Future of music? (2 Viewers)

[FlipX]

And this thread is timely because right now I am facing the conundrum: get a torrent of the Sleigh Bells album or wait until June 18 for it to end up in stores ...

ETA: Torrent. I'm not waiting 2+ weeks for something that was released in the U.S. last month.

Much like staggered film and even music video releases, this is just ridiculous in such an interconnected world - all the labels and studios are doing are hurting themselves.

Some people will happily download bootlegs just to get their hands on the product, but will still buy a legit copy when it finally hits stores.

autotune is the future

Auto-tune is not the monster it's made out to be - it just needs to be used to good effect and not as a fallback for every wannabe crossover rapper who can't sing. -.-

One Word. Justin Bieber.

Have you seen this? Tween death threats are adorable.

interesting to see the link between this and declining revenue from music sales, perhaps it's just an effect of inflation/gfc

Wouldn't be surprised. Merchandising and touring is where the money seems to be at - people actually feel like they're getting something worthwhile for their money.

On a final note, I wonder if they've done any modelling to see how demand might shift if digital download prices came right down. If albums cost only a few bucks, would anyone have qualms about paying for legit stuff? Would fans even buy more because they see it as better value? (And while we're at it, how many "lost sales" from piracy are attributed to people who may never bought music in the first place?)

 

[57o1i]

Much like staggered film and even music video releases, this is just ridiculous in such an interconnected world - all the labels and studios are doing are hurting themselves.

Some people will happily download bootlegs just to get their hands on the product, but will still buy a legit copy when it finally hits stores.

Yeah, this.

The album is fucking great so I'm fairly sure I'll be buying a CD copy as soon as it comes out but really, whoever is still holding onto the concept of staggered releases clearly overestimates my ability to resist temptation.

On a final note, I wonder if they've done any modelling to see how demand might shift if digital download prices came right down. If albums cost only a few bucks, would anyone have qualms about paying for legit stuff? Would fans even buy more because they see it as better value?

I read somewhere a while back (can't source, sorry ) that iTunes buys tracks for something like 70c a pop, so we're being charged a huge markup. Blah blah I know they need to make profits etc but the people talking about how illegal downloading hurts artists should realise that none of that extra cash is going to get anywhere near the artists. It's record and distribution companies making $$.

(And while we're at it, how "lost sales" from piracy are attributed to people who may never bought music in the first place?)

+ infinity