Copy kills music or maybe not?
November 8, 2008 at 6:06 am 5 comments
Sometimes I get asked, “Do you have a CD of mars mushrooms that I can copy?” Politely the person adds, “I only need it for a short time so I can put it on my iPod.” When that happens I never know what to think.
Of course as an artist I should be happy that there is demand for my music and that it gets spread around. If that person recommends my music to a friend and so on and all of them come to a concert I am better off than selling only one copy. On the other hand, what does this tell me about the value of my music? I know, since the person asked for my music, he at least appreciates it. So I guess it would be wrong to say that he does not value it.
But what about those times where you wanted to buy the music of an up and coming band because you knew this band needed the money? Is there a difference between copying music from the big stars or the small guys? Maybe you can help me on this…
Entry filed under: Music Business. Tags: copy kills music, copyright, music, Music Business, recommendations, value of music, word of mouth.
1.
Matt Recchia | November 11, 2008 at 5:59 pm
One of the largest aspects of the jam band scene is the trading of music and word of mouth. This is why hundreds of thousands of shows are posted on sites like Archive.org and be.Tree. It helps promote the artist and community surrounding the artist,helping bring more people out to shows and create more revenue for the artist. However, when it comes down to studio albums, this “scheme” presents a problem.
I’ve always supported the artists I truly love to listen to by buying their studio work, but that is when I am familiar with the band and know what to expect from them. For some (especially right now) laying down 12-16 bucks for an album sounds crazy when there is a free version on the internet. But, through the trading of shows/what not, you develop that strong community that will begin to support you through the purchase of studio albums and tickets, creating revenue for that band and helping them support their habit of making music.
Although there are pros and cons to trading, in the end, handing out a free copy of a show or album can benefit you exponentially in the future than saying no and hoping they throw you $12 dollars. Think about it: if that person likes the music, he’s going to tell his buddies, who (if there like me) are going to want some music, then when they hear it and like, they will continue to spread it, and spread it, and spread it until you’re selling out places like the GA Theater and 40 Watt.
Plus, by giving them a copy for free, you come off as the nice guy, and people are more often that not going to support you than the person who told them to f*ck off and buy the CD off the website!
2.
choffmann | November 12, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I do agree on most of you say. I am all for free live music. Especially shows should be freely posted on the LMA or similar websites. I think what bugs me is not the idea of more or less money, but this missing notion of respect to somebody you know. I am not talking about artists you do not know. Personally, I would ask a very good friend to give me that CD, but I would offer to pay to an acquaintance for that very same CD.
That does not answer whether it might be the best solution for my acquaintance to give me the CD for free anyway. But that’s a different question.
3.
Matt Recchia | November 18, 2008 at 5:13 am
Very true, but still somewhat related questions.
4. Corey Smith and The Future of Music « Out of Athens - The Jam Music Business | January 9, 2009 at 12:14 am
[...] on copying and spreading of music. It is a good answer to an earlier post of mine called “Copy kills music or maybe not?“. If you want to know more about Corey’s idea about the distribution of music read [...]
5.
Imrahil | July 7, 2009 at 9:19 am
Perhaps you have to consider a thing that allways bugs me in the argumentation of the “imprison the pirates”-faction:
A person that downloads (or copys in other illegal ways) a song is NOT a person that now does not buy the song!
Meaning: you can’t say every guy who downloads a song is a guy who would otherwise buy the song!
Quite the contrary is the case: every guys who downloads a song is now a potential customer for future releases, for he now knows how good you are.
If you tell him to fuck off and buy the cd I’d guess in about 99% of all cases he’d instead tell YOU to fuck off and stick your CDs up your own ass
It’s very strange, on the one side big labels pay lots of money to get their music known to the public, on the other hand they pay lots of money to prosecute people advertising them for free…