Laughing Boy wrote:
] ] Heavy-metal band Metallica, a vociferous opponent of
] ] Internet song-swapping sites, is turning to the Web as a
] ] way to encourage fans to buy the band's new music.
] ]
] ] Metallica, whose first album in six years is scheduled to
] ] be released on June 5, is offering exclusive music tracks
] ] online as well through a partnership with Speakeasy, the
] ] Seattle-based high-speed Internet access provider said.
] ]
] ] Customers who buy Metallica's new compact disc, St.
] ] Anger, will find a code inside the packaging allowing
] ] them to view, listen to and download exclusive,
] ] unreleased music tracks from a Metallica Web site.
]
] What I've been saying for years... want to encourage people to
] BUY your CD vs. download the tracks online? You have to give
] some "value added" as incentive. Granted, these "exclusive,
] unreleased music tracks" will appear soon on a P2P network
] near you, but this is a step in the right direction.
]
] Now start adding some "VA" that can not be pirated. Ideas off
] the top of my head... random drawings for concert tix, back
] stage passes, t-shirts and other swag, etc...

Yeah, but a lot of artists feel like that's 'paying for your fan base' and will be reluctant to do it. I'll just take the enhanced CDs that are coming out with video, lyrics, added tracks, etc. I'm digging Weird Al's new one with a whole lot of great extras!

Dementia wrote:
] Laughing Boy wrote:
] ] ] Heavy-metal band Metallica, a vociferous opponent of
] ] ] Internet song-swapping sites, is turning to the Web as a
] ] ] way to encourage fans to buy the band's new music.
] ] ]
] ] ] Metallica, whose first album in six years is scheduled to
] ] ] be released on June 5, is offering exclusive music tracks
] ] ] online as well through a partnership with Speakeasy, the
] ] ] Seattle-based high-speed Internet access provider said.
] ] ]
] ] ] Customers who buy Metallica's new compact disc, St.
] ] ] Anger, will find a code inside the packaging allowing
] ] ] them to view, listen to and download exclusive,
] ] ] unreleased music tracks from a Metallica Web site.
] ]
] ] What I've been saying for years... want to encourage people
] to
] ] BUY your CD vs. download the tracks online? You have to
] give
] ] some "value added" as incentive. Granted, these "exclusive,
]
] ] unreleased music tracks" will appear soon on a P2P network
] ] near you, but this is a step in the right direction.
] ]
] ] Now start adding some "VA" that can not be pirated. Ideas
] off
] ] the top of my head... random drawings for concert tix, back
] ] stage passes, t-shirts and other swag, etc...
]
] Yeah, but a lot of artists feel like that's 'paying for your
] fan base' and will be reluctant to do it.

Then I guess its their funeral. :/ An over priced basic audio CD with 15 mediocre (at best) tracks is not going to cut the mustard any more. When people feel like they are getting ripped off for 1 or 2 good songs on an album and the rest are crap, many will not buy CD's when they can find what they want for free unless there is additional value in purchasing the CD. I don't think its paying for your fan base. It's merely incentive to purchase the CD.

But if they would rather not “compromise their integrity” in such a manner, they have no right to complain when no one will purchase their work. The music industries business model is changing – lead, follow or get run over.

To hear Metalica (of all people) back peddling and saying “Hey – maybe we CAN use this Internet thing to our advantage after all” should be a wake up call to every techno-phobe in the recording industry.

Laughing Boy

Oh – and lest we forget and get caught up in the RIAA’s Chicken Little “The sky is falling!” hoopla… sales are merely down a few billion dollars a year (recession anyone?). The industry is FAR from being in the red. The vast majority of people are still buying music, but clearly consumers want access to the stuff online as well.

] Now start adding some "VA" that can not be pirated. Ideas off
] the top of my head... random drawings for concert tix, back
] stage passes, t-shirts and other swag, etc...

I bet reducing the after-tax price of an audio CD to $10 or $12 is enough of a value-add for most people..

=darwin

Darwin wrote:
] ] Now start adding some "VA" that can not be pirated. Ideas
] off
] ] the top of my head... random drawings for concert tix, back
] ] stage passes, t-shirts and other swag, etc...
]
] I bet reducing the after-tax price of an audio CD to $10 or
] $12 is enough of a value-add for most people..
]
] =darwin

The argument for the reduction in sales for recorded music over the past several always leaves me appalled. Quite apart from the recession, no one ever seems to bring up the astonishing variety of competeing entertainment/lifestyle items that exist now and the cost to the average consumer. Back in some mystical "Golden Age" of record sales, LPs cost $3.99 and the hourly minimum wage was somewhat the same (in California). Currently, your same teen min wage consumer also has a cell phone bill, internet access bill, cable TV bill, movies that cost $8.00 to see in the theater, $5 movie and game rentals, online gaming subscriptions and all the hardware costs for the devices. It it astonishing to me that anyone young is ponying up the $17 bucks it costs to buy a new CD, and that is a big chunk of the buying market (certainly not all of it but the ones the industry is pointing the finger at). Sell the songs online for 99 cents, include an encrypted special picture from the artist and be happy that you got the dough at all.

The play "Other People's Money" in the 80's had some wonderful lines about the last buggywhip maker in the US. It was the very best company, the one that outlasted everyone else, made the best damn whips around but you know what? It made buggywhips.

When markets and technologies change, they change. Adapt or die.