Comment who gets ripped off here? (Score 1) 523
Like many slashdot readers, I've been using computers since the Trash80 days. I also have been a musician for years, and have many ties with professional musicians and industry people here in NYC where I live. Having seen the rise of pirated MP3 trading and been a hotline user for sometime, as well as knowing many high level record execs, publishing execs, producers, and musicians with gold records on their walls, I think I have a fairly broad view of both the recording industry's arguments against pirating MP3's, and the pirates reasons for trading them.
Steve Albini wrote an excellent article that many of you may have seen on the problem with music. Basically, if a band sells 250,000 copies of an album, which doesn't even make it gold, the band makes 12,000 and the industry (lawyers, managers, roadies, bookers, producers, labels, radio promoters, etc.) nets about 1,000,000. (the 3 million dollars richer he mentions in his article is gross, not net.)
For those of you who disagree with this, I could mention a few rock stars I know who have jobs, artists with priority records out on major labels who temp between tours, and people who have headlined at Madison Square Garden who now work 5 days a week to pay their rent.
The real money for musicians is in mechanical royalties, which is basically publishing. Artists get money when an MP3 is legitimately downloaded, a song is played on the radio, or when they get something into a soundtrack (that's the real money) Most artists who sign to major labels do a publishing deal whereby they take an advacnce from a large publishing company like BMG or EMI in exchange for mechanical royalties. It's a bit of a gamble - if you think you're going to have a radio hit that gets in every soundtrack, you're better off not taking their money
Now, the RIAA often markets its arguments towards MP3 pirates as being: don't harm the artists you love. By downloading the MP3s off the 'net, you are cutting into artist royalties.
For an artist on an indie label that has a better royalty rate and distribution plan, this is absolutely true. If you download an artist from Touch & Go, Matador, Jade Tree, etc. you are in fact harming the artists, many of whom don't get the big publishing advance to live on. But in the majors, where a recording advance is a big loan, and royalty rates are a joke, and record companies are trying to break artists to commercial radio stations that are now big conglomerates with shrinking playlists, and the retail overhead is absurd, and legal fees often come out of the bands fund, how big of a dent are you making?
The real impact is what cuts into the record company's bank account. Now, when I go to Tower Records, and bands i've never heard of have their debut CD's for sale at 18 bucks a pop, I am not inclined to gamble that kind of money. I want to spend that money knowing what I'm getting, because most of the time major label debuts are boring because they are tailored to be pitched to commercial radio stations and promoters. However, these stations are now owned by conglomerates. These big companies find their subsidiary stations easier to manage when they have shorter playlists. THis is why you hear Bush, Metallica, Foo Fighters, and nothing else on the radio these days. There is a barrier of entry to new artists. I might hear a new major label artist if I go to a show and their label paid the headlining act to allow the new band they want to break to have an opening slot. But, for the most part, I think that today signing to a major label ensures limited promotional possibilities. Commercial radio can be written off as an option, which leaves touring and having your song played at Urban Outfitters, which is useless because nobody there will know who you are. Maybe a soundtrack if your publisher/manager has some clout. A publicist can help get you in magazines, but that's publicity, not getting your music out there. Therefore, the only real other promotional option for new bands on a major label is the internet.
And lets face it - how many of you who have downloaded free MP3s have been to Elektra Records website, or Virgin Records Website, or Sony 550 Records website? I'll bet hotline gets more traffic than those sites. And if you're connected to a fast server getting your pirate MP3s, aren't you inclined to check out songs by bands you've heard about but don't want to gamble 18 bucks on? And if you like it, aren't you inclined to perhaps see them live? Maybe buy the complete CD? Maybe even some merchandise (another big money makers for bands?)
