It Didn’t Work for 8-Track – Why We Should Stop Clinging to CDs and Embrace the Digital Market

Posted on 27. May, 2009 by refe in INNOVATION

eight track 300x199 | It Didnt Work for 8 Track Why We Should Stop Clinging to CDs and Embrace the Digital MarketIn a conversation yesterday an artist declared that she planned on fighting file-sharing by never allowing her next album to touch a computer. I asked her if she would also release her next music video exclusively on LaserDisc.

What is the first thing fans do with a CD once they purchase it? Upload it to their computer so that they can listen to it on their iPod. The only CD player most people own these days is the one in their computer anyway. File-sharing or no file-sharing, refusing to offer your music in the format that your fans want doesn’t make much sense, and is certainly not good business.

As an artist, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want people to share your music. Bands like Death Cab For Cutie got a huge boost through online file-sharing – that’s how their music ended up in the hands of the music supervisor who got them on the OC. Metallica (ironically enough) got a record deal because someone copied their demo tape and it ended up with an A&R guy. Death Cab sells more records than ever now because they embraced this, and Metallica…. doesn’t – because they fought it and sued their fans.

This is true from the fans perspective as well. I first heard Sufjan Stevens when a friend of mine burned me a copy of one of his CD’s. I have since purchased my own copy of that album (online) as well as several other albums in his catalogue. But I may never have been exposed to this artist if not for my friend’s CD burner.

This is also consistent with independent research which reveals that people who engage in illegal file-sharing also spend four and a half times more on legally purchased music than anyone else. That means that people who share files are the record industry’s biggest paying customers.

Giving away free downloads doesn’t mean you don’t also offer your album for sale. It means that you recognize the inherent promotional value of your recorded music and want to utilize your fans as a world-wide online ’street team’ to spread your music and your name across the globe. If these people are promoting you, reccomending you, raving about you AND spending 4 1/2 times more on your music than anyone else, why would you want them to stop?!

Taking a stand on principle is great – illegal file-sharing is illegal. Illegal = wrong. But if you don’t look any further and you are unwilling to see the larger market trends that are actually working significantly in your favor you will miss many opportunities to take advantage of the digital world to enhance your career and increase the base of people who enjoy your art.

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3 Responses to “It Didn’t Work for 8-Track – Why We Should Stop Clinging to CDs and Embrace the Digital Market”

  1. Peter Clitheroe

    27. May, 2009

    Although I broadly accept the conclusions, I’ve seen various versions of this report and each seems to miss the point that although file-sharers may buy lots more music than non-file-sharers, they may just be more voracious consumers of music. Many people in the survey who haven’t engaged in file sharing may not have been buying music at all, which would dilute the findings somewhat.
    I certainly agree that a band (or more likely manager/label) that sues the fans has seriously lost the plot!

  2. Nelson Wells @ Team Clermont

    27. May, 2009

    Refe,
    First off, good article, and while it only points out the generalities of the “debate”, if it is still one- can you believe it is?, it does a good job at getting directly to the point clearly.

    Second, I disagree with Peter’s comment, and in fact think his argument simply solidifies the opposite of what he tried to point out. Simply put, sharing or not, more “voracious consumers of music” are spending money on music. period. People who don’t buy music wouldn’t have bought music anyway, and yet now are sharing music with others, some of whom may be consumers of music and thus now know about a band on whom they may direct their dollars toward.

    Lastly, as a publicist in the music industry it is our job to spread the word about our talented client’s music. In other words, not only is file sharing not always illegal, but it is what our clients pay us for. They spend hard earned money making sure that we, as their publicists, are getting MP3’s posted to as many music blogs and online outlets as possible, that we get reviews in Pitchfork.com, Stereogum, EW.com, etc, and that we have their videos & MP3’s posted to these places as well.
    So, that being said, we also need to remember that there is file sharing, and
    there is illegal file sharing. That would be Death Cab For Cutie (a Team Clermont artist, by the way) versus Metallica. Two completely different beasts.

    thanks for the great articles and keep them coming. Yesterday’s post was strong as well. You can count on us to ReTweet: http://ow.ly/9rG9

    Nelson Wells @Clermont1

  3. Nelson Wells @ Team Clermont

    27. May, 2009

    You may also find us at the twitter link above
    or at http://www.twitter.com/teamClermont .

    Cheers, Nelson.