Times are tough...

[InFecTeD_gOa]

I noticed that many Goa labels were in financial difficulty and try to overcome this obstacle, asking to artists free tracks.

Other labels are not particularily affected by the crisis benefits of this system.

But, one thing is sure, CD didn't sell!! Label print less CD. People are looking for free:

- free legal releases (netlabel)

- hacking

 

There are many many artists and labels are spoiled for choice.

A dilemma:

- give our tracks to be published

or

- keep our tracks and let it rot in our hard drive.

 

This does not affect all artists.

 

 

How was it before?

[Mergi]

How do you consume?

 

Probably that's a better question, no? The only way to consume in the 80s and early 90s was to walk into a physical store and actually buy something with physical money.

 

But now we want free art (music, paintings, experiences), and when we really want it we become involved and donate.

 

 

I would love to just abolish the economic factor when it comes to art and freedom (sorry for being exceptionally broad in the Goa forum) mainly because money and capitalism generates a most harmful environment for such a humane endeavour.

 

 

http://www.discogs.com/Dimension-5-TransStellar/release/4294284

 

This one I want to buy! But how? I don't do PayPal, never ever!

 

 

Master 'noebis please hellp!

 

 

That it has all boiled down to precuring records from a _specific_ person is to me totally out of this world.

 

I did not have a clue it would all end up at this point. I always thought things would be distributed either physically or online.

 

Of course I have no problem adapting, as long as it doesn't fuck me literally in the ass... like PayPal, or like eBay or like amazon or like any other middlehand geezers.

 

I like doing my business with people I know I can trust.

 

<posts merged by RTP -- comment: Mergi, please try to edit instead of making new posts, especially when it's, like, 5 in a row...>

[Anoebis]

well, funny that you mention this... Actually I was working on a very authistic thing this weekend... I took all sales from Suntrip... Arabesque and since 2008 Suntrip shop, Bandcamp, Recordunion & discogs and I am looking if sales really went down, or the CDs were simply replaced by digital media... One thing is sure, cds sell less and less, but they are not dead (yet)

I hope to present the final result tonight or tomorrow, now I want to put all in graphics to show how the crisis evolute last few years... and some of the results are surprising! One thing is sure, if you want to release a release, and you want some decent feedback/spread... you need a serious business plan...

[InFecTeD_gOa]

@Mergi: I entered your point seen as a consumer.

 

@Aneobis: I look forward to your graph result

Personnally I hate buying digital sound. The music is already abstract, invisible, elusive. I need to materialize sound on a CD, to tell me that it exists and that I can grasp with my fingers.

There is a change in behaviour of listening, and I think we must adapt unfortunately. But concerning remuneration?

 

Nowadays, some newcomers artists can't expect on his releases to earn money (it's a consideration that can honor the work of the artist).

An example: AJNA finished his album but most labels he applied didn't offer him 0 euro or peanuts or several CD.

 

Suntrip Records is one of those rare labels paying artists. (full respect guys)

[Purple Sunray]

hmm.. not really an artist actually releasing stuff... but I can undestand why some don't give it for free.

Free is for promo, but than I rather give it to any netlable for free, they for sure have more downloads than you sell CDs. If you sell the CDs the artists probably just want to get their share... as throwing out their tracks for free to get listeners, is way more effective online, they don't need you for that

[Richpa]

It's nonsense to say earning money in Goa trance scene via music sales, especially for new artists. I'm happy to see that some of the artists (even a newcomers) who published their work for free on Neogoa, nowdays are getting booked and being small part of festivals and parties and that's something that personally makes me happy and I know that's a way to earn decent cash + you're getting exposed to public - live. Their hard work has been payed in best possible way and that exposure is a priceless thing. If someone wants so badly to release music on CD, why not go with DIY, if you invest so much time and money (I assume you're buying music-equipment, software, etc) it won't be a problem to invest for let's say (limited print of CD's) there is a lot of services around who can do that and I'm sure many fellow Psynews members can give some advices.

As a person who doesn't collect CD's I prefer more to buy digitals or to donate directly to artist, which will be 100% supported.

P.S. - If music sucks, logical thing you won't get it released on netlabel aswell, it's not like we're not spending money for our releases and promotion of them.

[Shpongled247]

I think both routes have their place and am grateful both places like Suntrip, releasing high quality stuff on CD for those who want it, and also to NeoGoa, giving up and coming producers or those who don't wish to yet release on CD some great promotion and legs to stand on. Of course releasing some extremely high quality stuff too!

