It ain’t over til it’s over
I spend most of my time in between writing posts thinking about popular culture. For obvious reasons, I’m especially interested in the confluence of music, culture, product marketing and technology. Every day it seems music gets another 10 cents deducted from its value and although I’m speaking metaphorically it could almost be a truism. The internet has provided us with another easier means to get music for free. I don’t mean by illegal downloading either, I mean that historically the best place to get free music was from your favorite radio station. Today like most folks I know I spend more time listening to internet radio and through that I discover hidden gems, new bands that I would never hear on terrestrial radio stations.
Well today that ability to discover new music is in danger of being wiped out. A royalty rate hike as high as $110 per online listener is threatening to kill most online radio stations. To find out more go to Save Net Radio. Meanwhile one of Wired mags contributers thinks the current battle is a good thing as it will push Congress towards long term solutions. Here’s that article. And in an effort to offset declining sales some labels are getting savvy. First Word Records based in my old stomping ground of Leeds, England, has launched its ‘buy the vinyl, get the free MP3’s’ service. It’s called Digiwax. Very smart. And here’s what Wired Mag thought of it.
Trent Reznor speaks up.
As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:
* The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne’s record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US).
May 14th, 2007 at 10:08 amBy the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: “It’s because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out – you know, true fans. It’s the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.”
So… I guess as a reward for being a “true fan” you get ripped off.
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November 4th, 2007 at 9:50 am