Comment Re:This could have an upside (Score 1) 292
"How do you expect independent recording artists to afford the up-front fees for having a disc pressed and getting a UPC number?"
I am an independent recording artist.Paying these fees is not an impossibility. We're not all starving. Promise. If you want it badly enough, what money comes goes to production. A lot of limited pressings are made like this, which also makes their resale value soar quite a bit if the name of the artist(s) gets highly sought after.
Also, there are many ways to get your art produced that does not involve having a disc pressed (merzbow self-released a lot(> 100) of casettes before he was big! They're pretty cheap these days.)
And quite a large amount of the music I see in stores with a diverse selection does not have UPCs on them at all. Even if on a larger label like Fat Wreck-Chords, Propaghandi got their last albumn realeased sans UPC. (Major stores that req'd a bar code for inventory just did what they usually do in that case, make their own that fits their own database schema.)
"Do you carry a huge CD wallet around with you wherever you go so that you don't need to put MP3s on an iPod?"
Actually I like the sounds of living, so usually I don't carry music with me. Also, I like the process of choosing what I'm going to take with me. It feels a bit like designing a clean piece of code going through and selecting each one by hand. It also allows me to have a moment of introsepction. Seeing where my mind is and what it is drawn to is always illucidating.
"Two things: First of all, some goods are better purchased in a brick-and-mortar store, where the buyer has the opportunity to look at the products from all angles and touch them before buying them."
Very true. Physical reality is great. I like walking and touching things before I buy them and seeing the color of the vinyl or CD print and getting a first impression of liner notes.
I wasn't trying to make the case that brick and mortar should be abandoned. Just saying that where I am (a swim from NYC) the city and all it's great record stores are quite a trip if I already know what I want. I love Kim's and Other Music and all the places that let you go in and listen to things. (kim's vinyl rules for this! but bring yr own headphones and have a 1/4" plug on them.)
"Second, many people have Internet access only by going to a public library, which in many cases is farther away than a store and/or closed on Sundays and Mondays."
Yea, been there myself. Used to use a lot of mail order back then and then of course there were 2 stores in the area that always had new stuff I wanted, but again mail order for the things I already knew I wanted..
love and light,
-=[psyphiber]=-
I am an independent recording artist.Paying these fees is not an impossibility. We're not all starving. Promise. If you want it badly enough, what money comes goes to production. A lot of limited pressings are made like this, which also makes their resale value soar quite a bit if the name of the artist(s) gets highly sought after.
Also, there are many ways to get your art produced that does not involve having a disc pressed (merzbow self-released a lot(> 100) of casettes before he was big! They're pretty cheap these days.)
And quite a large amount of the music I see in stores with a diverse selection does not have UPCs on them at all. Even if on a larger label like Fat Wreck-Chords, Propaghandi got their last albumn realeased sans UPC. (Major stores that req'd a bar code for inventory just did what they usually do in that case, make their own that fits their own database schema.)
"Do you carry a huge CD wallet around with you wherever you go so that you don't need to put MP3s on an iPod?"
Actually I like the sounds of living, so usually I don't carry music with me. Also, I like the process of choosing what I'm going to take with me. It feels a bit like designing a clean piece of code going through and selecting each one by hand. It also allows me to have a moment of introsepction. Seeing where my mind is and what it is drawn to is always illucidating.
"Two things: First of all, some goods are better purchased in a brick-and-mortar store, where the buyer has the opportunity to look at the products from all angles and touch them before buying them."
Very true. Physical reality is great. I like walking and touching things before I buy them and seeing the color of the vinyl or CD print and getting a first impression of liner notes.
I wasn't trying to make the case that brick and mortar should be abandoned. Just saying that where I am (a swim from NYC) the city and all it's great record stores are quite a trip if I already know what I want. I love Kim's and Other Music and all the places that let you go in and listen to things. (kim's vinyl rules for this! but bring yr own headphones and have a 1/4" plug on them.)
"Second, many people have Internet access only by going to a public library, which in many cases is farther away than a store and/or closed on Sundays and Mondays."
Yea, been there myself. Used to use a lot of mail order back then and then of course there were 2 stores in the area that always had new stuff I wanted, but again mail order for the things I already knew I wanted..
love and light,
-=[psyphiber]=-