 

Really really solid work these guys are doing for keeping the goa scene alive, I think we are quite lucky to have them!

 

As for CD sales... I can't really comment as the past few years all my purchases went to digital downloads mostly, due to losing too many cds when moving house numerous times, shit getting scratched and just the hassle of them for me and now travelling overseas. Still though, I like to have physical copies of all my favourite artists, perhaps one day when i have bought a house and wont be losing them anymore i can re start the collection. I only hope Suntrip etc are still selling cds by then! Hopefully the digital download money goes someway towards supporting that future.

[Imba]

Just share your music anyway. Give it for free if you can't release it on CD. Put it digital and sell yourself...

 

Artist is not artist if he keeps his art for himself just because he can't get money or fame or something... let's people decide are you good or bad. Who knows, maybe some of us have masterpieces never shared that one day can be classic tracks.

 

I want have tracks on CD but because memory, that one day when i hold it i can remember times how it was like back then. But i don't mind release it for free as most of my music is free. And i will always releasing it for free if there is no other options.

 

 

I am making music for my soul but it lose worth if i don't share with people.

 

 

Remember, every man who started goa trance (specially in last few years) he started with love and goal to support this small scene that we all love. Support is giving fresh music to the people anyway you could. Playing on events even if you know you won't get payed but you could make some people happy.

 

That is my opinion

[InFecTeD_gOa]

@Richpa & Shpongle247

I was not talking about netlabels. Artists are free to give their releases. Fortunately they are there of course. It allows to discover new talented newcomers. But I was talking about labels that have a financial activities as Suntrip, Dimensional records.... (examples)

The CD does not sell, and artists are constrained to give their tracks. (for some labels)

[Richpa]

@Richpa & Shpongle247

I was not talking about netlabels. Artists are free to give their releases. Fortunately they are there of course. It allows to discover new talented newcomers. But I was talking about labels that have a financial activities as Suntrip, Dimensional records.... (examples)

The CD does not sell, and artists are constrained to give their tracks. (for some labels)

So you're claiming that netlabels got no financial activites? Funny thing, because I can tell you that (personally) I spent decent amount of money paying the stuff (even for your tracks released on Neogoa, remember?) during the last three years, perhaps enough to release some of my own compilations on CD, but still i'm not complaining because not a single fancy CD or sale (in my book) can be matched with the feedback, support and reviews that Neogoa's work, efforts and releases gets.

 

Second thing, if you're thinking that main goal of netlabel is to discover artist (do whole hard work / job for someone else) and let them go just like that, you're wrong, speaking from a Neogoa perspective, we got more than decent artist rooster and releases schedule confirmed not only for the end of 2013, but for the first half of 2014 and that's something that i'm personally proud of - a simple proof of professionalism, commitment and loyalty. Speaking from my side, I'm always happy to see artists from Neogoa doing awesome job on other labels, even on the commercial ones, because this scene needs strong bonds between artists, labels and promotors, that is the only right way to grow, and one of the reasons why Neogoa gives free access to our fb promotional page to other labels who are doing great job and are interested in promotion of goa trance music and culture (Suntrip, Dimensional, Sita, Zion604, Anjuna, Goa Madness, Cronomi, UAF, Timewarp).

 

Now to explain our commercial little brother - Graviton. Yes, Graviton's music isn't released for free and that's why I decided to try to present different breed of goa music in different form. It was founded in December 2011 and since than I released only 3 (three) releases [Mechanical Lifeform, Transuniverse Express and Inverted Evolution) and you wanna know how many sales we got for all of our catalogue?

 

 

Now I'll tell you terms that we got with releases on Graviton, artist gets: mastering, promotion, professional artwork and 65% of sales payed. Do you think I even covered mastering expenses with this income in last (almost) 2 years?

 

Bottom line, i'm not going around the interweb or Psynews complaining, even i'm constantly loosing money and gonna loose even more in 2014. Even Graviton's income can't hold the Neogoa release schedule or it's own, even I would be happiest man on earth if I can pay money for each track released so far, but hell, the essence of this scene is to support something, artists who decide to give their work for free (but let's be careful here, not to anybody, but to someone who will treat it with professionalism and respect) are supporting the scene, labels and netlabels who are publishing the music are also supporting this and in the end people/fans/followers who are downloading, buying, doing reviews and dancing while listening to it.

 

Sorry for lenghty but honest post, I had need to tell this.

