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50 Cent Is The Latest Artist To Understand The Economics Of Music
from the not-so-hard dept
More and more musicians seem to be recognizing what fans have been trying to tell them since Napster first came on the scene nearly a decade ago: it's not file sharing that hurts the music business, it's treating your fans badly that hurts the business. We've been seeing more and more musicians recognize this over the past few months, and the latest to join the pack is Curtis James Jackson III, better known as 50 Cent. In an interview, he noted that while file sharing may hurt record labels, it doesn't seem to hurt artists or any other part of the music business: "What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn't hurt the artists." He notes that shows are still packed and fans are fans no matter how they first hear the music. He says that the labels need to learn to adapt and embrace the technology while noting that the thing labels should be doing is making money on the scarce goods that are made valuable by the music: "The concerts are crowded and the industry must understand that they have to manage all the 360 degrees around an artist. They, (the industry), have to maximize their income from concerts and merchandise. It is the only way they can get their marketing money back." This isn't that surprising or new, and we've noted recently that hip hop stars seemed to implicitly realize this well before most of the rest of the industry. However, it is yet another big music industry name saying this. Yet, why is it that the RIAA is still out there insisting that suing fans is the right strategy? Why is it that the RIAA claims it's trying to protect the artists, and even getting new legislation moved forward, when the very artists it's trying to protect are arguing against those policies?
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Go Shorty!
The record labels have had many opportunities to adjust, and were practically handed the key to survival in the form of original Napster, but flubbed it miserably. Perhaps they will start to listen to people like 50 Cent, and at least salvage some of their hard-won name recognition.
Companies like Allofmp3.com have proven a very simple truth: If you make songs cheap enough that it's more convenient to pay for than to pirate, people will beat your door down handing you money.
Charging a flat rate for unlimited downloads or a very small fee per song = Winner.
Gouging the customers for all you can get for a CD, or making them pay a buck a song for DRM-protected content just makes people look for alternate ways to get what they want.
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RIAA claims
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Sad Times
Plenty of true musicians make money as a by-product of their art. The real shame is that people are not honest enough to go buy their music, or is it that the people who "share" certain types of music, realize it is crap, and is not worth purchasing because they won't even listen to it in a week anyway.
Proof that greed and stupidity abound in the record industry,
"50 Cent Is The Latest Artist To Understand The Economics Of Music".
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Re:
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The Record Industry isn't Changing..
Artists have long been living in a world where they are making no money off their studio works due to restricting label contracts.
One could argue that the original Napster (or current file sharing methods) may have been good for artists, but they are not good for record labels.
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It's not about manufacturing CDs.
If it wasn't for the marketing and development investment of record labels, no one would know who 50 Cent is.
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Re #1 Technomancer
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Does any one else think...
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Huh...
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Re:
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Re: Re:
That Shiny Toy Guns?
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Re:50-Cent
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Do you suppose he would have paid that back to the label if he had flopped (like most acts do)? I'm guessing he wouldn't.
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It's not about manufacturing CDs.
If it wasn't for the marketing and development investment of record labels, no one would know who 50 Cent is.
Maybe, maybe not. Can't say that for sure.
Oddly enough - some other artists seem to be well known without an 'Industry Group' backing them...
Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Beethoven.... need I continue?
People will seek out music - just because the 'industry' isn't shoving them down our throat doesn't mean a thing, lol.
The consumer doesn't need 'marketing' - large corporations who make their profits off the backs of artists because they can market junk - well, they need marketing. But again, if there was just a huge file sharing network with zero advertisements and marketing, I guarantee some artists will still become quite well known.
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Just like.. well.. Music had been for 700 years before we had a 'Music Industry'. History's clearly proven Music can succeed without the RIAA, no doubt about that.
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Funny...
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Re: Coward being Cowardly
Artists like SPM came up without any record label support whatsoever, in fact even Forbes wrote about it a few years back. SPM also pulled other artists that you now hear on the radio just about daily, like Baby Bash. That's just a couple examples of artists that made it without record labels. But of course, you rather live in the world of "what if" than "this is what really happened."
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Here's a model for record companies
Now go a couple of steps farther. Any time he appears in concert with some other opening act, provide links. Sell their music. Do what online retailers are doing and provide links to other stuff that 50 Cent's fans are also buying. Generate some buzz by putting up new live tracks regularly.
Fans aren't buying record companies. And musicians aren't playing for the record companies, they're playing for their fans. And yes, I do have friends who are musicians. I know it is a business. Record companies need to be about making money by making it easy for musicians to reach fans and for fans to hear the music they want to hear.
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Re: Does any one else think...
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Re: Re: Does any one else think...
50 has convictions for both heroin and crack distribution.
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Re: Re: Does any one else think...
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wait, 50 cent said this?
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wait, 50 cent said this?
are you sure it was 50 cent and not one of his handlers?
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Re: Re: Coward being Cowardly
Artists like SPM came up without any record label support whatsoever,
That's a myth. He signed a co-marketing deal with universal with a $500K advance.
Besides, isn't he in prison for child molestation for the next 40 years or so...
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You can make a nice little career without the labels. You're not goting to get mainstream without a significant investment in marketing.
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Mr. Cent v. Mr. Big Cent
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fans
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Re:
These guys were regional hits at best in their lifetime. Even now with more than 100 years to build their brands, their work is niche.
Besides that, it's just a specious argument.
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yo 50 cent
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Megaupload downloading
Find al the necessary information there!
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need some help
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good workdone
Good workdone
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