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Indies Blossoming Despite RIAA
Shadow Wrought writes "We have all read the numerous RIAA articles on Slashdot, not to mention scores of other articles that discuss the industry's purported demise. An article at the Christian Science Monitor calls this assumption into question by pointing to the success that Indie Labels are beginning to enjoy. An interesting read and one that provides pretty good support against the RIAA's argument that a quartet of college students is responsible for their troubles."
I wonder why Ani DiFranco was only given a passing mention in the article? [actually I could probably wager a guess...] She's released 20 of her own albums over the past 13 years, and at least 5 other albums. She dislikes corperate record companies, and has at least a few songs specifically about the subject. Take a look at any local CD store and she'll be there, and been doing it for years.
Normally I do not watch MTV, but it was on and one new musician's story caught my attention. A guy by the name of Cody Chesnutt, who has a bit of oldschool R&B sound and flair, was being featured. He created his first album all by himself in his bedroom studio, and released his two-CD set called "The Headphone Masterpiece" in a limited amount on his own. The CD sold out everywhere, and major record lables were courting him to release his CD on a much bigger scale... Cody turned them all down.
:)
His CD is only available via his website (codychesnutt.com) and he is going it alone to make a stand against the music industry. I can appreciate this man's efforts, and it parallels a lot of what we in the OSS community are up against. If you're wondering, I have no ties to this guy at all... I just heard about him a couple hours ago, but I wish him nothing but the best... and his song "Look Good In Leather" is pretty damn catchy as well
www.GamezCore.com For Hardcore PS2 Gamerz : By Hardcore PS2 Gamerz
http://www.riaa.org/About-Members-1.cfm
Looks like 50:1 on Indies vs. Big 5 in there...
Though I'm not sure how many of the members are subsidiaries of the major labels.
Proletariat of the world, unite to kill RIAA
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
I am glad the CSM published this, but disappointed they did not mention pioneering Dischord Records. Dischord is truly "in the business of making music, not money." They charge fans exactly what they charge record stores and forego distributors entirely. Send Dischord $10 and they send you a CD, post paid. In some cases you can even get vinyl. Dischord are just good people.
Plus, Amy Pickering is a fox.
It is cowardly, and a betrayal of whatever it means to be a Jew, to act as a white man
-James Baldwin
...and it's been dreadfully hard to get people to buy cds. We are actually looking to release more music on vinyl now because it seems to be the current trend in our market. Personally, I buy all my music from indie labels directly which has been cheaper and a much more enjoyable process then going to the local music store chain, but I don't think most people are doing that. We have been around for almost five years and we sell just enough to keep the releases flowing. Which is OK by me but I am sure that the artists and those of us doing the work (that would be me and my partners) would like to benefit finacially from our labors. :)
zenas(prime)
http://www.zenapolae.com
If I steal your computer, you can't use it so you are deprived of something and that is theft.
If I copy a disc, you still have what you started with.
There is no deprevation, ergo there is no theft.
Does anyone know what the legal definition of theft is?
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
And yes they certainly do go bonkers. The music-listener job has a pretty high rate of dropout due to insanity.
:-)
and to a lesser extent Metropolis Records
and Middle pillar
and labels like
Projekt Records - Who said napster was a good thing
Flaming Fish
UR-realist (Russian)
I can get a lot of good music and avoid the crap that the majors sell. I hope more artists begin to realize that majors are not the way to go to sell their music, your better off going independent and actually make money.
My take on the cyclical nature of the record industry is that we're at about the same point in the trough as we were in the late 1970s.
The early 1960s were the blossoming of a new rock n roll sound that was in many was fundamentally different. It reached a zenith in about 1970 and just got beaten to death with theme and variation by the late 1970s.
The late 1970s (in the UK) and early 1980s in the US saw the blossoming of another new era in music ("alternative" -- hate the word, but its vague enough to sum it all up). This reached its zenith in the early 90s and has been pounded to death by the same cycle of theme and variation.
Anyway, my theory is that we're at the tail-end of the alternative thing and nothing worthwhile has really come up to replace it, so we're malcontent while we feed on the imitators and leftovers.
None of this is to say there weren't bands that broke moulds or did things out of cycle (the Velvet Underground was astonishingly ahead of their time) or bands that don't manage to be original in a time of dreary lack of originality, but that doesn't also invalidate the general trend.
Hold your horses. You should read the Canada Copyright Act before you take action. The ammendment that introduced the levy also changed the act to say that it is legal to copy musical works for personal use in Canada but you cannot distribute those musical works. It says clearly in the act that you must copy the work from the media yourself but you do not need to own it. That means you can borrow people's cds and copy them (or make MP3s) but you can't trade them.
This was done to offset the cd levy. It just basically expanded the fair use rights.
The music industry wanted to get money for piracy and they did but now they can't sue anyone in Canada for copying their music works for personal use since they are already getting paid for it. They can still sue you for trading songs since that is not part of the deal.
And don't flame me without first informing yourself. I've talked to numerous IP lawyers in Canada about this as well as having taken an IP Law course.
Well even if the label is a truely "indie" label, the big five still make money out of the CD sales as they are the distributors. So unless you buy directly from the label, the big five are going to get some of your money.
hmm.. here's the list of my top labels that came to mind immediately..
Epitaph
Alternative Tentacles
Stomp
Dischord
Ipecac
Fat Wreck Chords
hehe none of them seem to be on the list.. but there were a few surprises.. among the Righteous Babe Records, Ani DiFranco's label, the DIY inspiration for so many.. sad to see her on there.
Even better, here is a good interview with Ian MacKaye, from the good folks at the Onion.
u re 3517.html
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3517/avfeat
Come on now. Blank CDs are not that expensive here in Canada - you can still get a 50 pack for $16 CDN (Which is like 10 cents USD ;). (Example. However, it's hard to find a music CD for $16 CDN but you could burn 50 of them for the same price. The levy doesn't even come close to covering the lost revenue. I'm not saying the record companies deserve that much money, but I don't think the argument stands up.
Random is the New Order.
Badfinger was a classic band in their own right, and I highly recommend them. Most of their albums came out on Apple records, and are still in print (reissues) you might want to avoid 'Airwaves' as that is probably the weakest...