I have raised some of these topics before in my journey
as a music fan for example, the role of superfans and YouTube and Google in the
future of music.
Superfans like Lyndahere or Lynda Elstad justify their distributing music
for free on YouTube and other sites by believing the musicians and artists will
get the money back through touring and selling merchandise. Of course touring
is in Lyndahere’s best interests. It is what Lyndahere lives for because she
gets to see and be with Alan Doyle.
The article raises some interesting comments about musicians
making a living from music. :yndahere is under impression because she doesn’t
need to make a living, the musicians and artists
she constantly bootlegs don't either. I agree totally with some of the comments in that as
consumers we should pay for what we consume including music. Lyndahere is
providing YouTube and Google with free content and the musicians and artists
are not being paid for it.
There is the never ending discussion about Google, YouTube and Spotify (which I don’t know enough about to comment on). People are under the impression they can watch music for free on YouTube and have unlimited downloads with Spotify. All of course are related to a consumer’s Internet Service Provider’s plan and download limits. The Internet is free only if we don’t pay for it ourselves but someone is ultimately paying for it.
The writer states
“This is business, not altruism, no matter how it gets spun. And, the
interests of Google and rights owners are diabolically opposed and will
continue to be so. Which also means that anything that is DMCA-compliant
is ultimately great for Google, and fantastically bad for content owners”.
There is a false perception because something on
YouTube doesn’t have a DMCA compliant notice is DMCA compliant.
Google and YouTube make it difficult for people to make complaints about breaches in copyright.
My understanding of YouTube contracts is people opening accounts need to have permission to load up material from the copyright holders. YouTube have passed on the obligation of enforcing copyright to the copyright holders even thought is their responsibility to check their customers have copyright permission from the copyright holders to upload content and to have processes in place for reporting breaches. They are not interested in the breaches of their own contracts. Copyright breaches can only be made and enforced by the copyright holders.
“The 13 Most Insidious, Pervasive Lies of the Modern Music Industry” by
Paul Resnikoff Digital Music News published 25 September 2013
Lie #1: Great music will naturally find its audience.
The Lie: The greatest
music and artists will eventually connect with their audiences, naturally,
thanks to a perfectly-lubricated, social, and borderless internet.
“Our kids are going to
watch exactly what they want to watch, not necessarily what’s marketed to
them,” then Topspin CEO Ian Rogers said as recently as 2010, while constantly
underscoring that “quality is hyperefficient.”
The Truth: Just like
the analog old days, most great music gets left behind and wallows in obscurity
if not substantially backed or otherwise supported financially. In fact,
the biggest songs on the planet are often those blasted the loudest on the
biggest platforms – and oftentimes, granted the most money from major labels
(ie, Katy Perry, Pitbull, Flo Rida, etc.)
Lie #2: Artists will thrive off of ‘Long Tail,’ niche content.
The Lie: The musical
landscape will increasingly be dominated by smaller and smaller artists, with
smaller (but stronger) audiences. And, they will all make more money
through direct fan relationships.
“Forget squeezing
millions from a few megahits at the top of the charts,” Chris Anderson famously
wrote in his ‘groundbreaking’ Wired article that started a misguided
revolution. ”The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche
markets at the shallow end of the bitstream.”
The Truth: Instead of
unleashing a torrent of successful niches, the internet has actually made
blockbusters bigger than before. All while starving artists down the
tail.
“So, while the tail is
very interesting, the vast majority of revenue remains in the head,” Google CEO
Eric Schmidt brutally revised just a few years later. ”And this is a
lesson that businesses have to learn. While you can have a Long Tail
strategy, you better have a head, because that’s where all the revenue is.”
Lie #3: The death of the major label will make it easier for artists to
succeed.
The Lie: No more major
labels to choke the supply! No one to hold the artist back!
The Truth: Sadly, the
avalanche of unfettered, unwashed content was never quite filtered by the music
fan. Instead, it was all mostly tuned out, except by a small number of
trusted curators. Which means, most artists are deluged in all that
stuff, and have a hard time gaining traction.
“We’ve had 10-11 years of American Idol, so you’ve had 100 or 110 top ten people, and you can count on your hand the number of careers that have sustained off of that,” Irving Azoff said late last year. ”So that just tells you that even with the massive exposure of network TV, how hard it is to make it in the music business.”
Lie #4: There will be a death of the major label.
The Lie: Major labels
will die out completely, while unleashing a utopia of contract-free, liberated
artists.
