An open letter/slap of reality, in the form of a song, in the form of a video to Lily Allen.
Dan Bull is a clever, clever man. I’m on his side of the fence, definitely.
A taster/introduction via file sharing never hurt anyone… especially when musicians these days are no longer purists, rather fully functional brands with line extensions in all directions.
However if you like someone – buy it! Purchasing* is still important to keep the record labels afloat, and we can hope the artists will eventually get drip-fed some profit…
So it is really the distribution model that’s broken? Trent Reznor (linked to previously but still very relevant) shared some thoughts on what emerging artists should do.
[*Purchasing SOMETHING, ANYTHING, not necessarily a little piece of plastic, housed in a plastic case and then shrink wrapped. I hate CDs. I try and avoid them like the plague - they are a scourge on society's resources, especially when you can buy a high quality digital download or an LP, which will be treasured. Have you ever left a CD case on your bedroom floor, stood on it while drunk and bled everywhere with shards of cheap plastic embedded in your foot? See, they're evil. Records and digital formats don't want to kill you like that!
Paying money for tickets to an experience you'll remember for (hopefully) forever is also a good contribution. Less things, more memories! And you know what, I reckon the artist will get more out of you being there singing along at a gig, than looking at a spreadsheet of how many (frankly archaic) CDs were sold in Palmerston North last year.]
Yep, complicated. However there must be a neat solution out there, so lets keep striving for it and ignore Lils (whose music and style I very much enjoy). What are your thoughts?
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