The changing landscape for music lovers
March 26, 2008 – 9:00 pmThe music industry has been in crisis mode for some time. Music sales have dropped nearly 40% this decade, traditional radio offers only a handful of formats, and music lovers scrounge to find the best way to find new music. Thankfully, we are beginning to see some ingenuity as artists are taking matters into their own hands. Led by Radiohead’s game changing release of “In Rainbows” with their “pay what you want” format, bands are creatively releasing music to the public on their own terms. Nine Inch Nails recently released 9 tracks for free off his 36 song epic instrumental with very little advanced warning. The remainder of the album could be had for $5.
The next step in the chain comes now with the Raconteurs. Recently finishing up their sophomore release in early March, they went to the record company and asked how quickly could the album be released in every format available. They wanted vinyl, cd, and digital to be offered and not through a silly “Walmart Only” arrangement but rather everywhere (indie record store, big retailers, iTunes, or even their website). The response was 3 weeks. So yesterday, the Raconteurs announced the release of “Consolers of the Lonely” next Tuesday (March 25th). No pomp & circumstance or huge build up with months of anticipation in hopes of generating that big top spot of 1st week sales. They’d rather get the music out there and let word of mouth take over.
You might say that Radiohead, Trent Reznor & Jack White have the credentials and ability to do this type of thing and you’re right. But if the blueprint proves fruitful, we can only hope that getting more music quickly and easily becomes the norm. Look for “Consolers of the Lonely” to grace the lists of Favorite 10 shortly.
[Editor's Note: This entry was written by stevemc. If you have something to say and want to post it on the blog, email us at info@favorite10.com.]
2 Responses to “The changing landscape for music lovers”
it is painfully obvious that the record companies need to change their business model immediately. more and more people are downloading music for free — essentially “stealing.” however, from what i’ve gathered on discussion boards on torrent sites, the general feeling is that most of these music “thieves” would be more than happy to purchase the music if it were priced more fairly and easier to obtain in higher bit rates (iTunes offers music only in a 128kps bit rate, which is just terrible). the problem with record companies is that they are completely tied into the production of physical CD’s because they also own that business. but as more and more people buy mp3 players, CD’s are becoming obsolete and the record companies refuse to admit that that is happening.
of course it is much easier for giants like Radiohead and Trent Reznor to get word out that their music is available through their website. but this model could work just as well for smaller bands as well. simply because there is no overhead costs, like producing a physical CD or spending so much on promotions. rather, what would happen, is that if someone who has heard of a band in passing, the risk is very little to pay $2 to download the album and they will most likely download it. the potential of reaching a much larger audience because of the small risk on the customer’s part has a great chance of happening.
on top of that, these small bands could have much more revenue on sales. even if they charge only $2 or $3 per album, that goes directly to the artist and is most likely more than what the artist would get through a record label, especially if they are not a name brand with bargaining power.
another distinct advantage about freeing the artists from the record companies is that it allows the artists complete artistic freedom. they will no longer have make an album or song more “radio friendly” — they can do whatever they wish to an album. and with technology the way it is, it is becoming easier and easier to record an album without a major label producing it.
and my last bit is that concert revenues continue to climb higher and higher. the less people spend on records, the more they are likely to spend on a concert. just look at all the music festivals popping up around the country — every summer there are more and more of these multi-day events — and they are not having any problems getting people to pay for tickets. this also supports the artists directly, as it’s not just the ticket revenue, but also income from sales of merchandise.
and, for the record, Prince led the way earlier in 2007, about 5 months prior to Radiohead, when he put free copies of his latest record in a U.K. newspaper weeks before its official release. i don’t know the exact numbers, but he gave away something like 2 million copies.
By betty on Mar 28, 2008
thanks for the comments betty. Good call on Prince. Actually - he also gave out musicology free for any concert goers a few years back. He’s been on the forefront of this movement as well.
By the way - buying the album directly from the Raconteurs site gets you a 328 bit rate.
By stevemc on Mar 28, 2008