hes tired of reading stuff about how the industry is dying apparently...
http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2125278,00.html
http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2125278,00.html
XL records boss says " times have never been better for music"
- Thread starter gumdrops
- Start date
Fair enough.
In between posts I just spent the afternoon totting up iTunes & Bleep mp3 sales for my label.
We're not getting rich but at least people are buying music and the labels don't have to lose money pressing up vinyl and CDs.
I will miss vinyl when it finally goes but I am feeling optimistic about carrying on...
In between posts I just spent the afternoon totting up iTunes & Bleep mp3 sales for my label.
We're not getting rich but at least people are buying music and the labels don't have to lose money pressing up vinyl and CDs.
I will miss vinyl when it finally goes but I am feeling optimistic about carrying on...
most of his quotes though are along the lines of 'things could be different... the labels could do it another way, but theyre not'. so its not like hes really convincing that things are better than ever or in rude health. what good is it if labels COULD do things differently but arent?
noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
I think he's saying that what really matters is that there is (as always) good music being made. Labels just need to have faith in themselves and in supporting interesting artists. And also in the audiences - it's true what he says about the Prodigy - many people are genuinely up for good music. Don't patronise them and they will go with you.
I suppose he also recognises that all the reports of the music industry's death are in danger of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.
Don't know if agree with all that but I prefer the optimistic tone.
I suppose he also recognises that all the reports of the music industry's death are in danger of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.
Don't know if agree with all that but I prefer the optimistic tone.
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UFO over easy
online mahjong
the point is that he's doing things differently and doing well, and that the people saying things are going to fuck are divorced from their audience and have no idea what they're talking about. so even if the music industry is doing badly at the moment, the problem isn't that people are stealing all their music from the internet, it's more that the labels aren't doing enough to accommodate their audience.
Sometimes I think gloom is good still. You need the darkness along with the other side. Balance is the key. I find that I am more motivated sometimes when I'm down and depressed though. Or at least the good feeling is better starting from that state. Fun is something that needs to be a bit more to the forefront at the moment. Everyone knows what is going on now. The seriousness shouldn't be so prominant. I want to escape all that. Get me etc..
I have. I spent about 2-3 years unable to motivate myself to hold down a job and sat inside and didn't go out.
this article just seems to be saying music is exciting, the bloke from xl likes music and respects the fans and artists he deals with, which is good. he's on the level where he can communicate with fans of his artists, which is good, and he's kind of right, and from his enthusiasm and good taste he stands to benefit where other labels and majors are failing, even though the whole myspace as revelation steez seems a bit strange!
There is music industry and music industry and this is an example of the good bits. I think one of the most grotesque and dissonant public-music industry errors in music lately is when you turn on a kids telly programme and they're talking about an artists chart performance, deals and corporate tie-ins, and boasting about the ridiculous amount an artist like robbie williams gets signed for etc, sure 'angels' is nice but ppl aren't going to support an industry that does this sort of thing by buying his records, they like robbie, but he's got 80 million, why give him more, ppl do see an exchange of money for goods at the end of the day, they're not stupid. Or boasting about how much a video costs to make, when you can get music for free, this isn't the way things should be at all, all this crap needs some humbling.
There is music industry and music industry and this is an example of the good bits. I think one of the most grotesque and dissonant public-music industry errors in music lately is when you turn on a kids telly programme and they're talking about an artists chart performance, deals and corporate tie-ins, and boasting about the ridiculous amount an artist like robbie williams gets signed for etc, sure 'angels' is nice but ppl aren't going to support an industry that does this sort of thing by buying his records, they like robbie, but he's got 80 million, why give him more, ppl do see an exchange of money for goods at the end of the day, they're not stupid. Or boasting about how much a video costs to make, when you can get music for free, this isn't the way things should be at all, all this crap needs some humbling.
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Dunno it was weird. Discovered the internet and found I could occupy myself on that. I think it was heartbreak which seems to be the worst pain in the world for me.
Martin Dust
Techno Zen Master
you should go to any hip hop message board and see how people are so obsessed with sales figures and not only that but FIRST week sales... even for artists like pharoahe monch, who never sell anything (and true to form, didnt, on his new album either). im not sure ive really seen it being talked about that much by fans in other genres but a lot of rappers are always bringing up sales so its no wonder the fans are fixated by it too. as far as that robbie williams thing though, hasnt that been the way the broader mainstream press has always discussed music? i remember seeing news reports about michael jackson as a kid and the fact thriller had sold so many millions was always brought up or when mariah carey or janet jackson or whoever signed a zillion-dollar deal it would always be in the papers.
This ought to go in the Live Earth thread but that's too long now...
The day after that Live Earth concert there was an article in the paper saying
"music sales soar after live earth concert"
artists who featured in the live earth concert saw their CD and mp3 sales increase by 420% or something.
There was no mention in the article about the aims of the concert or the environment or anything.
Of course the artists were only doing it for the planet.
The day after that Live Earth concert there was an article in the paper saying
"music sales soar after live earth concert"
artists who featured in the live earth concert saw their CD and mp3 sales increase by 420% or something.
There was no mention in the article about the aims of the concert or the environment or anything.
Of course the artists were only doing it for the planet.
soul_pill
Well-known member
As a label boss (of 9 years) I tend to agree with Russell for the most part. On the whole my label is pretty successful and one of the best performing via our distributor. I am pretty happy with what i'm hearing and regularly excited by new sounds. Myspace is a great way of finding new music without trwling thru loads of cdrs... It's obvious that the perceived value of music has declined with mp3s, p2p and free downloads and that has definitely effected sales. In '98 we were regularly selling 10,000 albums and an unkown artist's new album could sell 1500-3000. Now we struggle to sell 250-500 copies of a new artist, and established ones struggle to sell 1500-2000. But what that means is you have to find alternative income streams and re-assess what value a record label has these days, as a filter? management? live agent? Becasue it's clear that physical product (certainly cds) will dissappear within a few years. Also uncertain whether vinyl will continue - i hope it does, we are producing more these days... but it is SO expensive to manufacture... and the profit margins are very slim...
Logan Sama
BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
That is becaus the audience is ignorant of how music works as a business and just go by what they are fed. And people get fed first week sales numbers. So when someone does less than stellar first week numbers they are widely viewed as a flop. It's ridiculous. It was the same with Wiley and Dizzee. Dizzee's label spent FORTUNES on his promotion and he pulled in 9 and a half thou first week. Wiley did something like 1100 on Big Dada by comparison and everyone was saying how he flopped again. In fact Wiley over performed based on the labels projected figures.
It is this obsession with chart placings, daytime radio play and first week sales which is fucking up the music industry. And the fact that the audience are being force fed these same standards of success does not help. It can seriously fuck up an artist's development.
agreed. the audience has absorbed the obsession with 'the bottom line'. people cant judge records just as *records* without needing to look like a music week reading expert insider who knows THE INDUSTRY. everyone wants to show they know exactly what the industry is about but its almost ruined music appreciation so you get idiots just rushing to download music and be the first to post about it after ONE listen (which is a terrible way to judge music). i remember charlie dark once saying that the last ten years have been great for urban music cos its been the first time the artists have really been getting paid (although thats arguable - its only a few who have been) but the cost of that is that everyone has ingested the business/industry and all its (assumed) myriad workings so people dont think like normal fans or artists anymore (maybe they always did, but not like it is today), they think corporately.
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