The Truth: Majors are
weakened but far from dead. But more importantly, they are still
controlling popular music and its consumption, and building and maintaining
artist careers. It’s the reason why Jay-Z is still signed with a major,
and why Macklemore did a deal with Warner Music Group.
It’s also the dirty
little secret behind Amanda Palmer’s current name brand (you’re welcome,
Roadrunner).
Lie #5: Digital formats will produce far greater revenues than physical.
The Lie: The absence
of major manufacturing overhead, shipping, and brick-n-mortar retailers will
drastically reduce costs and pave the way for greater revenues and income.
The Truth: Digital
sales volumes are not only lower, but an era of singles eviscerated marked-up,
album bundles. And the current era of ‘digital dimes’ means that
per-track, per-stream, or per-whatever payouts are far lower.
These days, artists
that can actually sell physical (like vinyl and CDs) make more money. The
same is true for nations: Japan is now the largest recorded music market in the
world, thanks largely to strong CD and physical sales (and even rentals).
The Lie: If artists
just give away their music for free, and let it be social and free-flowing,
they’ll make it up on the road.
The Truth: Fabulously
true for artists like Pretty Lights and plenty of EDM artists, but not most
other artists. In fact, most artists are struggling to survive on the
road, and even established names have been forced to can tours because the
money just doesn’t make sense (see Imogen Heap).
Lie #7: There’s an emerging middle class artist.
The Lie:
Internet-powered disintermediation will create a burgeoning ‘middle class’ of
artists. Not the limousine, Bono-style outrageous superstars, but good
musicians that can support families and pay their bills.
The Truth: There is no
musician middle class. Instead, the music industry has devolved into a
third world country, with a wide gulf between the rich and struggling/starving
poor.
And, those ambitious
middle-class artists that try to make ends meet by spending 350 days on the
road are probably not raising very good families.
Lie #8: Kickstarter can and will build careers.
The Lie: Superfans
will come out in droves to support their favorite artist projects, and power
their awesome careers.
The Truth: So far,
it’s happened for Amanda Palmer, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Murder by Death, and a
few other artists. Which is great for those artists, but most irrelevant
for the broader artist community.
Lie #9: Spotify is your friend.
The Lie: Streaming on
Spotify will make artists money, if they just wait long enough.
The Truth: Spotify
will make Spotify and Wall Street tons of money, if they’re really lucky.
And they’ve already made tons of money for major labels, not artists.
And even superfans
rarely stream enough to equal the nice, upfront, transparent royalty offered by
an iTunes Store download.
Lie #10: Google and YouTube are your friends.
The Lie: Google and
YouTube have anything but their own profit-maximization goals in mind.
The Truth: This is
business, not altruism, not matter how it gets spun. And, the interests
of Google and rights owners are diabolically opposed and will continue to be
so. Which also means that anything that is DMCA-compliant is ultimately
great for Google, and fantastically bad for content owners.
So if you want
exposure, go to YouTube. If you want a paycheck, find it somewhere else.
Lie #11: If Pandora could just lower royalties, they could then
survive, and really help all the artists out there.
The Lie: Sadly, Tim
Westergren’s bubble is making him one of the biggest boogeymen of the
modern-day music industry. In an impassioned (but largely deceiving)
letter to artists, Westergren asked artists to sign a Congressional petition
asking for lower royalty rates for internet radio.
The Truth: What
Westergren forgot to mention was that by signing the petition, artists were
also supporting their own rate cut, which led to high-profile protests from
groups like Pink Floyd. Meanwhile, Westergren – whose Pandora cashouts
now surpass $1 million a month – has devoted endless amounts of time towards
both publishing and recording royalties in the courts and Capitol Hill.
Lie #12: T-Shirts!
The Lie: Not only is
the money in touring, but artists will make a killing off of merch table sales
and t-shirts.
The Truth: Very, very
few artists are (a) supporting themselves through touring, and (b) if they are,
making tons of money from merch. Sadly, the greatest merch tables sales
came from CDs — that is, up until the early 2000s or so. It supported
tours then, it doesn’t support anything now.
The Lie: Access will
trump everything, and lead to a better, richer music industry for everyone.
The Truth: Let’s see
what this green pasture ultimately looks like. Spotify is hundreds of
millions deep in financing without a profit; Rhapsody is laying people off;
YouTube has been subsidizing free music access for years.
So here’s your future:
YouTube, which has driven the price of recorded music most aggressively towards
$0, will be around tomorrow. Spotify, Rhapsody, Deezer, Rdio, and Pandora
may not be so lucky.
