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The state of the music business thread...


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You and I are both from Atlanta, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know which stores you're referring to, but here's a telling bit from a recent interview with the folks at Criminal Records:

 

Sias: What albums have always been strong sellers throughout the years?

 

Levin: Whatever we're into at the time.

 

(Levin is the owner of Criminal Records)

 

Entire interview here:

 

http://www.pinemagazine.com/site/article/1908

 

your quote was taken a little of out context i thought (trying too hard to paint the owner as an arrogant asshole); the point i took away was that he played stuff he liked, and people would take note of it, and if they liked it, order it (see the comment about Chet Baker).

 

hell, if i owned a record store, i would play music i liked. wouldn't you?

 

 

btw, i was down in Atlanta for the Scion Rock Fest and caught the in-store performances the day before @ Criminal. i thought that was a hell of a record store...i didn't get to browse too much, but really liked what i saw, and the fact that they can hold in-store performances like that is totally great.

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your quote was taken a little of out context i thought (trying too hard to paint the owner as an arrogant asshole); the point i took away was that he played stuff he liked, and people would take note of it, and if they liked it, order it (see the comment about Chet Baker).

 

hell, if i owned a record store, i would play music i liked. wouldn't you?

 

 

btw, i was down in Atlanta for the Scion Rock Fest and caught the in-store performances the day before @ Criminal. i thought that was a hell of a record store...i didn't get to browse too much, but really liked what i saw, and the fact that they can hold in-store performances like that is totally great.

 

HA! Yeah, it is out of context, you're right. I agree with everything you said. The guy is arrogant and pretentious as hell, but probably not an asshole...I know he offers his employees health benefits, so that's pretty awesome of him.

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just because you think that U2/Bruce/whoever is playing the enormo-dome has made enough money and shouldn't charge that much for a ticket, obviously others disagree w/ you, so your one man boycott isn't too effective, is it?

 

or do you think the gubbmint should put laws in place to throttle back their greed?

 

 

my point is that we live in a society that seems to value ROCK STARS more than stay at home moms and dad by virtue of how much money we are willing to spend on these folks. until our values change, then it'll stay the same. i have choice to pay for tix or not, thank goodness.

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your quote was taken a little of out context i thought (trying too hard to paint the owner as an arrogant asshole); the point i took away was that he played stuff he liked, and people would take note of it, and if they liked it, order it (see the comment about Chet Baker).

 

hell, if i owned a record store, i would play music i liked. wouldn't you?

 

 

btw, i was down in Atlanta for the Scion Rock Fest and caught the in-store performances the day before @ Criminal. i thought that was a hell of a record store...i didn't get to browse too much, but really liked what i saw, and the fact that they can hold in-store performances like that is totally great.

 

 

criminals okay for uber indie stuff. they're not going any where soon as they're in a prime location in little 5. i was referring to decatur CD and wuxtry. god if you don't go in to these places and feel like tool immediately. NOW, these are my experiences. i'm sure others are different and they just love these stores. to each his own.

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my point is that we live in a society that seems to value ROCK STARS more than stay at home moms and dad by virtue of how much money we are willing to spend on these folks. until our values change, then it'll stay the same. i have choice to pay for tix or not, thank goodness.

 

you could just as easily substitute ATHLETE or MOVIE/TV STAR...i doubt our values will change, since people still want to be entertained.

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"Who knows what this repair will cost, scared to spend a dime

I'll puke if that jukebox plays John Cougar one more time"

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"Who knows what this repair will cost, scared to spend a dime

I'll puke if that jukebox plays John Cougar one more time"

I understand the Bottle Rockets actually got to play that with Mellencamp one time....it is one of the funniest lines ever written...

 

LouieB

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I understand the Bottle Rockets actually got to play that with Mellencamp one time....it is one of the funniest lines ever written...

 

LouieB

 

HA! Thanks, Louie, I did not know that. Hilarious. It is a great line. Brian Henneman is definitely one of those artists that warrants much wider acclaim and exposure. He's a regular guy to boot.

