^^ LOL

VaughanGF wrote:

The real question is how will the record industry cope? It is impossible to know, and I can only guess. I tend to think bands will become more and more independent. More and more bands will make their music free and start relying on the income generated from live shows to get by. We may see a lot of one album or EP projects that never go anywhere because they simply won't sell, and the band will throw in the towel. I don't think hard copy music will die - it will become a niche market. 1000 physical sales will be a very impressive amount indeed for a Christian band. I tend to think the albums will be free online, with things like bonus dvd's and cool packaging (vinyl?) coming with hard copies. Bands that are able to invest in good production and packaging will do better, and those bands will be the ones who can generate a solid income form their live performances. Just my 2 cents worth on the matter, but I will finish with this - buy a legal download or hard copy!!!!

I tend to agree that the industry will likely move this direction. Obviously mainstream record companies will continue to milk "artists" who have little to offer but pablum pop, and will continue to work that business model until they can no longer afford to do so. The smart folks will sell their albums independently, and if they market themselves correctly, can earn some decent coin from a reasonably well-produced product that sells enough units. We have to get past this mentality of spending $35K in the studio w/ a big producer when we can get much of the same recording quality on a computer w/ the right software & enough RAM and hard disk space. We have to get past the mentality that you have to spend thousands on a fancy photoshoot to make your CD sleeve look "cool". What's wrong w/ a single band photo taken on a decent digital camera, and using the space in the sleeve to print out the lyrics, which is what fans should have anyway? There are lots of inexpensive CD duplication deals out there if you look, and even Pro CD-R releases that will do the trick for less. Consider Sullen Records - Pro CD-R releases, a quantity of 250. Granted, this is a niche market (black metal), but for styles that have considerably more "market share", it's not unreasonable to think you can sell 250 copies w/in a short period of time w/ the right distro connections, selling them at shows (assuming said artist plays live), and working out deals with regional mom-n-pop record stores that carry local/regional artists. I'd say 250 is a modest number, even. Perhaps I'm all wet here, but it seems to me that with a little effort, a band can manage themselves & handle the merchandising of their own stuff (which many bands have begun to do), and make far more money on the sale of a $10 CD via their Big Cartel webshop (lol) than they EVER would have made with a lousy record deal where they only got a few "points" on their CD, which means pennies on the dollar. Why would I want to settle for that kind of return on my investment (my time, energy, heart, soul, and abilities as an artist)? Too many people have been duped into thinking the industry model is the only way. Perhaps for real exposure pre-internet that was true, but now that we have things like CDBaby, Amazon.com's CD-R on-demand sales, and products like this giving us options, why settle?

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Won't succeed! The internet servers will be the watchdogs by govt order but then they will have to prove that its p2p and not just normal everyday tv or news etc streaming.........which will mean confiscating computers to find which, which would mean more infrigement on our privacy rights! But then isn't that what socialisim is all about.

oh good god! A little paranoid are we?

I agree some with Metalfro but I also see that an outside producer can be a real asset. Bands sometimes need outsiders to help them break out of the box so to say. And if you have to do all your own marketing, sales, art, pre-production, production etc. it suddenly becomes quite the job. It can be done but it's going to be labor intensive.

Most indie level bands ALREADY do their own marketing, though. They post the flyers, wotrk to get the gigs booked, work their butts off to make a name for themselves where they'll be in demand OUTSIDE the 100 mil radius around their home base. Even indie level bands have outside folks handle their art/layout fairly frequently.....although, in this digital age, a LOT of band guys actually know how to do that sort of stuff themselves, if it's digital art and layout.....they ALREADY handle theri own pre-production, and a lot of times it's someone outside of the band handleing the production, even if it's just a "studio guy". I think you'll find tha tMOST of the indie level bands are ALREADY involved in the labor intensive areas you bring up.

Yeah. I'm talking about getting to the next level. I'm wondering if the future will be all indie level which has good points but some negatives.

I think there's a great deal of misconception about what EXACTLY "getting it to the next level" is. 9 times out of 10, the bands that are actually in the public consicousness, but NOT selling gold/platinum (which, to be frank, is 99.9% of them)....those bands ARE pretty much still "indie level" bands, out their doing their tour in a van towing a trailer....even KNOWN bands that have been around for years on labels like Roadrunner or Metalblade, like Suffocation, Fear Factory, Lacuna Coil, and Cannibal Corpse....they're still arguably "indie level", and tend to draw crowds between 400-1200, depending on venue, population, and day of the week.......and they aren't always going from date to date on the luxury tour bus. I've SEEN all 4 of those bands, and while there was a bus for the shared FF/Suffo gig out back, I saw Suffo on their NEXT tour, and they were back in the van, hauling a trailer of gear and merch.....

if they DIDN'T have a strong DIY ethic already coupled with the label, these bands wouldn't be able to DO the music for a living....and arguably, the bands that are already established like this would be better off doing a TOTAL DIY approach, since the name is "out".......but you have to keep in mind, the ONLY reason the name is "out" is becase those bands were/are complete road dogs, and BUSTED THEIR HUMPS for a decade to make it happen.....

reading Steve`s update makes me really sad. I am one of those people who tend to download before buying, since it is not illegal to download in the netherlands. I can imagine that it is stealing if you download instead (without the band getting money) of buying. I used to spend hours in shops to listen to a cd before buying. I am glad i can do that at home now. However i have allmost bought every mortification album, because i want to support him.
Reading his update really made me sad, however i understand his anger, but not his way of handeling with forgiveness...

Yea, well we all get frustrated at times and say and do things we later regret. If I was in Steve's position I would be pissed too!

I have to say though that reading his update made me think about download before buying as well...And that`s good i think. Since i read that update i go more often listening new stuff on myspace before buying....so that`s a good thing i guess...