And thats fine, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of musical acts around the world. Just because you heard 5 or 10 or even 20 bands say "we don't give a shit". doesn't constitute "a boat load". Its a very SMALL sample in a rather gigantic pool.
A lot of artists I hear, independent artists, thank file sharing for their success. I wouldn't know who the fuck Mel Gibson and the Pants are if not for torrents or shit like that, but somehow stumbled upon then, and copped a CD.
And here is where im going to stop you. The problem these artists have is people DL there music...and never buying it. Thats it. Thats what this debate is about.
Most recently, I wouldn’t know about Tyler the Creator and company if not for file sharing, and now I am a fan of theirs.
OK...but they dont SELL their albums. They PURPOSELY give their albums away for free. That is irrelevant to the debate.
This is just personal experience and common sense on my part. Maybe it's just me I dunno. I don't listen to mainstream shit so I probably fall into a different category. People who download justin timberlake or Kanye West or shit like that, maybe that's different in some way.
Possibly. Again, Metallica is the first group to bring this to the forefront.
It means exactly what I said, the music industry needs to adapt and be more innovative to the times, just like the newspapers had to adapt.
And some have. Amazon, iTunes, and the likes are progressive. And that isnt the issue here.
They can't continue living like its 1995. It's almost 2011. Music is free on the internet. They must accept that. It cannot be stopped. Ever. So they must adapt, find new and other ways to create money other than just selling CD's or songs on iTunes.
And that is where the problem comes in. What is going to motivate someone who does music for a living, when their art gets stolen and put up for free? Espcially if they spend a shitload on promo FOR the album? Sure, not every artist sees this the same way, but obviously some do.
In a sense, yes. That doesn't mean they can't still make money. It doesn't mean the music industry is ruined. It just means the days of selling crappy CD's for $17.99 at the record store are over and dead.
Right, but those mark ups are from the stores and the likes, and thats not the issue on their side because the price THEY get as artists, only fluctuate with inflation, not the means of which it gets out to the masses. The only cost they actually gain in is the lack of packaging (cd cases, cover sleeves).
And through all this, have we even touched on bootlegging? People literally taking an album and reselling it like at swap meets and the like. I think that is one of the major issues some of these artists are touching on. Although, i dont think its as big as it was back in the early 2000's, because music is so readily available for free.
I said YEARS ago that eventually, albums would be on sold on flash drives rather than CD's, and that has essentially happened with MP3 sales. And i an in full agreement that its much easier to do it this way because lets be honest...the CD player is dead. EVERYONE owns an MP3 player. We are going through a complete paradigm shift in the way art is being distributed and sold. And with that, comes not only pros, but cons as well.