More fun with the music industry

[Rock Miyabi]

Well, this story just amuses me, so I figured we could discuss:

Prince CD Giveaway Angers Music Industry

I sorta knew about this, as Prince held 3 concerts in downtown Minneapolis on 7/7/07, giving away his new CD to everyone at each separate one. Well now, as even more self-promotion, it's being given away as a freebie with a newspaper in the UK. I know we get odd samples with the paper sometimes, be it cereal or fabric softener. Some game mags used to have demo-discs where you essentially got to try out games just for buying it or being a subscriber. It's not like the practice is something that out of the ordinary.

The anger from the industry just seems all out of whack to me. First off, it's the man's album. He created it. If he wants to give it away before it goes on sale, helping spread the word about the CD, why should he be seen as the one in the wrong? It's really a smart marketing tool. Plus he's getting even more talk in the news. But then the UK-base of the company pulls the plug on release sales just because some people can buy it with a paper if they please? And for these retailers to protest, when they still will no doubt be getting some sales once the album is released a couple days to a week later, why complain about it "hurting" them that much? Paper subscribers are a broad audience, and there's no guarantee most people plan to even keep the CD. Think these retailers that buy back albums won't be profitting?

So the moral of this story seems to be that expressing yourself without letting someone else make a profit off of you is evil. Thank you world, for making so much sense.
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[Miyabi on DA] [Ryuusei Pans all in one thread!](Last Updated on 4/6, TRIBE COMPLETE!)

[mi]

[Unknown Neo]

Yeah, that would bother me too. It's ok if he gives it out but with a paper? That'll anger most people.

[Nenji]

It's probably more that the music industry sees this kind of self promotion and distribution as a threat. Companies make their money from owning the license to distribute works and receive a part of the income from each sale, with the rest going to the artist (as long as he/she has protected their rights). If this form of self promotion catches on, the Internet can provide an efficient way of distributing your goods to the world. This would threaten many companies in their eyes, taking away from their profits. The fact remains though that it's harder to protect your own work if you distribute it yourself, but managed right it could be a successful model for those people who are too small to afford licensing fees or haven't been picked up, or those who are aiming towards a niche group of listeners.

Yeah, we did musical licensing and distribution in a subject last semester as part of my music degree. XD
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Previously known as "HiKaizer"

[NetOperator Wibby]

well, with all the pirating going on nowadays, i don't think it's such a big deal for Prince to just give away his CDs. besides, making appearances and having concerts are more profitable b/c of the money that's being lost by pirating.

[Zippo]

Does this kind of stupidity really surprise anyone anymore? I mean, this is the RIAA we're talking about here.
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[Poochy.EXE]

Well, actually, yeah, I'm kinda surprised, since they're showing a LOT more intelligence than usual with this.
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