I’d love to be on Macbreak… I’m not “famous” enough for that though.

This is SUCH a vast topic it’s impossible to point out every point I’d like to make. My bottom line is that Hungry Lucy makes music FOR the people, and because we love it. Those same people support us immensely just by listening to the music we’ve made. We are where we are due to “word of mouth” and loyal fans who have exposed us to friends and such. Those people have turned around and bought the cd’s…just look at the above comments!

And, once again, this is how we feel about OUR music and how WE like to operate. We know there is a circumstance to each and every band that makes music. No one way is the right way. This is what works for US. With or without the changes in technology, we will always share our love, and music, with the fans.

Thanks to everyone who voiced their opinion. This is the largest amount of comments ever! You are all lovely. Thanks for not being afraid to make your voice heard!

Take care,

cb

Which brings me to the other side of things. I can really feel for people like Tom Shear, who points out on his website that people in the industrial/synth pop (and related) scenes don’t make money hand over foot:

“When you consider the small numbers most artists in this scene sell, it becomes clear that literally every purchase counts. If you’re a mainstream band selling 100,000 copies of an album, you might not notice if 100 people bootleg your album, but if you are only selling 1,000 copies, as many artists in this scene do, that’s a full ten percent of your sales you’re losing!”

I did initially find Assemblage 23 through downloading, and I have since bought all of his cds, but I also think I’m a bit of a dinosaur in my young age (still don’t have a cell phone, for example.)

I agree that the value of music is subjective, but I’d hate to miss out on hearing great performers from smaller scenes because they can’t afford to put bread on the table by making music. And I know you guys have day jobs and do Hungry Lucy anyway, but I expect there are other very talented people who either aren’t willing or can’t afford to do that.

I have downloaded songs for free and then bought the album later. I don’t keep free stuff on my computer, unless I absolutely cannot find the music in any form other than what I found for a download. That does sometimes happen with the more obscure stuff I listen to. I have paid very large price to own music that is imported from Europe and Japan as well as 99 cents a song from various download sites.

For me music is priceless, but when we are faced with an economic downturn and the cost of imported music increasing, then it is just a matter of whether my budget can handle the cost or not.

Add a donate to the band Link on the home page.

My fear is for the next generations. Yes, there will always be music-heads who go deep with music. But as kids grow up and music is relegated to another internet distraction, I fear music will lose its cache and JUST become another entertainment option, like a videogame or IM/text messages or whatever. As long as there are real artists making music that attempts to connect, it will always have a fanbase. But I think in 50 years, that fanbase will be like the fanbase of vinyl records today. For everyone else, music will be like wallpaper. Having music available for free only speeds up that process.

I hope I’m wrong!

So being a pirate has made me a loyal customer of a range of great bands and musicians who make music for the joy of it, not because they’re the latest polished product churned out by the X-Factor or whatever. Without the internet my eyes wouldn’t have been opened to them.

i feel the same about music. especially because of the immense marketing apparatus of the music industry, i feel nothing when i rip cds by famous musicians who have millions of cds in circulation. i prefer to pay for cds on independent labels. and when i see an artist in person, i almost invariably buy one or more cds.

i “give away” a lot of music, though, and this feels like a different consideration. because i have a very large, broad library of recordings, i give away a lot of copies of recordings. some of these hit, and people fall in love with an artist. most go nowhere, but those artists got a hearing they wouldn’t have.

as a visual artist whose work has been widely copied on the web without attribution or payment, i feel i know firsthand what it’s like to have one’s work “stolen.” true, i achieved a small measure of internet “fame” but gained nothing thereby. i have to work a job i don’t like much to pay for the privilege of producing work that people enjoy and trade for free, a situation most musicians are intimately familiar with.

ultimately, i think my basic principle–everyone needs to eat, everyone deserves a fair wage for what they contribute to the world–is a starting place.