[Veracohr]

I'm old, and I've stuck with CD's and don't see myself ever going an all-digital route (side note: it irks me to differentiate "CD" and "digital", since CD's are in fact digital! But you know what I mean). Also, my prediction for the future is that, not counting the Biebers and Gagas of the music world, no one will be able to make a living just playing live/DJ'ing and making albums. It's pretty much that way already, even more so in the electronic world.

 

But I also think that there will remain, as now, a small industry for commercial CD releases that aren't mega-superstars. Because some people, like me, just prefer having a physical thing. And in those genre-specific industries, a balance will naturally develop between what an artist expects as compensation and what the label can reasonably offer. In obscure genres like (the less-mainstream types of) psytrance, artists expecting big bucks from album sales will be in for a rude awakening, as well as label owners thinking they can make their living off the label. That's been the case for a while now, in fact, but I think there are still some of those people out there, and I think eventually they'll fade out of the scene or change their attitudes.

 

So to say "times are tough" really just says that a particular model of the artistic-economic structure of the music industry is declining. This doesn't mean people will stop making music, or that people will stop trying to make money in the music industry, it just means the model will change. And anyone unwilling to change with it will get left behind.

[Purple Sunray]

So to say "times are tough" really just says that a particular model of the artistic-economic structure of the music industry is declining. This doesn't mean people will stop making music, or that people will stop trying to make money in the music industry, it just means the model will change. And anyone unwilling to change with it will get left behind.

 

+1

 

Yeah.. it's bad for all who want to make money/their living out of that stuff.. but IHMO it's good for the music. The tracks I love most aren't any professional-productions released on a big label.. but some underground guys spending months, if not years to perfect that 7 minutes of music, not caring at all about any release schedules, labels or what price they can put for it on beatport.

[mars]

Hey, I agree with most of you. Now my thoughts.

 

Foreword:

I disagree with Somnesia on the fact people are looking for free stuff. Piracy is still big and some Netlabels offer decent quality and the models put in place by some major actors such as iTunes, Google Play or Amazon mp3 made it possible for people to only "consume" what they want. We have regularly payments of 1,50€ or less through digital streams. The world has changed.

 

@Richpa: excellent posts.

 

The state of the business from my pov:

For those artists who are 30+ (incl Somnesia I guess), the CD is still the way to go. They see it as a "physical" reward for their work (just paraphrasing Somnesia or Ajna) and it's understandable. As far as Suntrip is concerned, our CD sales have plummetted (we sell 10 times slower than 10 years ago) but are still good enough to allow us to release and "satisfy" some artists. That means we also have to be increasingly selective with quality.

 

Now consider: for the broad people who are 30+, the CD is still a great and secure way of owning the music and rewarding the artist. But younger people just go on iTunes or Google Play and consume whatever they want, track per track if they want, and it's fair enough for them that their "property" remains in the cloud, that is, accessible from any device, anytime. Piracy exists, a lot, but people want less and less to crawl on TPB, they want facility. The digital way is the future of music consumption and let's face it, the CD will eventually die.

 

As I've seen Anoebis spreadsheet I can state that digital sales have greatly helped us staying afloat and "compensate" for a part of the CD sales losses, but are kind of deceiving to some aspects. For example, the revenue per track is down, because, and it's crazy when you think about it, labels earn less with digital sales than they do with physical sales whereas everything is dematerialized !!!!! The music industry (and some companies such as Apple imo) have made it happen in very subtile ways. Not mentioning Spotify and Deezer whose model just kill the revenue per track.

 

Consider one last thing: there were roughly 200 Psytrance releases (Vinyls + CDs) per year at the end of the nineties. In 2013 we'll probably be close to 2000, most of them being digital EPs !!!!

 

All this makes the situation really difficult for labels (and artists): how to get known in that ocean of releases, how to maintain revenue, how to satisfy artists?

 

Back to the point:

This is not only with Psytrance, I think, ever since the beginning of the music industry, EVERY artist had to make "efforts" to get released in the first place. Efforts meaning giving tracks for free or very little, or only accepting copies of the record as a payment. I think this was also the case at the time of the Dragonfly/Flying Rhino/Blue Room era.

And as soon an the artist gets known (mostly after a first album, and through playing live), he can more easily ask for a least a hundred euros/track.

The perfect example: After the relative success of the Indoor album in 95, The Tandu album was released by Phonokol at the end of 97 and the Oforia album by Dragonfly at the beginning of 98, then the Pigs in Space album by fall 98 again on Phonokol !?! I guess Oforia could basically auction his tracks when he was at the top! But it took 3 years, lots of performances and of course excellent music.

