Music Industry Getting The Wrong Message About Albums
from the better,-not-fewer dept
It’s no surprise that the music industry appears to be misunderstanding the data they’re seeing. They’ve discovered (finally!) that many consumers of music feel that the albums they buy contain way too much filler that they don’t want. It’s true. That’s part of the reason why people get so upset about spending $18 for an album where they only like one or two songs. Of course, the industry’s response is backwards. They’re now telling musicians to put fewer songs on their albums. Maybe someone should clue them in to the fact that if there are only one or two good songs on an album, and you put fewer songs on that album, there are still only going to be one or two good songs on that album. The issue is not that there are too many songs on each album, but that there are too many bad songs on an album. The proper response is not to put fewer songs on the CD, but to put better songs on the CD. Despite what the music industry thinks, I still get annoyed when I buy a CD and discover it only has 30 minutes of music. I want CDs that have more content – but maybe that’s because I buy CDs from musicians (almost all of whom are non-RIAA affiliated) who produce quality music.
Comments on “Music Industry Getting The Wrong Message About Albums”
Music quality
Mike,
This goes to the core of the whole industry. This means that instead of pushing the Britneys and Justins of the world and banking on them to sell billions, the industry has to scout for real talent and diverse sounds, spent less on each and give them to time to develop enough “quality content” to fill a CD. It’s a nice dream.
RIAA?
Who exactly is in RIAA?? I want to stop buying the albums that support them.
Re: RIAA?
The RIAA is the Recording Industry Association of America. Check out http://www.boycott-riaa.com to find out which albums, & musicians are members of this gestapo …
No Subject Given
Getting a little snobby here Mike. You only buy ‘quality’ music ? Maybe in your view, not others. And I doubt that being affliated with the RIAA has anything to do with whether a artist is putting out good or bad music. It’s typically more about what they’re contract calls for (established acts) or their agents demand (up and comers or flash in the pans).
Good is good, bad is bad. Where the next Beatles, Elvis, Clapton, Springsteen, etc are is anyone’s guess, including yours and the RIAA.
You are a very strong advocate of ‘anti’ RIAA music and music sharing or musicians publishing/distributing their own material. Do you have a website or link you’re willing to put up so the rest of us can sample these wonderful delights ?
Re: No Subject Given
http://www.archive.org/audio/etreelisting-browse.php?PHPSESSID=e213365c31edc1327a52de5c1fc1cc22
http://www.sharingthegroove.org
Re: No Subject Given
Try irate radio.
http://irate.sourceforge.net/
This downloads a variety of free MP3 tracks from the net, in all kinds of styles (not just rock or pop either – I got some good bluegrass). Gives you a good sampling of what’s out there.
No Subject Given
I’ve always found that “quality music” is a very subjective kind of notion. I mean, i’ve always hated Madonna’s stuff but then she’s sold millions of CD’s so someone out there really likes her stuff and thinks she put’s out “quality music.” Same for people who like Country or Rap which aren’t my cup of tea. So no matter how much music companies would want to put out good music, most of it is going to be garbage and then you’ll find a very nuggets of gold somewhere in that whole bunch. Actually, it’s pretty much a metaphore in life generally. You pretty much have to wade through all the detrius, before you can find anything of value.
The real reason
The real reason that the record industry is asking artists to reduce the number of songs on an album is to reduce costs. If the selling price goes down – which it is and will – then they would like to cut underlying costs. Two major costs are the publishing royalties paid on bad songs and the recording/production costs on those same songs.
The royalties are a real issue as they are paid on every CD minted, not just sold.
-Gene