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Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

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Fileshare and illegally download now!
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IanB
IanB
6761 posts

Edited Nov 23, 2009, 09:45
Re: Fileshare and illegally download now!
Nov 23, 2009, 09:38
machineryelf wrote:
Sorry to harp on, I think I'm probably looking at things through a music lovers eyes, and not a business mans, but are record companies not better off with a good roster of cheap n cheerful artistes ticking over making a reasonable turnover just to keep things going, keeping the gears of the business greased, waiting for the big act to come along, i mean the chances of ten acts making 10 x small amount is = to 1 act making big amount, and in reality there are probably 20 acts who can make your small amount


I think if music fans knew a bit more about how the cake is divided up they would be more reluctant to download with such zeal but, as I say elsewhere, the HH kind of people are not the problem - at least they are spending money on music somewhere.

However it was the hard core music fans, the people who presented downloading as something that the "cool kids" could and should do, who opened the door for the millions of Toms, Dicks and Harriets to take the new Mariah, Rhianna, Stereophonics etc etc. It was those mainstream fans, the ones who bought two or three cds a year, who kept the whole thing going. They paid for the investment in the marginal.

It's very hard put any kind of promotional support behind a record and break even. Artists you have heard of and probably own records by are struggling to sell 5,000 copies across Europe on new releases. Small labels now make a large % of their money from digital and selling records to their own artists to sell off stage!

Assuming you spend no more than £5k making an album then 5000 sales is not much more than a break-even proposition if those records are sold through retail channels. Spend more than £5k and you are almost certainly on a loser. Obviously there are bands who can record for buttons or make records at home but as soon as you need anything more than the basics of amateur / semi-pro recording then you need a sponsor, a grant, a trust fund or a very understanding bank manager. That's why the big hitters pull the train for the small acts and not the other way around.

I don't want a musical world where the Arts Council decide what is worthy of support. Would you trust those cosseted fuckers to define your listening? I'd trust Simon Cowell before them. Really.
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