 

More precisely, I see a clear relationship between the fact an artist gets paid for his music vs. how he is known vs. how much he plays live. We've seen it with some of our most famous artists: first a few tracks sold for cheap, a few deceiving gigs in the alternative room, for free too, then a first album paid quite cheap, then some public recognition, more lives where they could get a few hundreds, then more fame, a second album sold for a decent amount, etc...till that artist gets to play in festivals and can basically ask as much money as every "established" artist seen regularly in festivals... IT TAKES TIME, PATIENCE, SACRIFICE. Every artist went through that. In every genre. Likewise in the company you're working for: you have to make a reputation (build EXPOSURE as RIchpa says) to evolve in the system. And it takes TIME, SWEAT & BLOOD. So if it's what it takes to start the "pump", YES GIVE YOUR TRACKS FOR FREE...in the beginnning.

 

How much can an established label give for a debut album ?

At Suntrip we also don't give much money to starters, but we try to be fair and give at least some symbolic fee (<100€) + some copies. 0€ tracks are ONLY when the artist wants to (as for some, being on a CD is rewarding enough). Known artists get 100, 200, or more per track. That makes a budget of ~1200€ of fees for a compilation. But this is already a huge risk! Look at the math (sorry Jos, I'm copy/pasting you with figures reviewed):

 

Nowadays, in the first year, you can expect to sell 270 copies digital + CD-wise for an average record (Filteria, D5, E-Mantra, Khetzal and RA being the only non-average). As a comparison, ten years ago it was 300+ copies in the first month, yet we were unknown. But now there is an ocean of releases as explained before.

The income per copy is around 6,5€. Income per release on the first year: 1800€.

• CD press/print (1000 copies): 900€,
• Shipping: 70€,
• Artwork: 200€,
• Mastering: 300€
• + change rates,
• + we need to pay an accountant,
• + all kind of taxes (even one because the company is 15m²)

Assuming we don't pay ourselves, what remains for the artist fee is ZERO EURO. Sad but true. And I swear we're making a lot of efforts to decrease costs in any way (btw pressing 500 copies costs almost as much as 1000, that's why we're pressing 1000).

That means that, if we give an artist, say, 1000€ for his album or spend 1200€ on a compilation's fees, we have to expect to keep on selling 150-180 extra copies over the following years, that is, close to 500 copies in total, just to break even!!! Can you imagine we're putting Suntrip at risk at EVERY release?

So, some labels choose to "bet" on some artists. Sometimes they are proven right, sometimes wrong... Some labels don't care about the money because the owner is rich. And most other labels don't take risks in an already very versatile and unstable market. Simply that, explains why most labels only propose "new" artists to press only 300-500 copies and NOT pay them except with copies. It's terrible, implacable, but that's the way it is as of today...

Now how can an artist make money today?

Exactly as all artists have always: Gigs.

Who said albums brought money? To the Beatles stakeholders, yeah sure. In the Psytrance world, forget about it. Gigs do bring much more money than releases, even with pop artists. As I explained before, there will have to be sacrifices first, and then, if the music is good, the recognition will come.

The receipe imo is: an artist with banging music, charisma, who's visible (online, with relations) who is available/doesn't miss opportunities, who's not afraid to travel the whole week-end and be smashed just to get a ridiculous fee at first, and yet who's strong enough not to be ripped off by promoters (eg the transportation and food should be paid by the promoter, always), and above all, who is patient. Being multipurpose (DJ too or alternative chill project) is an extra asset. Of course this is not only on the artist, the label should help getting bookings too.

[johnb820]

I just wanted to add a couple reasons why someone should continue to buy CDs. First, taking good care of them, they will last a very long time. I can't tell you how many digital files I have lost over the years from hard drive crashes, dead music players, etc. Second, CDs can be resold. Just look at the price of goa trance CDs from the 90s or Shpongle albums. Their price goes up but even if it doesn't, even if you sell it at 50% off that's still better than nothing. You get the nice beautiful artwork and the satisfaction of holding and seeing something physical. I personally wouldn't have it any other way.

 

But business is business unfortunately. Somnesia is right. Youth unemployment is a major problem all across developed countries. In Spain nearly half of all young people are unemployed. In Canada and the United States and Britain nearly a quarter of all young people are unemployed. I would assume that most people interested in psytrance are probably young people. I could not blame them for pirating music if they have no job, or just as bad a job that pays very little where their priorities go to rent and food.

[Padmapani]

thanks for the info richpa and mars. i knew the financial situation was bad for the labels, but didn't realize it was that bad.

