Thanks for the interview Lars. It is good to have you answer questions from the general population, so that we can get answers to our questions about the issue, not the media's ?s.
I currently am one of the heads of an independent jamband record label (Lauan Records). The jamband community has always been a huge supporter of tape trading (which is similar in many ways to people trading mp3s), in fact it is one of the fundamental ideas that jambands stand by to get their bands name out there (some popular jambands: Grateful Dead, Phish, Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, Dave Matthews Band, etc.). What many jambands learned a long time before the Internet was available to all, is that free distribution of music can/will pay off in the long run. There is a reason why Phish packed in over 100,000 fans for their new years celebration (which was by far the highest grossing show on 12/31/99 anywhere).
Everyone has to learn about a band before they can be fans of that band. Tape trading allows new fans to check out bands. It is It is very similar to swapping mp3s (or other formats) on the web, only it has been around a few decades longer. in fact, the web has allowed for quicker and more trades (see links at end of post for more info on this). This has resulted in a boom to the jamband scene.
So others know, the scene is not made of just the big names you know of (and that many people think of as "hippie dippie bands"). There are in fact hundreds of bands in the scene that range from a more classical jam style to jazz to funk to Latino, etc. There is no one style of jamband (Check out Jambase.com for dates of a jamband playing in your area).
What I am trying to say is what the jamband community has known for a long time, allowing your music to be traded free of charge to the public, can pay off in many other ways in the long run (more ticket sales, album sales, merchandise sales, etc.). We are in a new age, where record labels need to learn that a 35 minute CD for $16+ is no longer acceptable, and the fans have the power now to prove this. As it has been said many times before, labels are going to have to figure out new ways of doing business because the old model just doesn't cut it anymore. These labels have to come to a realization, stop fighting the inevitable, and change their models of business. We are in an age where the consumer has the upper hand, and many more companies are learning this the hard way.
If you are interested in seeing more of the jamband community and how it operates check out these sites (these are only a few of the thousands of sites on the web about/for tape trading, if you are seriously interested in more sites or information just follow the links from these pages):
etree.org - This is a community dedicated to freely trading tapes (only of bands that allow it) via shorten format (a non-lossy form of compression). Sugar Megs - a community that trades full shows in the mp3 format
You can order from Circuit City directly off their web page for pickup in the store later. so if you are worried that they are going to sell out in the time it will take you to drive there, (or you can't get off work for a couple of hours), order one from their page, and then pick it up at your convenience. Plus this way you don't have to wait for UPS to deliver it a week later.
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Thanks for the interview Lars. It is good to have you answer questions from the general population, so that we can get answers to our questions about the issue, not the media's ?s.
Everyone has to learn about a band before they can be fans of that band. Tape trading allows new fans to check out bands. It is It is very similar to swapping mp3s (or other formats) on the web, only it has been around a few decades longer. in fact, the web has allowed for quicker and more trades (see links at end of post for more info on this). This has resulted in a boom to the jamband scene.
So others know, the scene is not made of just the big names you know of (and that many people think of as "hippie dippie bands"). There are in fact hundreds of bands in the scene that range from a more classical jam style to jazz to funk to Latino, etc. There is no one style of jamband (Check out Jambase.com for dates of a jamband playing in your area).
What I am trying to say is what the jamband community has known for a long time, allowing your music to be traded free of charge to the public, can pay off in many other ways in the long run (more ticket sales, album sales, merchandise sales, etc.). We are in a new age, where record labels need to learn that a 35 minute CD for $16+ is no longer acceptable, and the fans have the power now to prove this. As it has been said many times before, labels are going to have to figure out new ways of doing business because the old model just doesn't cut it anymore. These labels have to come to a realization, stop fighting the inevitable, and change their models of business. We are in an age where the consumer has the upper hand, and many more companies are learning this the hard way.
If you are interested in seeing more of the jamband community and how it operates check out these sites (these are only a few of the thousands of sites on the web about/for tape trading, if you are seriously interested in more sites or information just follow the links from these pages):
etree.org - This is a community dedicated to freely trading tapes (only of bands that allow it) via shorten format (a non-lossy form of compression).
Sugar Megs - a community that trades full shows in the mp3 format
You can order from Circuit City directly off their web page for pickup in the store later. so if you are worried that they are going to sell out in the time it will take you to drive there, (or you can't get off work for a couple of hours), order one from their page, and then pick it up at your convenience. Plus this way you don't have to wait for UPS to deliver it a week later.