Don't you dare call me a thief after all these years.Jul 04 '04 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Take note, labels, and realize that this is YOUR fault. Stop pushing the blame and make a change before it's too late. Screwing your fanbase is not the answer. The year is 200X. Instead of Mega Man coming to face Doctor Wily and his legion of evil robots as prophecy foretold in Mega Man II, the record industry goes to great lengths to bite the hand that feeds them. Regardless of what Madonna said years ago, we are living in a digital world. And I am a digital girl... or boy... well, man. Welcome to the future. Prepare to get sued. The Dawn of MP3 (At least from my perspective) When I finally got my first computer and a good, long taste of the internet, I read about this new conversion format called MP3. It was a little known, but promising, compression technique that allowed sound files to be reduced to around ten percent of the original wave file size. On the standard 28.8 internet connection, it would take roughly forty minutes for the average track to download. If memory serves me correctly, this archaic age was merely six years ago in late 1998. Since that time, the Peer-to-Peer programs of yesteryear, such as Napster and Audiogalaxy, have fallen to the wayside and went out in a blaze of glory. The music industry has shutdown any and all free music downloads that gain any popularity. They've even went to great lengths to sue the people who steal their intellectual property. The Perception Artists and labels are quick to label these people as thieves, the same case they made years ago when people would choose to record a song off the radio onto cassette tape, and blame the people for their potential losses. Mind you, the people they sued are the extreme cases where people would download thousands of tracks with common peer-to-peer devices such as Kazaa. However, the RIAA monitors the common programs and will track down whomever they can to make an example and intimidate the people. Of course, when you're sitting on the top of the world staring down at it, it's so much easier to spot the bad than the good. Why, from here, I can see the polar ice caps melt. Oh, and look, there's war raging in Iraq and people are dying horrific deaths. Of course, no one cares that a child, the miracle of life, was born just yesterday bearing the Rader name in Korea. Not anyone on top of the world, at least. The Reality What the industry sees as potential buyers who steal are instead people who have no intention on buying the music in the first place. Nor will they ever. A majority of them are kids who are growing up with computers and this seems as natural to them as playing Nintendo was to the previous generation. Tons of singles and one-hit-wonders they've heard growing up have added up to, literally, thousands of files. I, myself, found that I had well over 700 songs from artists I wouldn't normally listen to on my old computer. From Tupac Shakur's "Dear Mama" to The Hollies' "Bus Stop," there was songs that I would never own except on a compilation album. For a lot of people, though, downloading an MP3s is as close to a video rental as you can get when it comes to music. The industry can sit and criticize the people all they want. The fact of the matter is they're the ones pushing the issue and informing the general public of MP3s. When the format first came to light back in '98, the only people who really knew about them were the net geeks such as myself. Looking back, it was the record companies and media who made the general populace aware of file sharing and MP3s, not Napster itself. What's the Frequency, Kenneth? I'm a firm believer in the MP3 format as the wave of the future. I download countless songs from the internet. I'll go up to any music artist and tell them that I downloaded their songs if it's true. I'm not going to go up to, say, Toby Kieth and lie to him about how much I dig the idea of downloading his music, get drunk and have us a good 'ol hillbilly hoe down as we raise the Confederate flag and say slanderous, ignorant things about other countries that should never qualify as music as the American flag flaps in my ear. No. No, see, I have too much integrity. As much music as I download, though, I end up buying a load of CDs because I find an album I want. From Loretta Lynn to the B-52s, from Caviar to Soul Coughing and from DJ Rap to Ben Kweller, there's tons of bands out there who I wouldn't have ever given a chance had it not been for MP3. But, it's so much easier to say that they, the record industry and artists, are losing money when someone "steals" this music. They blame MP3 file sharing as the reason record sales are down. But, really, when was the last time an album absolutely had to be purchased by the mainstream? Where's my generation's Frampton Comes Alive! or Jimi Hendrix Experience? The Opinion Personally, I blame the artists and the record companies. Years and years of subpar albums with one to three tracks, at most, worth listening and people eventually wore down. You can only be disapponted so many times before you grow disgruntled and/or disenfranchised. It feels as if a label will okay any album so long as there's one marketable song. Surprise! We've Seen Evolution! Changing the way the industry works is one way to guarantee sales. Simon Cowell really did create an ingenious way to not only find potential talent, but to market those stars. He creates a fanbase with an excellent reality television show in American Idol, one that doesn't delve into the evil of human nature or ignorance of normal people, and then lets the viewers decide who they want to hear. Then, when the album is released, a prefabricated fanbase is established for a new act. It's a shame that the albums have yet to have any depth, something else Cowell has been known for ever since the Spice Girls, but I still maintain pop music is there merely to make the miserable more so. There's just far too many acts out there today. Forty years ago, when the music industry truly thrived and tons of labels dropped at once, a band truly had to have talent or connections to get a record contract. Now, so long as you meet one marketing prerequisite, you can have an album. You Don't Believe Me? Let's make a small list and possible origins, shall we? - Band, consisting of no more than five young people of the same sex, who play no instruments but can sing well together, dance well together and look good standing together. I'm by no means a musical archivist, but I'd label that "the Temptations rule." Any time you hear the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Menudo, New Kids on the Block or Wham! on the radio, take a moment out of your day to curse every last one of the Temptations. While I know they're by no means the first act to do this, someone has to be the scapegoat and they're as good as any. - Young White Girl, who is not of legal age, who has a marginal singing voice and is not afraid of selling her soul and making innuendoes to sexual acts for fame. Girl must also have no ability to play an instrument and, often, be stupid enough to giggle relentlessly whenever she hears the word "Oboe." Because, well, that's