Many people sign million dollar record deals and nobody ever hears their records, which wind up in the bargin bin if they're lucky. At least a pirated MP3 is a way that they can be heard. They won't make any money if their record goes gold anyway, from recording royalties. While MP3 downloads do cut into publishing, radio stations don't pay any less money now when they play a song on the radio than before MP3 pirating got to be big. Therefore, I conclude with the idea that Pirated MP3s help the artist and only hurt the industry when they are on a major label
The RIAAs ears are owned by the major labels. What I think the rise of pirate MP3s will do is force the labels to reconsider the inefficiant business model they try to force artists through before they spit them out. I think that the students at CMU were actually doing the major label artists they encoded a big favor, and that they were harming indie artists.
thereminjames
Steve Albini wrote an excellent article that many of you may have seen on the problem with music. Basically, if a band sells 250,000 copies of an album, which doesn't even make it gold, the band makes 12,000 and the industry (lawyers, managers, roadies, bookers, producers, labels, radio promoters, etc.) nets about 1,000,000. (the 3 million dollars richer he mentions in his article is gross, not net.)
For those of you who disagree with this, I could mention a few rock stars I know who have jobs, artists with priority records out on major labels who temp between tours, and people who have headlined at Madison Square Garden who now work 5 days a week to pay their rent.
The real money for musicians is in mechanical royalties, which is basically publishing. Artists get money when an MP3 is legitimately downloaded, a song is played on the radio, or when they get something into a soundtrack (that's the real money) Most artists who sign to major labels do a publishing deal whereby they take an advacnce from a large publishing company like BMG or EMI in exchange for mechanical royalties. It's a bit of a gamble - if you think you're going to have a radio hit that gets in every soundtrack, you're better off not taking their money
Now, the RIAA often markets its arguments towards MP3 pirates as being: don't harm the artists you love. By downloading the MP3s off the 'net, you are cutting into artist royalties.
For an artist on an indie label that has a better royalty rate and distribution plan, this is absolutely true. If you download an artist from Touch & Go, Matador, Jade Tree, etc. you are in fact harming the artists, many of whom don't get the big publishing advance to live on. But in the majors, where a recording advance is a big loan, and royalty rates are a joke, and record companies are trying to break artists to commercial radio stations that are now big conglomerates with shrinking playlists, and the retail overhead is absurd, and legal fees often come out of the bands fund, how big of a dent are you making?
The real impact is what cuts into the record company's bank account. Now, when I go to Tower Records, and bands i've never heard of have their debut CD's for sale at 18 bucks a pop, I am not inclined to gamble that kind of money. I want to spend that money knowing what I'm getting, because most of the time major label debuts are boring because they are tailored to be pitched to commercial radio stations and promoters. However, these stations are now owned by conglomerates. These big companies find their subsidiary stations easier to manage when they have shorter playlists. THis is why you hear Bush, Metallica, Foo Fighters, and nothing else on the radio these days. There is a barrier of entry to new artists. I might hear a new major label artist if I go to a show and their label paid the headlining act to allow the new band they want to break to have an opening slot. But, for the most part, I think that today signing to a major label ensures limited promotional possibilities. Commercial radio can be written off as an option, which leaves touring and having your song played at Urban Outfitters, which is useless because nobody there will know who you are. Maybe a soundtrack if your publisher/manager has some clout. A publicist can help get you in magazines, but that's publicity, not getting your music out there. Therefore, the only real other promotional option for new bands on a major label is the internet.
And lets face it - how many of you who have downloaded free MP3s have been to Elektra Records website, or Virgin Records Website, or Sony 550 Records website? I'll bet hotline gets more traffic than those sites. And if you're connected to a fast server getting your pirate MP3s, aren't you inclined to check out songs by bands you've heard about but don't want to gamble 18 bucks on? And if you like it, aren't you inclined to perhaps see them live? Maybe buy the complete CD? Maybe even some merchandise (another big money makers for bands?)
Many people sign million dollar record deals and nobody ever hears their records, which wind up in the bargin bin if they're lucky. At least a pirated MP3 is a way that they can be heard. They won't make any money if their record goes gold anyway, from recording royalties. While MP3 downloads do cut into publishing, radio stations don't pay any less money now when they play a song on the radio than before MP3 pirating got to be big. Therefore, I conclude with the idea that Pirated MP3s help the artist and only hurt the industry when they are on a major label
The RIAAs ears are owned by the major labels. What I think the rise of pirate MP3s will do is force the labels to reconsider the inefficiant business model they try to force artists through before they spit them out. I think that the students at CMU were actually doing the major label artists they encoded a big favor, and that they were harming indie artists.
thereminjames
