Responsibility to artists
I was going to address this in another thread since the idea was broached, but thought it deserved its own discussion. How much responsibility to do you guys feel towards artists/musicians/bands?
What I mean is, while we're all busy hunting for the best deals is there a point that you as a consumer pull back and decide not to make a purchase because it won't financially benefit the creator? And even more to the point, do you think we can even know for sure when a purchase isn't benefiting the creator?
I started thinking about this again because I got almost the entire Avett Brothers back catalog on sale at eMusic, and just when I was about to get their new one at a decent discount on Amie it showed up for an even bigger discount at eMusic. On top of that, some of the nps I used were undoubtedly freebies since the timing just worked out that way. But the reality is that I do not know for sure how much they are getting paid for anything I purchased. It's completely possible that they wouldn't have made much more if I purchased the CDs, and most of the extra money spent would have gone to the stores, manufacturers and suits instead. Without seeing the private financial statements from eMu, there's no way of knowing for certain whether the freebies don't count at all or if they simply cut into the per track payment.
Some people have even said that they avoid used CDs because no money goes to the artist. But what about situations like the whole SST fiasco where bands aren't even getting the royalties from new purchases? And what about bands with crappy contracts or members that aren't properly credited (one of my sisters saw an interview with a member of Pavement who said that anyone not named Stephen Malkmus got squat)?
Any thoughts? Or am I just rambling?
What I mean is, while we're all busy hunting for the best deals is there a point that you as a consumer pull back and decide not to make a purchase because it won't financially benefit the creator? And even more to the point, do you think we can even know for sure when a purchase isn't benefiting the creator?
I started thinking about this again because I got almost the entire Avett Brothers back catalog on sale at eMusic, and just when I was about to get their new one at a decent discount on Amie it showed up for an even bigger discount at eMusic. On top of that, some of the nps I used were undoubtedly freebies since the timing just worked out that way. But the reality is that I do not know for sure how much they are getting paid for anything I purchased. It's completely possible that they wouldn't have made much more if I purchased the CDs, and most of the extra money spent would have gone to the stores, manufacturers and suits instead. Without seeing the private financial statements from eMu, there's no way of knowing for certain whether the freebies don't count at all or if they simply cut into the per track payment.
Some people have even said that they avoid used CDs because no money goes to the artist. But what about situations like the whole SST fiasco where bands aren't even getting the royalties from new purchases? And what about bands with crappy contracts or members that aren't properly credited (one of my sisters saw an interview with a member of Pavement who said that anyone not named Stephen Malkmus got squat)?
Any thoughts? Or am I just rambling?
Comments
1) If an album is on a site like eMusic or Amie it is there legally and by choice. That choice is likely that of the label, but as I will never know exactly what goes on, as far as money, between a label and artist it is impossible for me to know if it benefits a particular artist or not. Accordingly, if it's there I do not feel responsibility towards the artist; but
2) If I KNOW that a label is being a punk (like SST) I try and avoid them. For instance I haven't downloaded any Husker Du from eMusic, largely because I know Grant Hart doesn't want it there (admittedly part of the reason is also because I already had a substantial amount of Du stuff from other sources).
Craig
I don't feel much responsibility toward any bands getting their royalties. I must sadly admit that my social interest in this matter is stunted at a teenager's level. Torrents aren't used for downloading, but it's more a fear of getting malware than anything else. I have a track from the illegal Napster days, and that's only because I couldn't purchase it legally (I did try).
On a side note, that track is oddly the most favored track in my library by other lastfm users...I don't think they have found it easy to find it, either.
If music's on a legal download site I have no qualms about getting it. Haven't bought a used CD in ages, but used to buy used vinyl & CDs (never 8 tracks or cassettes, as quality couldn't be seen). I've used a russian site to get music as well, esp in the case where I already own it on vinyl. Lately with my dire job situation, I've gone to the library & 'gotten' CDs there.
Listened to the new Avett Brothers on SimplifyMedia yesterday - I think that will be one of my eMu crack card purchases.
I know we're typically talking about less established artists who are trying to make a living, but I recently borrowed the Beatles mono box from a friend, and I just can't make myself feel guilty about that one. If the Beatles rereleases hadn't been designed to squeeze every last dollar out of their fans, I might even have bought a few, but Paul, Ringo, Yoko, and the estates of George Harrison and Michael Jackson don't need my money.
The easiest way to support artists directly is to go see them when they're on tour. I do try to do that when I can.
Hell yeah.
Also, when I do get an album cheap and it's, IMO, something special, I do my part to spread the word. Aside from this forum, I also am active on a jazz forum, semi-active on the emusic forum, and occasionally drop in a music post on a Chicago foodie forum. Creating threads about albums I feel strongly about, no matter how I came to have the album, is something I enjoy doing, but when I get one, let's say, free at Amie, and I sincerely enjoy it, I feel like there's an added bonus to sharing music with others when I go the extra distance to spread the word, because I know it benefits the musician.
And you guys do it too. There's several musicians I wouldn't have otherwise run into had you not mentioned them. Avett Bros. is a good example.
We're not the problem. It's pretty clear that everyone here (as well as many at other sites I frequent) are really into music, finding new and different music, and sharing what we've found. I don't think I'm entitled to cheap music because of my efforts, but I'm sure not going to feel guilty when I encounter it. It's sort of a sweat equity.
I have no problem admitting that there's a few gigs of p2p booty on my hard drive. But pretty much all of it is material that I want to give a good listen to before buying the album (a lot of back catalogues). Once I get the chance, I'll delete an album and either buy it or forget about it. There's also a few difficult to find imports.
@jonah - You've really stuck the chord as to why I want to restart my failed music blog. Since married life and parenthood destroyed my social life, the opportunity to share great music with friends has begun to dwindle. I really miss that.
I knew I wasn't the only one, of course, but it's always good to see a reminder.
Keep your chin up. It's not destroyed; but it's certainly changed, and will never be the same.
Providing for a child certainly makes used CDs even more attractive.