 

looks like the whole of psynews should meet up and rob a bank, so that we can finance our addiction to great music

[Rotwang]

thanks for the info richpa and mars. i knew the financial situation was bad for the labels, but didn't realize it was that bad.

+1

 

As one of the 30-somethings who's still attached to physical media whom mars mentions, I'm very grateful that there are people like mars and Anoebis who are still putting the money and effort into releasing CDs.

[Dolmot]

First, taking good care of them, they will last a very long time. I can't tell you how many digital files I have lost over the years from hard drive crashes, dead music players, etc.

 

Yep. While in practice I rip and play flacs, the automatic hard backup is nice to have.

 

Second, CDs can be resold. Just look at the price of goa trance CDs from the 90s or Shpongle albums. Their price goes up but even if it doesn't, even if you sell it at 50% off that's still better than nothing.

 

Definitely this. This year I finally de-thumbed my arse and entered my CD collection on Discogs. What I found out was that using the mean prices (you know, what actually gets paid) and listing absolutely everything (including the Scooter singles I got for a penny and they've lost value since) the average value of my CDs is about 10e. It's entirely possible that the whole collection is now worth more than I've paid for it.

 

Had I bought the same stuff as files, its value would be an empathic "you're screwed, sorry".

 

How come is it even possible that in the digital world where physical production and shipping costs are eliminated, the price of albums still remains pretty much the same while labels, artists and buyers are getting a worse deal? There's something deeply wrong in this picture.

 

 

Regarding the new business models for artists, I'm a bit cynical about it all. On one major forum I repeatedly read how releases "should" be for promotion only and thus free, while the artists "should" play gigs to earn their money. It may sound plausible in genres where an integral part of the act is to bounce around with electric guitars. However, I'm specifically enjoying music which is outlandish and often outright impossible to perform live. What options remain? Basically, DJing your own stuff, which often stands for just pushing the play button. I'm not blaming the artists for being boring like that. In my opininon it's still perfectly fine to be a good producer while not particularly flashy or skilled as a DJ. Why do we want to see the producer anyway? Couldn't people, you know, dance instead of watching the guy behind a laptop? Or close their eyes and chill out while who-ever pushes play. I don't need an ambient artist there to pretend that he's playing the same chord for five minutes.

 

To me the argument about "earning from gigs" sounds like a cheap justification for downloading wares for free. Downloading is damn easy and saves you money, simple as that. However, some feel bad about it first so an excuse is needed. After making up one, everything is neat again. Music is downloaded for free while artists are expected to do "something incredibly innovative, no hints given" instead of getting compensated for...making music. If there only was a way to magically turn invisible and frequent gigs without paying (or anyone noticing), the same people would probably claim that gigs are "for promotion only" and artists should earn from selling t-shirts.

 

I prefer paying to producers for their music, not for standing behind a laptop in a tent - especially when 99.9% of world's gigs take place in locations I'm never going to visit. And I bet a vast majority of people who claim that music should be "free / for promotion only" hardly ever see a live gig either. Meanwhile, recorded music is playing every day.

 

Finally, returning to formats, maybe CD isn't forever but surely the digital side could at least try to offer a better deal. I prefer "pay 10e, get a 10e item" over "pay 10e, get nothing persistent" any day. Heck, it took the industry about ten years to start offering lossless and non-DRMd audio, something we had with CDs in 1982. By the time major stores cease asking extra rip-off prices for lossless (bandwidth costs about 2c per lossless album, BTW) , we've finally reached the technological level of 30 years ago, only without the physical stability or value. Yay.

 

Sometimes I just have to vent. Thank-you and good night.

[InFecTeD_gOa]

It's very interresting to read your answers (all) including that Veracohr: Indeed I think the behaviour change and I understand your reasoning.

I think Imba's reply summarizes all : "artist is not artist if he keeps his art for himself just because he can't get money or fame or something."

 

@Richpa: You know, any time I criticized the netlabels. I'm wondering (without animosity, without vehemence) about the health of some labels. It isn't a proceedings, my friend but just a note can be philosophical:

Give his music to be published or keep it and stay in the shade.

 

I saw that you took to heart about it, but once again I'm not aiming for you. If artists give their music, the question doesn't arise. I was talking about those who try to sell it. It is a reflection that some artists live. That's all.

 

(even for your tracks released on Neogoa, remember?)

