value added
I'm about to self-release my first EP. Why, you ask, would anyone spend lots of their own money to release a PHYSICAL CD in this age of peer-to-peer piracy? Isn't it true that the business model of the music industry is flawed and in need of change? That there's no such thing as intellectual property, that illegal downloaders are "fans" who must be accommodated rather than prosecuted? That, no matter whether we like it or not, downloading is here to stay? That the role of the musician returns to the age-old practice of giving live, in-person performances (as Elvis Costello seemed to advocate in an interview a year ago)?Maybe these things are true. Although I would argue that recorded music goes beyond "intellectual" property (like having the secret to making TNT) and into... I dunno, "artistic property"? Someone can't just TELL you the idea for a song, you need to actually be able to hear it. Songwriters reading this are now thinking, "He's talking about `mechanical' rights" -- the rights to play the physical recording of the music. ("What about the plain copyright??" some songwriter is asking. Eh.)
Well, in partial concession --- not full admission --- to these "facts"...or "ideas"... I tried to to think about what would be the incentives for people to BUY rather than LEECH. And in particular, to buy a physical product. What is the "value added" of having a physical product? (Lets assume you've already got a kick-a$$ recording...) Here's what I came up with:
- "Ownership": Not ownership of the intellectual property per se, not the right to unlimited duplication, but just the satisfaction of saying to yourself, "I own this physical thing and I can take it where I want and play it when I want."
- "An artistic experience": i.e. Artwork. Along with ownership is the idea of actually owning something of value, and in particular of artistic value. The experience of seeing some interesting art, and of opening the CD cover... is not something you can get from an MP3.
- "Information": Some words of special insight into the artist and/or printed lyrics for the songs. Sure someone may eventually type the lyrics in and post them to some website, but the idea is that the purchaser of the physical product gets the joy of following along in the little booklet as they're playing the songs for the first few times. So that they can go "to the artist" rather than some impersonal internet database. Without the printed lyrics, there's less of an incentive to buy the product. My advice to other artists is: Don't put it (all) on your website for free, put it in the CDs.
- "Support": Honestly, I think most people who are music fans are interested in supporting "the artists", just not the "big bad record companies". (They fail to realize that the record companies PAID for the studio time, artwork, mastering, etc, etc, and that the artist doesn't make any money until THEIR SHARE from the CD sales profits surpasses their DEBT to the record companies...) But...we've also created a culture of "ubiquitous" music, in which music is ultimately devalued, and people feel a sense of entitlement to it, so rampant downloading occurs independently of any feeling toward the artist on the part of the downloader. For indie projects like mine, however, fan support is paramount. Essentially it reverts to the "old system" of patronage of artists. Fans want to support their artists by giving them something to live on, in exchange for some artistic output. We like this!
That's what I've got for now. I mean, that's what I've got in terms of ideas, but it's also, I think what I've actually got in the final design for my CD. Printing all the lyrics in a font that's still readable was a challenge, but when I showed people a previous design in which MOST of the lyrics were printed, they expressed disappointment that the full lyrics weren't printed. So now they're in there.
Also, one full MP3 from the CD is posted on my website, and the rest are 1.5-minute clips. But you knew about that trick already.
Anybody else have some observations or ideas regarding.... preserving the music industry? ;-)
Cheers,
Scott
posted by CoreFire at 9:12 AM
2 Comments:
You don't see a negative to "value added" for physical CDs? Neither do I.
But as a songwriter who makes ZERO from gigs (coffee shops...), who hopes to release material out into the world that will propagate on its own, you can see how I'm concerned about my work not being sustainable... i.e., if I can't break even on the CD sales, then where does the money come from to make the next one?
HOWEVER, I've noticed at least one huge flaw in my discussion: The sorts of artists whose material is being traded freely are also the ones who already have gobs of that value-added stuff in the CD packages! Artwork galore, lyrics, etc... So it seems that making sure the final product has these things is kind of moot, since people are trading the songs from exactly these sort of big-budget CD projects!
One other thing I left out: Cost. If the per-unit cost is kept low, people will be less likely to feel the "need" to download. Of course, setting the per-unit price is simply a matter of division: [initial investment in recording, etc] divided by [number of units we think we can sell], and if the denominator is decreased by downloading, then the per unit cost will have to go up... which sets up this weird nonlinear feedback system... So I think one needs to err on the "small" side. Many people I know think current CD prices are too high...
The biggest factors for me in purchasing a CD are relationship with the artist and the music's probable effect on my state of mind.
If it's music that expands my equanimity and existential sturdiness, the CD is worth owning. If it doesn't do those things, if it's something that restricts my soul or sends it too far in one direction or another, then I don't mind listening to it, but it's a waste of money to own it.
I like to have a relationship with the musician, either personally or going to their shows, because it helps me understand their music, and that gives me a sense of grounding too.
I guess what I want out of music is a sense that it emerges genuinely from my world, and supports what is best in it. It doesn't have to be a close association, but it's best when it's an organic one, some kind of history with me, even if it's a quirky one.
For instance: I have and love the CD Mnemosyne by the Hilliard Ensemble. I got it because I heard their first improv cd with saxophone, Officium, at a monastery. Officium's no longer available, so I get the follow up, Mnemosyne, and it's got scenes from Ingmar Bergman's 'Seventh Seal' throughout it, and I remember enjoying that movie in college, and it reminds me of a movie about a French monastery, etc. And I bought it from a gift certificate from a cousin, who was afraid he wouldn't be able to find anything I'd like, and so I went out of my way to find something I truly love, and went to show it to him.
So the CD has all these quixotic connections to me, but it also is very spiritual and helps me feel whole and like my world has room for God in it. So I love it for those reasons: some organic grounding in my life, yet something that expands my horizons and leads me forward in a way that I trust. That combination is why I own CDs, and what makes me want to own one.
Choosing your music is important; one gives so much of oneself to the music one hears, you almost yield your identity to it.
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