Political Crossfire Forums

[The Grandmaster]

The Newb wrote: 30 gigs of music and growing!

Now that is most impressive!

[slitedeviance]

The Newb wrote: 30 gigs of music and growing!

190 Gigs on an external hard drive.

Said quietly so people believe I have an actual life...

Here's my view.

I have about 5000 odd CD's in my collection, roughly split in the middle between larger bands and well known labels and small independant efforts. The usual price over here for an album by a large band is about £15.00, and when they tour ticket prices are upwards from £25.

Conversely, independant bands usually charge up to around £8.00 for an album, and I can generally see them in local venues for £6.00.

The money from the big album sales go to the record company not the band. When a band is signed they are placed on a retainer, which is their wage. It's not much, but it supports them while they tour, record etc. The record companies then generally split the profits from album sales roughly 50 / 50 with the bands, however, the profit from the bands side of the sales go towards paying for their "expenses" (advertising, management, A&R, bookings, the costs of touring) so most bands won't make any money unless they are either ancient (Chillis) or have a smash with their first album (The Killers), in which case they don't need my money anyway. I have no issue with downloading music from major labels or bands.

Independant bands are a different kettle of fish. Most indie labels are run by a couple of guys in a garage who have risked everything to start their own imprint. These guys do need my money. Most bands on indie labels will have to pay for most of their own stuff, be their own agents, producers and managers, and will not have retainers, instead making money from each record sale. These guys also do need my money.

Suprisingly though, it's the bands and artists on indie labels who encourage people to download music, and release free albums on their websites etc. They put the effort in, not for big bank accounts, but for their fans and the love of playing music. If an independant artist / band asks me not to download then I'm fine with that.