Yes, I know and it made me happy, btw I have others tracks if you want

 

Peace

[Richpa]

Yes, I know and it made me happy, btw I have others tracks if you want

We will speak soon! It's always a pleasure to have you on the board

[Rotwang]

Finally, returning to formats, maybe CD isn't forever but surely the digital side could at least try to offer a better deal. I prefer "pay 10e, get a 10e item" over "pay 10e, get nothing persistent" any day.

The persistence argument doesn't apply as much as it used to, though, since these days the major online shops like iTunes and Amazon keep a permanent record of your purchases and allow you to redownload anything you've paid for. I guess it's possible that one of those services will go out of business in our lifetimes but I reckon that's less likely to happen than me losing my CD collection to fire/robbery/etc.

[Purple Sunray]

Think I bought my last CD 10 years back, if not more.. maybe that's the reason why I don't understand this persistency-discussion at all. What stops you from burning your digital purchase onto a CD if you'r concerned about that it gets lost on your hard-drive? Or uploading it to a couple of online services, which usually don't lose it if it is on the server once.

(DRM protected files are excluded ofc - I wouldn't buy that constrained sh*t anyhow).

[laik]

CD-s will come to the point (or have already come) on which the vinyl is right know. sales can go downward but must stop going so when they reach the critical mass (people who like material feel)

critical mass keeps the thing alive. like with music formats same thing will happen to books. most people will embrace readers like kindle but on the other hand the critical mass will keep analogue thing alive.

 

 

my habits as a consumer: i sometimes buy vinyl, never cd's and mostly get my music in digital. but if i'm interested in an album/ep first i'll check discogs and if it's only released in digital i usually won't check the samples and i'll move on.

 

so for me analogue format is like a filter for good music. i know that there many bad releases on cd/vinyl aswell but still if there is something really good it will eventually have it's own analogue version

[Dolmot]

Losing the files isn't a problem at all. The internet is your backup. Everything is available somewhere anyway. Especially if you're buying bit-perfect lossless, the replacement audio should be identical to your bought copy. While downloading an unofficial file to replace a lost one may be technically illegal, who's going to know, notice or care?

 

And that's the whole point. Currently there's absolutely no reliable way to differentiate bought, ripped or illegally downloaded files. Go ahead, enter your mp3 collection on Discogs and check its marketplace value. That's what the files are worth. Current digital shopping isn't buying in the sense of "paying money and getting ownership of something". It's a dreadful mess of licence agreements, terms and limitations which vary wildly between stores and countries. Meanwhile, real-world legislation lags severely behind. While physical buyer's rights are reasonably well defined, nobody knows what you're really allowed to do with your files. At the moment, for all intents and purposes, you can treat digital "purchasing" as one-off donation which only buys you a good feeling and possibly more convenient downloading compared to a warez site, nothing else.

 

Don't believe me? Consider this: our braindead legislation requires DJs to buy a separate licence for playing digital files. (None is needed for original physical media.) However, it makes no difference whatsoever how you got the files. They can be bought, ripped or illegally downloaded. The agencies cannot check and they don't even try. Bought a file? That's nice but you aren't allowed to spin it yet. Downloaded a Russian mp3? Hey, that's completely legit as long as you pay the DJ licence fee. Paying to the artists is completely voluntary and actually a bad move business-wise if you only consider the bottom line of your own DJing business. That's how strong the legal status of download stores and their products is around here. Not even worth the bits the receipt e-mail is printed on.

 

If I simply downloaded all my files from torrents and then donated money directly to labels and artists, would there be any difference to current "digital puchasing", other than skipping one middle man's cut? Strangely enough, this is currently a serious question.

[Purple Sunray]

@domot

Fully agree. That's the DRM mess I mentioned before.. you get an MP3, but to play it you need to get a license, you are not allowed to burn or copy, if you move to your mobile you can't play it on the PC anymore, if the DRM server is down you can't play it at all and so on..

I would never ever buy something with such restrictions applied. The reason I bought it was mainly to support the artist and it's way easier to click buy on beatport than finding the artist contact infos and writing him to ask for payment details to donate.. especially for VA collections ;D

 

 

 

If I simply downloaded all my files from torrents and then donated money directly to labels and artists, would there beany difference to current "digital puchasing", other than skipping one middle man's cut? Strangely enough, this is currently a serious question.

There are some ppl moving in this direction already. Electrypnose for example offers an "Electroypnose membership" where you pay a yearly fee to get free access to all tracks he ever made + all new stuff made during that year. Don't know if how well this works out for him at the end, but nice a idea to bypass a lable, apple, paypal and all the others that take their share if you click on 'buy'

[Panoptes]

Have there been efforts to crack down on pirate websites?