a made up word, right, y'all? It's difficult to label this one with an origin. Cher may fit the bill, merely because she was so young when she sold her body to Sonny "Will Stop for Trees" Bono. However, I'll label this the "The Madonna Rule" merely because she's the one who I personally blame ever since "Like a Virgin." I had considered labeling this the Cyndi Lauper rule, but Cyndi Lauper can actually play a multitude of instruments. I remember seeing her play violin on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. So, blame Madonna when you hear Britney Spears' latest "opus," recall Christina Aguilera asking to be rubbed the right way and if Brooke Hogan, daughter of Hulk Hogan, actually gets a career. And then laugh at the fact that Hulk lets his daughter sleep with Aaron Carter. Come and get it, indeed. - Angry, aggressive music for the angry, aggressive white children full of rage that comes with a privileged life. Oh, the angst that grows when your parents refused to send you money to party on when they're already paying for your college must truly be a hefty burden to bear. The music will likely have political undertones that none of the market will understand. This is what I like to call the "Rage Against the Machine Rule." Apparently, they had some angry agenda that was conveyed in the music, but all I ever remember is jumping around to "Bulls on Parade." Uh! Now, thanks to them, the door was opened to crap bands such as System of a Down who are so ready to stuff their political agenda down anyone's throat in an attempt at subliminal messages. However, it never works on anyone with intelligence above, say, cheese. Wait a second... now I see why they picked angry white boy music. - Angry, aggressive rhyming rapper... bonus points if they're actually white instead of the standard minority. Watching a white guy rap is like watching a black hockey player. Do you believe in miracles? Let's face it. This is "The Dr. Seuss Rule." That man, now, he was living the original thug life. Most people don't realize that Theodore Geisel's doctorate was in Thuganomics. Word. Trust me, I could go on and on with these rules, but you get the picture. Instead of breaking new ground, labels are content with feeding you the same things you've been force-fed all these years. The Truth The Market is Flooded. Some of this is due in part to old bands overstaying their welcome once the inspiration is gone. I'm not pushing all the blame on the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith's of the world. No. If they were to hang it up, call it a sound career and retire, eventually some label would try to draw them out of said retirement for one album by flashing insane amounts of cash at them. This is why I blame the record labels. In the pursuit of quick, easy cash, the labels will hire anyone who has had a name at some point. Axl Rose has been working on an album for, what, five years? The Guns 'n Roses diehards are still clamoring for the return of his screechy voice, long hair, goofy swaying dance, red bandanna and lubricated torso. Good for them... way to stick to your guns. But shame on the labels for getting their hopes up for what is bound to be the worst album release of whatever year it comes out. I'll Take All the Blame... Aqua Seafoam Shave? So, when the industry begins to fail, who should take the blame? The labels, who are doing the same thing they've been doing for countless years? The artists, who are doing the same thing that labels have been paying people just like them to do for countless years? No. Blame the people. Blame the new technology that gets the music that people want out to the people in a quick, easy and convenient format. But the industry? Oh no, they're not to blame. Yes, in fact, I did say I wanted a Revolution. Thanks for asking. Labels are so afraid of change, when they should be embracing it. CDs, to many people, are just an inferior format. You want to know what the first thing I do after I buy a CD? I CDex it in MP3 straight to my hard drive and file the CD away into storage for a later date. Don't be afraid of MP3s. Oh, I wish I could curse on Epinions, because I'd be calling you head honchos so many names it's not even funny. The anger I feel at the moment when I think of the idiocy of this situation and how, apparently, we're to blame is so intense that years from now expletive origins will be traced back to me. Murhumphlebum! Instead of forcing people to buy full albums, which had been gradually rising in price for no reason over the years, they could be releasing singles on MP3. Put it in single format, too, with three or four songs consisting of rarities, live shows and songs off the upcoming album. Offer the MP3s on a secure server at the reasonable price of $1.99 to $2.49 and do this any time that you release a single to the mainstream market. As for the albums themselves, offer the digital counterparts at a more respectable price. While $9.99 is reasonable, most albums cost around fifteen dollars right now at any store. The markup, though, is likely well more than five dollars at the record store and, thus, the price markup is still too steep at ten dollars. Drop that price to $8.49 for the people who are bound to buy the album. Make these downloads in a regular MP3 format, not one that is grounded with outrageous rules such as "you can burn this file up to five times." Otherwise, I'll just eBay for all my albums, buy them at a fraction of the original cost and burn the MP3s myself. MP3 format saves the companies the trouble of production costs, reduces marketing costs and can potentially increase revenue. Release an album of a high profile artist, like Bruce Springsteen or, heh, Metallica, exclusive to MP3 format for a three month period and see if you can garner attention. Watch as sales soar through the roof and cope with the negative press that naysayers are bound to have. Then watch again as those naysayers become true believers either after buying a computer or when the album is eventually released on CD. Then, let the album be downloaded only three times by the same account purchase. If a person hasn't backed their copy up onto a CD by that point, or even another hard drive, then it truly is their fault. You add this detail in bold print and actually suggest a person backs up their music onto CDs, then they can't complain. The Conclusion There's so much potential for this format to take off and iTunes was a great start. However, if the labels and artists want to know why the industry is suffering, it's because they've been merely going through the numbers for so many years. The people who embraced the CD format when it was new are the same people who are now abandoning it. Computers are taking over and it's only a matter of time before MP3 players, hopefully along with satellite radio, become the standard issue in vehicles. The labels need to realize this, soon, if they want a future. MP3s are not going away, nor is file sharing. However, if you make a good enough long term plan and take a few risks, there's potential to really make your mark, rake in the cash and laugh as the competition scurries to copy you.  |
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