When giving away music becomes the latest trend…

Posted by Flick in Opinions on 10 17th, 2007 | View Comments

Giving away your music seems to be the latest trend. Is this the new direction of the music industry? If it is, three years from now when it becomes evident we’ll chat about how Prince, Radiohead, and Nine Inch Nails used their influence to bring this change.

It’s astonishing, really, to think about giving away music, and it’s no wonder it makes most record labels shiver in fear. Considering that it costs roughly $10,000 to record for two weeks in a professional studio, live shows and merchandise sales will need to recoup the loss. Fortunately, live entertainment sales are on an increase.

Over the past twelve months more and more independent bands began to give away their music. Whether they’re handing out back catalog material, b-sides, or their latest disc, this trend takes full advantage of the album leak. In May, the music blogging community took notice and compiled a list of free albums… free for the consumer, not for the bands or record labels fronting the bill.

Offering music as a give-away isn’t new. Free digital downloads were only available to music bloggers and the press. Now digital downloads are seen as a promotional tool on the consumer level, mainly to draw you to their live performances.

Here are few bands and projects that are willing to take the risk of embracing a new industry model:

A Brief Smile – Now We All Have Horns
A Brief Smile – Big Sky

Glossary – The Better Angels Of Our Nature
Glossary – Only Time Will Tell

The Crimea – Secrets Of The Witching Hour
The Crimea – The 48A Waiting Steps

The Soft Drugs – In Moderation
The Soft Drugs – The Pitch

Cross Pollination: The Mixtape Vol. 1
My Brightest Diamond – Hi Remember Me

John Vanderslice and Scott Solter – Pixel Revolt Remixes in Analog
John Vanderslice and Scott Solter – Plymouth Rock

Explosions In The Sky – The Rescue EP
Explosions In The Sky – Day Two

Beatradio – The Great Big Sea
Beatradio – Elegy

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http://www.huge.id.au Hughie

Giving music away will work for exactly as long as not everyone’s doing it – which is to say that it’s already over. It only works now because it’s so unusual that people say “wow – these guys are giving their music away” and that’s a great promotion. But when everyone’s doing it, no-one will notice …

BTW – Prince did NOT give his CD away, he sold it in bulk to a newspaper and earned more doing so than he would have from retailing it …

Some artists have been giving their stuff away (see http://www.bradsucks.net) and/or asking for whatever people want to pay for a long time (see http://www.sheeba.ca/) with good results. From here on many artists will probably choose the “what it’s worth” model because it’s better than nothing, and everyone will have to work harder to find a reason to get people to talk about what they’re doing.
http://thewoodsmen.net oliver

been giving our music away for years
(7 studio albums, 3 DYIs)
the internet is like an evolutionary force;
it views obstacles as damage and routes around them.
http://www.blessedit.com/story.php?id=963 blessedit.com

When giving away music becomes the latest trend

Giving away your music seems to be the latest trend. Is this the new direction of the music industry? If it is, three years from now when it becomes evident we’ll chat about how Prince, Radiohead, and Nine Inch Nails used their influence to bring thi…
http://www.antiqcool.co.uk Pete Smith

Keeping my opinions about the possible motives behind some major label acts giving their music away to myself for now.

Most of our tracks have been released under a creative commons license.

We are an independent record label not a big bad corporation out to sue you for file sharing, we WANT you to spread our music around.

With such an overcrowded market place giving away your music is essential in my opinion. The biggest problem for emerging indie artists today is obscurity, not piracy. To find out more listen to The Antiqcool Podcast

http://antiqcool.podbean.com/2010/01/22/the-antiqcool-podcast-episode-1-how-can-you-be-a-part-of-our-success/
http://www.last.fm/user/puddlegum/ Flick

Thank you Pete for embracing this model. I think it’s a matter of time before the old music model dies completely.

You’re right about the problem of obscurity. So many bands and labels are DIY right now that the market is flooded. What can a band or label do to battle this, in your opinion?
http://www.antiqcool.co.uk Pete Smith

Talk to your fans and don’t fake it. They are your most powerful ally. I spend hours everyday answering messages from people online. At the end of the day we are all looking for attention in one form or another. CWF is nothing new but the internet allows people to interact like never before. Embrace it and it will pay you back…..it may take a long time and a lot of hard work but have a little faith and try to write good songs……musicians know all about that….right ?

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When giving away music becomes the latest trend…

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