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HA! Thanks, Louie, I did not know that. Hilarious. It is a great line. Brian Henneman is definitely one of those artists that warrants much wider acclaim and exposure. He's a regular guy to boot.

Did we talk about this? The Bottle Rockets still have day jobs. What is that about?

 

(I will be helping to tape a show of theirs with Whiskey Bender in Champaign the first weekend of May which will be actually sold. I can't wait.)

 

LouieB

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http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/5458...ic-artists.html

 

an article about CDbaby kicking ass! i really don't think cds will go away. there's still gonna be folks that want a hard copy that's not vinyl. i can't really think of an artist i'm desperate to have a hard copy of anymore...neil young archive 2 maybe.

 

one point i was thinking about is this notion that the artists and record companies are in trouble because of pirating. i really don't think this is true. folks who like a band will support that artist legitimately. this is obvious since the bands we like on this board aren't going down the tubes, and show no signs of slowing down (wilco, ryan adams, etc.) i really think there is only a small number of people that listen to only pirate stuff exclusively. my hunch is people use it more of a preview or 'extra' music feature. it's ultimately music that they wouldn't buy anyway, or, after preview, will not buy. the revenue decrease is the result of people not being forced to take a leap and buy an 18 dollar cd only to be totally disappointed. at the same time, this preview allows folks like us to jump on to new artists totally informed which leads to true fans who support artists in many ways.

 

just some thoughts.

 

craig

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It is a good five or six years old, but Harvard Business school (I think it was Harvard, I am positive it was an ivy league school) did a study on the music industry and their conclusion was that the pirating is eating into our profits was a bunch of bullsh*t (my word not theirs.). But in essence what the study found was that the decline in music sales was related to a number of factors. Chief among them were the rise in DVD and video game sales. Kids only have so much disposable income, and face it adults buy cd

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There's a blog post on washingtonpost.com today that raises an interesting issue: whether it is ethical to keep digital copies of CDs that you sell or give away.

 

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterfor...l?hpid=sec-tech

 

My take is that it's generally okay to sell CDs after ripping the contents, but I can see the other side. In my view, there is an aftermarket for CDs that benefits artists, if not their record labels. I generally won't buy a new CD from someone I've never heard of (with some exceptions), but I'll pick up any old thing at a used CD shop if the price is right. For active bands who don't make tons of money on records (i.e. the vast majority of bands), having more copies of their stuff in circulation, however it gets to listeners, has to be a good thing. But I'd be interested in hearing other views on this.

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It is a good five or six years old, but Harvard Business school (I think it was Harvard, I am positive it was an ivy league school) did a study on the music industry and their conclusion was that the pirating is eating into our profits was a bunch of bullsh*t (my word not theirs.). But in essence what the study found was that the decline in music sales was related to a number of factors. Chief among them were the rise in DVD and video game sales. Kids only have so much disposable income, and face it adults buy cd
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There's a blog post on washingtonpost.com today that raises an interesting issue: whether it is ethical to keep digital copies of CDs that you sell or give away.

 

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterfor...l?hpid=sec-tech

 

My take is that it's generally okay to sell CDs after ripping the contents, but I can see the other side. In my view, there is an aftermarket for CDs that benefits artists, if not their record labels. I generally won't buy a new CD from someone I've never heard of (with some exceptions), but I'll pick up any old thing at a used CD shop if the price is right. For active bands who don't make tons of money on records (i.e. the vast majority of bands), having more copies of their stuff in circulation, however it gets to listeners, has to be a good thing. But I'd be interested in hearing other views on this.

 

well, i remember back in the early 90s the advent of selling used cds caused a big stir in music industry. i seem to remember garth brooks being pissed about it. anyway, that died down. of course the record companies lost money, but damn, the stuff people were selling back was complete crap. not to mention the fact that the advent of the cd and the constant reissues and remasters has resulted in continued gains for the business as people replaced albums multiple times. i think that is happening again with digital downloads. people, like me, remember an album they had in high school that maybe they sold. you want to hear it again, so you download it at itunes.

i used to rip cds then sell them. i felt bad about it and quit doing it.

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