Obscurity vs. Piracy
Time to return to my ongoing musings (or endless rant, depending on your viewpoint) on what I’ll call “music freedom“.
I came across a wonderful article by Andrew Dubber (via Derek Sivers) entitled “Should I Be Worried About Piracy?“. Andrew thoughtfully and eloquently explained the point I’ve been trying to make for some while.
Instead of battling hard against this new consumer power to copy and share music…why not embrace it?
Hungry Lucy has been doing so now for about 1 year. Aside from my peace of mind (in which I place great value) we have seen greater interest in our music and, yes, a gradual but steady increase in paid (yes paid) downloads. Granted, I have no evidence as to what has caused this. I quite firmly believe, though, that our “please copy & share” attitude is at least partially to blame. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I don’t worry about all those lost sales anymore, and that…is priceless. 
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 pm
well the problem i have with downloading period is the fact that they hurt the music stores. i for one would rather have a tangible disc to hold in my hand, than a download. for every album download it costs the record label in lost sales. they only get a small fraction of money from downloads. in the neighborhood of 8 cents a song. pretty pathetic to make 80 cents a disc instead of the profits from selling a disc. thats my 2 cents worth
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Greetings: piracy sucks…i never download music…i buy cds & music dvds…i support the underground labels…please have Derek Sivers e-mail me…i can’t seem to buy your new cds…Derek upgrated his site…my webtv os ver is 10 years old…Maybe he can send me a catalog with only female vox trip-hop/goth electronica music. thx)
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
The ability to download one song at a time helps. Instant gratification, and little commitment. CD’s wear out, but a file that you can copy and share… well, had a friend not shared one of your songs, I may have never heard of you, or have been curious enough to care.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Ken, the CD you buy at a record store (if you can find a record store) is pretty much the same as buying it as a download when it comes to how much of that money goes back to the artist. If you want a physical CD (which I too prefer) buy it directly from the artist when possible. But paid download vs. buying a CD at a record shop is not going to make much (if any) of a difference to the artist.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:38 am
The more free downloads made available, the more I seem to end up buying. I heard a few Hungry Lucy tracks on some compilation CDs and then heard more tracks that were free downloads from alpha-matrix & musicdownload.com. These free downloads are what got me to buy the full CDs. The same is true with free downloads from Collide. Sampler CDs & free downloads have always exposed me to new music which has turned into CD purchases.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:19 am
If it were not for downloads I would not have even know about Hungry Lucy! I’ve since bought 2 Hungry Lucy CDs and two compilations Hungry Lucy recommended in their web site. What better way to find music you like than to buy compilations that feature that artist?
Unfortunately, many artists on the compilation CD don’t offer free downloads and as a result I haven’t really gotten to know if I like them enough to buy a CD. Its too bad for both of us.
CDs do offer higher fidelity if played on a decent system.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Here’s my rambling thoughts. I heard about Hungry Lucy because “Her Song” was up on Amazon for free many years ago. Now I go to Amazon MP3 when I want to download a song or album. I used to go to small music stores, but then I moved and now all I have to choose from are large places like Best Buy which often have horrible prices. (And I believe there were allegations of collusion and price fixing). I’d much rather purchase direct from the artist. After downloading Hungry Lucy for free, I ended up taking advantage of the excellent 3 CDs for $30 deal.
I’ve also downloaded music direct from artists like the band Live, who recently provided two new studio tracks on their website for $1/each. Also I’ve paid for downloads from obscure artists like Angie Aparo and Stuart Davis, who sold content they made in their home studios.
I think CDs are on their way out. The more people use MP3 players, the less they need the actual CD. It just becomes another step, buy it, rip it, tweak the ID tags, etc. vs. just buying the file. So to me the debate is more buying a legit and DRM free track vs. pirating music by downloading via things like P2P / torrent / etc.
I think that’s the future, home studios and no middle men or albums - just artists putting out singles or EPs direct to their fans. Now the problem becomes how to hear about new artists. In the above examples, Amazon suggested Hungry Lucy to me based on other artists I listened to. Angie Aparo I originally heard on a rare and almost extinct species: A Non Clear Channel Radio Station. I have subscribed to services like Rhapsody, Urge, Yahoo Music, etc. which I use as research tools. They give me the ability to hear whole tracks and I think for $10/month they save me from having bought a CD I would not have enjoyed. My hope is that services like this in the future evolve and their programming & catalog become advanced enough to suggest artists based on other artists I tell it I like. What the threshold is for getting on these services I don’t know. But that’s how I discovered Stuart Davis, via Rhapsody, which I think has a good relationship with indie labels and places like CD Baby.
