Martian

New record label to experiment with digital distribution



I am excited. This is the beginning.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Punk.of.Ages

I've been waiting for this...

I knew it wouldn't be long.

__________________
"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

Martian

If there's one person I expect to get this right, it's Terry McBride. I've always said that if I ever were to sign with a label, it'd be Nettwerk.

I will be watching this closely.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Baraka_Guru

I saw Mr. McBride speak at a conference held for us publisher types about the future of publishing in the digital age. He told us about the things he and his company were doing about music in the digital age and that it is no longer about the recording as product. He said it's about monetizing the culture surrounding the experience. We are heading into this sort of thing whether we like it or not, books, music, whatever.....

It's about creating culture. You can make money around what people are willing to pay for as extra value.

Creators need to innovate--but that's what creators do best.

Ringtones are just the beginning.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Martian

Well, Mr. Baraka_Guru, I seem to recall that have had a rather lengthy discussion regarding this subject previously. Was it over coffee? Or did that take place later, online?

Regardless, we are in full agreement, as you well know. The old system is in it's death throes. I honestly believe that what's going to replace it will be much better for content creators and consumers alike. There may not be a place in the new digital world for pop megastars, but I'm not sure I'll miss them if there isn't.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Willravel

This reminds me of the Digg dialogue with Trent Reznor.

Cynthetiq

too many morons and asshats out there.

I'm listening to the free audiobook of: Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business

---------- Post added at 12:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 AM ----------

audiobook link is found here

Tech Is Too Cheap to Meter: It's Time to Manage for Abundance, Not Scarcity

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cellophanedeity

I sell CDs and DVDs. I love my job. There's no way I'll be doing the same thing in ten years, even if I wanted to. Things like this are going to destroy my industry.

I like the physical aspects of albums, but I won't bother with the physical copy if the album art isn't worth it. For example, Tool's albums are always things I want, rather than just the music. The last album had lenses you look through to see 3D images in trippy art. Spinal Tap (!!!) just released an album with a case that doubles as a stand up version of the band in a crowd, and I was tempted to buy it despite not liking the music much. On the other hand, as much as I like Katy Perry's songs, I'm not buying her physical album because not only do I feel no loyalty to her as an artist, but the album art is boring.

If an artist wants to release music without visuals, then this new record company is a great idea. I, on the other hand, will still buy the CDs that are packaged nicely.

__________________
who am I to refuse the universe?
-Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers

Martian

I don't see CD's going away for the same reason that vinyl is sticking around. Some people are attached to the medium, for the very reasons listed. At the same time, anything that puts more control back in the hands of the artists is good.

One of the huge advantages of digital distribution is that it drastically reduces costs. In particular, it scales quite well; it doesn't cost much more to produce and distribute a thousand copies than it does ten copies. This reduction in overhead allows artists and labels to innovate and take risks, since the cost of failure is so much lower.

The biggest surprise to me so far is how long it's taking. Nobody's moved into this space in any real fashion yet, and my hunch is that the first party that does stands to gain a lot, both in terms of notoriety and profitability.

Again, I'll definitely be watching closely

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

PulpMind

I'm not sure I get the big deal.
Other than some guy from some big band that was marketed by some big labels back in the 90's heading up this project, what exactly is it that's being done that isn't already available to artists?
There are TONS of digital labels out there. There are infinite options for bands that want to promote themselves online - from doing it themselves, to hiring on agents, to selling out...
The only thing new here is these specific big name players.
I like Radiohead's music, and I love how they were one of the first major sell out bands to jump on the "I'm totally not a sell out because our next album is a free 128K mp3 downlaod" bandwagon... but what's happening here that hasn't already been done?

Martian

It's a question of scale. If this turns out the way I'm hoping it will, it could signal an actual viable alternative to the big four in the mainstream media space, which is desperately needed. I don't know for sure that it will, but I trust McBride -- he's got his head on straight.

Yes there are digital labels out there. There are options. But I would argue that there are few that are truly successful in any meaningful sense of the word. It's an exceedingly difficult way to make a living as a musician. Granted, nobody ever said that music should be easy, but I'd settle for 'viable career alternative.' If this is a way to achieve that, I'm for it.

Your post reads like a hipster rant, as if anyone who achieves any degree of success is automatically a sellout. This is a valid opinion I guess, but it fails to acknowledge or address the fact that a professional musician needs to be a bussinessperson as well as an artist. Music as art is well and good and you can pursue that if it's your desire. Music should be art, even within the professional realm, for that matter. However, to pursue music as a career one must also be conscious of the moneymaking aspects of it. If that's selling out, then I'll happily be a sellout; If selling out is what it takes to get paid to do what I love, then show me where to sign.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

PulpMind

Your post reads like someone who isn't in touch with what's been going on with digital labels for the last few years. Tons of artists are making lots of money, supporting themselves, booking tours, etc, without the control of major labels or any mega infrastructure. It's just not necessary anymore. I personally know quite a few artists who are doing very well for themselves, booking tours, selling their music or merch themselves (or through 2nd parties that charge a more reasonable fee than any conventional major or indy distro ever did). I can't remember the last time an artist played at any of my local venues that was on a major or even big indy label. That infrastructure is dead. The age of the rockstar is dead. This is actually kind of sad, but it was never real to begin with. There were always a hundred Elvises, a thousand Bowies. Now, if they use their brains a little (or hire someone to help them a little), they all have relatively equal share based more on their talent than ever before.
/end rant

PS - Implying that radiohead are sellouts was probably a bit harsh. they are from an era where the major labels were the best options. They didn't really have a choice - and from a pack of a dozen similar sounding bands, they were the lucky ones to get the paycheck and the tshirts. They did what they had to, and when their contract was up, they took hold of the digital age and did the right, smart thing.

