Why (not) pay for music?(smyck.net) |
Why (not) pay for music?(smyck.net) |
When you can get your music on iTunes, Amazon etc. and all the streaming platforms for $50 (CDBaby) there is no reason not to. I really don't understand the authors reasoning here. It seems to go against everything they said about making your music available legally because people will steal it otherwise. Why withhold from any platform?
Also the advice on recording yourself isn't great. Sure you can pick up a book or look on YouTube but recording and producing music well is difficult. Mixing is difficult, especially without high quality equipment. The only way to get good is through lots of experience I've found, there isn't a shortcut.
>> "Yes you will need some money for equipment"
You will need a lot of money for equipment if you want to sound good. I use an Apogee ONE (pretty basic I/O device/preamp) and that alone is £300. A Shure SM58 mic (for vocals) is £100. An AKG 451 for recording acoustic instruments is £300. All this not to mention the recording software, a decent computer, and your guitars, drums, etc.
If you record in a studio all this is provided (and they provide much higher quality stuff than you could ever afford). They also usually have an assortment of high quality musical equipment (amps, guitars etc.) which you are free to use.
>> Also the advice on recording yourself isn't great
It's borderline terrible, in fact. It's the same one as "build your website on your own, there are plenty of PHP tutorials on the internet, how hard can it be?".
Obviously you'd have to be willing to put an exorbitant amount of time into getting good, but that's another issue.
Source?
Also, that's still not a reason not to be on it. Lots of people use Spotify and if your music isn't available on it they either won't listen at all (you lose) or will download it illegally (you lose).
I think you mean the `physical' world. CDs aren't a part of the analog world; they're digital. Analog has to do with the signal type, not the medium.</pedantry>
Recording an album in your bedroom is almost always a cop-out. It's a way of being able to tell yourself that you tried to have a career in music, without taking any real emotional risk or doing any real work. It's a way of "getting your music out there" that doesn't require the courage to stand up in front of a bar full of strangers and play it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Musicians with internet-based careers are still absolutely the exception rather than the rule, they're still a rare aberration.
If you want to be in a rock and roll band, then be in a rock and roll band. Don't buy yourself a bunch of recording equipment, buy a rusted-up old Econoline. Don't overdub your guitar tracks onto a drum machine, put up a flyer in your local music shop and find a drummer. Take whatever crappy gigs you can get and hustle like a mofo. At the very least, you'll end up with far better anecdotes.
Some of the reactions here are silly. If you love an artist buy their record, tell your friends, go see them in concert. Blaming labels (big or small) as a justification for illegal downloading is [ insert descriptor of your choice ].
Supporting your favorite artists is cool and the right thing to do. Let them deal with their labels whether they wish to have one or not.
This is totally inaccurate. The music industry grew for the first time since 1999 due to digital streaming services:
http://ifpi.no/9-forsiden/43-ifpi-publishes-digital-music-re...
Quobuz, Boomkat, HDTracks, Bandcamp, Bleep and others all offer lossless music - obscure and indie music, as well as major artists.
I won't buy anything that isn't lossless and can't remember the last time I had trouble finding an album in my format of choice.
Gladly availability isn't a problem any longer.
And that's where I stopped reading (which is unfortunate, because this is also where I started reading).
As a musician, it is significantly harder to produce an entire album by oneself. But, thats the great part of releasing something into the world, its all mine. No one else's imagination touched what I wanted to create.
Set Up::: I use a synthesizer, a midi keyboard, and an APC 40. A decent pair of studio monitors, M-Audio BX5 D2s. I sometimes borrow a microphone for a friend that works in a music studio. I record everything on Ableton 8 or 9.
I always share my music for free, and give the listener the option to pay if they want. I am about to release a three track EP, you can listen the first track here. http://fantasmafigueroa.bandcamp.com/album/afuera
EDIT: It might not be everyone's cup of tea. I grew up listening to Chicago house/acid house. Influences: Brian Eno, Max Richter, Boards of Canada, Efdemin, Stars of the Lid... lots of ambient stuff.
http://www.ektoplazm.com/section/free-music will overwhelm you. The great thing is that it aggregates pretty much all good free releases are there. When you find something you like, try the netlabel it comes from. Often they focus on one particular style.
Randomly recommending http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/trinodia-unknown-space as I really like that oldschool Goa. If progpsy is alright, try http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/cyandroids (Meller - Nothing). http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/quantica-astrobiology is some blend with DnB.
http://www.jamendo.com/list/a41418/whispers http://www.jamendo.com/list/a37727/the-awakening http://www.jamendo.com/list/a27926/darkshine http://www.jamendo.com/list/a42180/coma-circle-lp http://www.jamendo.com/list/a76571/angelic-asylum http://www.jamendo.com/list/a43370/anno-domini-mmix
Much harder to actually do. The number of people picking up instruments and really learning how to play vs. cranking through a fruity loops tutorial so they can do minor alteration remixes isn't surprising.
Yes, this is good advice. Will anyone really follow it / see the wisdom in it? Debatable.
"Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but ain't nobody wanna lift no heavy-ass weight."
I don't encourage illegal downloads, quite the opposite. But the labels deserve blame as well as artists who are sitting on their faces, waiting for the labels to figure it out somehow. In the book »Appetite for Self-Destruction« its described pretty extensively how that is unlikely to happen.
To resolve the dilemma we need a revolution, coming from the artists and the consumers and I hope I inspire some people to wake up, use their brain and make things better without the labels.
I am not saying it is easy, but given that you have spent years learning to play, you should be able to spend a couple months to get noticed.
Furthermore you can't just be on Spotify. You need a middleman to be allowed in the labels domain. Like I said, most streaming services are controlled by the labels. Now there are some cheap proxy companies that will publish you on Spotify and sure, you can do that but in the beginning of your journey - which I was referring to - you don't need to bother. It just won't give you anything. Later its surely nice to be there but even then you won't get anything out of it money wise.