The chickenfarmer's lament

[AFK]

RWHN,  i certainly wouldn't argue that album sales have dropped....
but has the quantity and quality of music being made dropped?
the reason i even ask is because i am overwhelmed by the amount of great music coming about these days compared to before.  it could just be my perspective, though.

i certainly don't know the details of the recording industry, so i'm not informed enough to make declarations here.

why didn't the band you refer to make their own album rather than use some label?

M O N E Y.  As awesome and creative as they were they were unable to create money out of thin air.  That's why underground bands and bands not in the mainstream need label support and why piracy hurts these bands.  And I'm assuming a majority of us on this board are into non-mainstream, non-gold album bands.  We should support them by buying their music if we want them to continue to make the art we say that we enjoy. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Another thing that's hurting labels, which in turn has them trying to pass the hurt onto everyone, is how inexpensive it is for artists to record their own albums these days. Sure, it takes money, but on a scale a Starbuck's employee can afford rather than on a level a major executive can afford.

Add to that the fact that it's a growing trend for established bands to drop their labels and go SRA, and the labels are scrambling to hold on to whatever they can.

[AFK]

I disagree that one must be a paragon of morality in order to complain about anybody else's immorality.

I gather that you think it's absurd that production companies should have to adjust their model for the times in any way.

I mean, it's really fun shouting THIEF over and over again, if that's what you want to get out of the thread. I had hoped we could establish something ITT other than who has the moral high ground, which is kind of boring because under the current model, the public is going to go on pirating movies and music regardless of whether or not it's theft and/or hurts the artist.

The public is going to go on pirating movies and music regardless of what model you install because people who take stuff for free like to take stuff for free.  There is an expectation for artists that is different for anyone else in society who produces a good, product, or service.  They are expected to magically be able to keep producing product without getting the funding and capacity to continue that venture.  Yeah, your big selling, zillionaire artists can invest their own money into new albums.  The little guys can't do that.  They need the record sales so the labels don't drop them.  

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Music pirates arent making copies and selling them they are just making copies and keeping them for themselves (which is still totally stealing, but not stealing for profit)

Or making copies and distributing them. But that is not relevant to my question. It was a very specific question, testing out the boundaries of this philosophy of no copyright.

[AFK]

Another thing that's hurting labels is how inexpensive it is for artists to record their own albums these days. Sure, it takes money, but on a scale a Starbuck's employee can afford rather than on a level a major executive can afford.

"Woot!"
  /

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Another thing that's hurting labels is how inexpensive it is for artists to record their own albums these days. Sure, it takes money, but on a scale a Starbuck's employee can afford rather than on a level a major executive can afford.

"Woot!"
  /

I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. I know many musicians for whom the ability to record their own albums has been a tremendous boon. Romulus & Remus, Mark Growden, Ribbons, Stars of Track & Field, Lynn Hanover, Madagascar, The Git Rights, Podunk BFE, Weasels Exist... are you pooh-poohing their drive and determination for going forward with recording on their own without a label? Comparing these talented artists with AKK? What is that? Some of them have been signed to a label on the basis of their independent CD release, some of them have toured nationally on their own, some of them are struggling, some of them aren't, but WTF does that have to do with AKK?

[Fredfredly ⊂(◉‿◉)つ]

I believe he is saying AKK can afford to record an album and send it to millions 

[AFK]

I did not get that data from the artist, i did not have an agreement with the artist. I can copy someone's walking style without getting the law sent after me, i can hum a tune i heard a bird sing without first talking to the resident birdexpert so why can't i sing a song i heard on the radio?

Humming a tune is not the same thing as pirating music.  Your throat doesn't reproduce the musical information put together by the artist.  That is a unique creation whose design belongs to the artist.  So when did the artist give you permission to take that without reimbursing them for their work?

You seem to be hung up on the concept of albums = money.
There are other ways for musicians to earn money, shift the data from the albums from the sales department to the marketing department and you can get further. All without using violence to impose an unrealistic businessmodel on the market.

But the record label will not finance new albums if the artist isn't moving units.  

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I believe he is saying AKK can afford to record an album and send it to millions 

He can AFFORD to, but how is he going to force millions of people to listen to it? 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Right now the most valuable service labels are providing to artists is promotion. Unfortunately, part of that is more or less a lockdown on large venues, which means that anyone outside of that system is not going to get booked independently no matter how popular they are.

[Fredfredly ⊂(◉‿◉)つ]

I believe he is saying AKK can afford to record an album and send it to millions 

He can AFFORD to, but how is he going to force millions of people to listen to it? 

AKKRoll!!!!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I believe he is saying AKK can afford to record an album and send it to millions 

He can AFFORD to, but how is he going to force millions of people to listen to it? 

AKKRoll!!!!

OFUK! 

[Elder Iptuous]

In your estimation, has the quality and quantity of music available to the average person declined over this period?

Quality?  Yes.  Absolutely.

I can give you some examples, if you like.

Examples? yes please.
I am (almost*) always willing to learn.

Iptuous: can you give counter examples?

counterexamples?
i'm not sure what is being asked?  like, music that i have heard lately that i thought was good (at all)?
or, something that was good, and not requiring a label's capital assets in order to be good, fun for them to make and play, create quality CDs and t-shirts and shit, etc?

Well, a couple weeks ago i saw the Dangits play at a local dive.  they were good.  they had a blast doing it.  it was their first CD release (which i bought a copy of since there was no fee to watch them.  wife bought a t-shirt) 

then there's labeled stuff that i like coming out to.
i've got fleetfox playing right now. i think they're pretty good....
giving examples of bad music doesn't really speak to the quantity of good music coming out.

i'm just curious whether music connesuirs are of the general opinion that music quality has suffered due to piracy beyond, "These kids today listen to shitty music! I blame piracy!"

[AFK]

I think music quality has suffered because technology has added more noise to the signal.  However, the issue of piracy is more to do with diminishing (stolen) capacity for bands to make their music. 

[Elder Iptuous]

diminished capacity to make music, or diminished capacity to make money off their music?
Or are you saying the two are practically indistinguishable for some reason?