Baraka_Guru

Is this when we start talking about the Long Tail?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

grumpyolddude

I'll be watching with interest. The nibbles we received through Amazon, I Tunes and CD Baby were tantalizing, but relying on the review sites to drive traffic that way has been, ultimately, unrewarding. We could use some inspiration for marketing this next album.

I'm quite certain I don't comprehend "monetizing the culture surrounding the experience." Sounds like a cover charge and a two drink minimum.

__________________
"Regret can be a harder pill to swallow than failure .With failure you at least know you gave it a chance..." David Howard

Baraka_Guru

It's essentially merchandising, but it isn't limited to that. The example that Terry McBride used was during the promotion of an Avril Lavigne release. They got some artist to come up with a series of Manga-style minicomics with Avril as the main character. These comics were made available for download through cellular service providers for a fee, kind of like ringtones. I think they were $0.99 each or $1.99 or something. Anyway, it was a hit. Tween girls everywhere were downloading these things by the thousand. That's one way you monetize the culture. Lavigne in this case wasn't just a singer with a recording. She was also a comic book heroine. Same look, same style, different medium.

Other ways are more traditional including T-shirt designs, but also include DVDs of performances, interviews, and shenanigans, or subscriptions to website features or whatever. Generally the more recent trends are multimedia in nature and have microtransaction-based setups (i.e. under a dollar per transaction).

It's limited only by your innovation and creativity.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Martian

Can we not, and pretend we did?

Monetizing the culture is all about alternative revenue streams.

Merchandising is a popular example. Selling advertising space also works, but only if you have a sufficient fanbase to make that space valuable to advertisers. Premium content is another way of doing it -- there are a few bands I can think of who offer DVD's of all of their shows on their website. Attend a show, order the DVD as a souvenir.

Live performances are also part of the solution, but hardly new. The point is to use various revenue streams to support yourself, while treating the recordings themselves more as promotional items. If you can make money off of CD's that's great, but if you can achieve greater exposure by releasing the music freely and then leverage that exposure into alternate revenue streams, that's even better.

This is where we're headed. The market has indicated that it doesn't place the same value on recorded music it once did. Right now everybody's more or less playing catch up. There's been a few attempts so far, but nothing's really caught on yet.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

grumpyolddude

All well and good for established brands. I'd like to see how well this works for unknowns without a million tweenies salivating over their every move. Hell, we'd like to be their field test!

I understand tweeking the product and being innovative. It still depends on advertising and promotion, which relies on a bankroll, which brings most Indies right back to working myspace and facebook and the same old stuff.

I'll pick back up on this tomorrow... time to go load out for a show.
Wanna buy a DVD?

__________________
"Regret can be a harder pill to swallow than failure .With failure you at least know you gave it a chance..." David Howard

Martian

One could argue that the initial build-up of momentum is the challenge regardless of where the revenue comes from. The current attempts seem to be directed towards the ideas of collectives, where small groups of artists share resources and cross-promote. I've been personally toying with a method that builds on this and looks at ways to reduce production and distribution costs (instead of increasing revenue, decrease overhead) but there are several challenges involved.

And that's part of why this is Big News, really. Mr. McBride as the financial and social capital to put a serious effort together, something on a scale that's virtually impossible for an independent artist to achieve. If it goes down the way I'm hoping it will, this is going to be a huge benefit to everyone outside of the big 4 culture -- even the people not currently involved will be able to take advantage of the increased visibility given to this type of model.

The inherent problem of being independent is one of marketing. It's difficult to get yourself on the map.

And yeah, I'll buy a DVD. It'll go with my promo copy of Pictures Of You nicely.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

grumpyolddude

Production and distribution are the money pit. There are a lot of bands trying to market product produced in their basement, and most of it sounds like it came out of someone's basement. The highest production values still come out of a quality professional studio with talented engineers and producers. They need to get paid... a lot.

If you choose to ignore the hard copy market, distribution can be cheap. But there's still a large audience for cd's and dvd's, and designing and producing those ain't cheap... and cellophanediety needs to make a living, as well. The distribution industry has its own politics and economy, too... but that's what we're trying to bypass.

What I'd like to see is a streamlined conduit to the mass market. The pessimistic g-pod sees the record company's A&R bureaucracy making a lateral move, and the Indies facing the same struggles to get noticed. My un-grumpy self is hopeful that McBride and Co. can find a way to avoid that.

I'm trying to arrange for Timbo to come down to shoot video tonight. If something worthwhile transpires, I let you know

__________________
"Regret can be a harder pill to swallow than failure .With failure you at least know you gave it a chance..." David Howard

fast1

this is pretty cool, thanks for sharing, opens up a new revenue stream for online marketers