realize that - I have neither the means nor the imagination nor the experience) should implement:
1) A web store that goes directly between the users and the artists, sort of like that indy Palmgear.com site - 50% of the proceeds go to the store, 50% goes directly to the author. Let artists sign up with this site (after being confirmed that it's not a pirate/scammer). Let them submit their new music they legally own (can you imagine all the legal battles that would ensue?) and sell it through that site.
It's a commie iTunes store, basically. Songs cost a dime, the artist gets a nickel. Sell the album for a buck and in includes bundles album art and whatever fun addons the artist wants to include. They get $0.50 per. It's less than they are making now per album, but my god would the sales be higher. For a nickel people wouldn't even bother pirating music anymore.
2) An official "tip" site along the lines of what Courtney was alluding to. I flat out refuse to buy music. I won't support the RIAA. Sorry. But if I download an album, I'd love to be able to dump a few bucks into the artist's coffers if I like the album and I like their attitude. It's more of a grassroots thing but if it got enough publicity it would be interesting to see how karma becomes a player in the business. - lunar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@ezweave
I remember reading that Steve Albini article years ago. It may be old, but it was an excellent piece of writing and is still relevant today. - steepdecline, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@ humperdeath, and for those who agree with him/her
I myself signed a contract with Capitol in 2000, and her numbers are almost EXACTLY the numbers in my deal.
except we had a 16% royalty rate (not 20 - which as courtney wisely stated, NOBODY gets 20) hell I had to pull wacky stunts to get 16. - evil-doer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9i was gonna say.. it sure feels like i already read this almost a decade ago. but it was "only" 7 years ago. great "news"
- lukas88, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is very interesting but it is actually pretty old. She has even more of a point now that technology has advanced. While prices for recording studio time have probably not fallen, the ease of recording your own album has improved drastically. You can get near studio quality albums for under 10k in computer and home recording equipment. Getting your music out is tons easier too. That simple fact has made the RIAA more of an absurdity than any other factor.
- cam503, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If this isn't Diggnation material, I'm disappointed.
Great article, questionable math in some cases, but Love does a great job exposing the larger issue at hand here. Artists are getting screwed by labels, and I give an ovation to her for sticking up for the artists and the music, and I hope an online distribution model connecting the artist directly to the consumer is ultimately what is done to liberate the artists from this industry. This is exactly what the music world needs. I'm tired of the predictability and flavor of the month attitude employed by the record labels.
They're turning art into a science, and that is absolutely unacceptable. - CalvinLawson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Wow...suddenly my dislike for CL went down a few notches. Great stuff, I don't care if it's in the archives.
- NetJoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@disgone
If artists got a fair share there would be more of them, better variety in music and maybe the prices of some music would go down. The wildly successful wont change, but that's not an excuse to support the lawyers that feed the record industry. - heaintheavy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The editor's note is left out of the linked version:
"Editor's note: This is an unedited transcript of Courtney Love's speech to the Digital Hollywood online entertainment conference, given in New York on May 16, 2000." - noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's known as relevence. It is relevent to the rash of RIAA discussions. This may be old but it still holds true.
- darkstar949, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Stupid question, but have you ever seen one of these record deal contracts? If they look anything like the vast majority of contracts out there then they are written in some archaic form of legalese that only the lawyers that wrote the contract can understand, and the bands just get the bullet point list of what the contract means. Also, most bands are not given time to review the contract in depth (i.e. have their own lawyer look at it) and most of the time the contracts are non-negotiable. As in "Sign it, or find another label." As it turns out, most people will agree that having a job is better than not having a job and having to keep looking for a job.
- embeejay, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9this is from 2000 how do you figure it is news?
- evilTak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Now subtract expenses. Read the article.
- edmcguirk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's s decent chunk of money but FTA, the music company pays for NONE of the expenses of putting out the music. ALL of the money comes out of that 4 million.
The artist pays for pressing and distributing the albums.
The artist pays for promotion.
The artist pays for the video.
etc etc - Jerim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5When you are a new, unproven band, you pretty much sign whatever they put in front of you. Who are you to demand more money? It is during the second contract, after you have made the company millions of dollars, that you actually have some leverage.
- skipere, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Wow, I'd start to have respect for her .
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