Another problem I’ve run into is international artists - there’s no technological reason why I can’t download artists from other countries. I have found a rare few sites that will let me purchase, but most are smart enough to say “you aren’t in this country sorry” like iTunes other country stores, you can visit but not purchase. This is I assume because of red tape contract agreements, so I’d love to see that fixed so another barrier is broken down. I understand having to pay more perhaps because of currency conversion, but ultimately music will have to globalize and American centric orgs like the RIAA will fail.
On a slight tanget, I’m a writer of fiction short stories. It’s a very depressing niche to be in. Because no one buys short stories. Maybe a famous author like Stephen King or Neil Gaiman can put out a collection and it will sell. But it would be almost impossible for an author to live on short stories alone, and those who can earn a living based on novels are very small. Like in the music or movie industry, you have your heavy hitting blockbusters that are usually lowest common denominator fare that pay for the studio’s supper, then a pool of more experimental hit or miss offerings. I constantly have an internal debate about either trying to follow the existing business models - play the game and submit short stories through the appropriate (and dwindling) channels - or just put all my writing up on the web. If I build it will they come? I doubt it. There’s been a few blogger-related publishing successes, and a few print-on-demand indie artists (like the “Eragon” author kid) that later made it big. With short fiction I’d also worry more about plagerism, people using them later uncredited for screenplays, etc. There have been lots of legit artists sharing their fiction for free, often as a loss-leader hoping it generates other revenue. But just like the recent musical ripples caused by artists like Radiohead or NIN, I often roll my eyes at that ‘news’ because it’s always established artists and rarely does it pave the way for obscure artists to move ahead. It’s like the caste or feudal system.
Thanks for reading my comments. Sorry they are kind of all over the map.
April 4th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I’m another fan who would never have heard of you without free downloads, and once I realized the music was good, I paid for it, and shared with friends, who then bought their own copies.
It’s true that downloading songs hurts the record labels and CD shops… but is that such a bad thing? They really are just a middle man, and the technology has advanced to the point where we may not need them anymore. There’s no good economic reason to spend money trying to save an obsolete industry.
Plus, labels get to decide who to pick up and advertise, and big ones even tell artists to change their work to make it more “marketable” (according to some focus group). So they just end up cutting down the variety of music the public is aware of, which is really unhealthy culturally.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I couldn’t agree more. The industry conglomerates are so averse to the new technologies, so stubborn about finding new ways to market and make money from music, that the existing ship is going to have to completely sink before a new one is christened. What’s sad is the artists are the ones that seem to be hurting most during the transitory period.
But if one looks at the history of music, it becomes clear that music recordings are/were just a fad. Music has always been– and will now return to– a much more personal connection between artist and fan. The “Music-is-a-Product” paradigm is a result of the Industrial Age, which is quite obviously over.
I liken music in the Information Age to water. You turn on the tap and water comes out, with the appearance of being free. If you shower and drink a couple glasses of water a day, you will have a very minimal bill. Your neighbor, however, is free to fill his swimming pool with tap water every day if he likes, and his bill will be higher for it.
I think this is a good analogy for the future of music– everyone will pay a nominal access fee, whether attached to the internet bill, or added to the purchase price of a stereo, or what-have-you, and bills will vary slightly based on individual consumption. CDs will still exist– they will be the Bottled Water of the music industry. There will always be some people who insist on only the purest quality, and want to pay for the fancy packaging.
I think ultimately this new paradigm will create more pie and everyone will get a bigger slice. Network TV stations tried to sue cable out of existence in the early days, but cable survived and now TV has more viewers and more money than ever. Movie studios tried the same approach to VCRs, but obviously they survived, too, and Hollywood eventually ended up winning immense treasure from movie sales. The story was the same when the phonograph came out– the sheet music manufacturers sued and tried to keep the new technology off the market. Ultimately, the phonograph pushed the music industry to new heights, and so will mp3 and P2P. It’s just a shame it always takes so long.
Right now, I think it’s also important to factor in the ever-decreasing entertainment budget of the American middle- and working-class people, and the exponentially increasing number of options. Somehow spending $15 on a movie soundtrack doesn’t seem like a good deal when you could buy the DVD for the same price. Ringtones and video games are interactive and customizable, and thus also seem to offer better value for the consumer dollar.
Ultimately, it all comes down to customer empowerment. The consumers always win in the end– and when the consumers win, the industries also win. The market is speaking, and eventually the music industry will have to listen and adapt. Thank you for doing so early and helping ease the paradigm shift!
~Michael
April 5th, 2008 at 1:07 am
I *think* I first heard Hungry Lucy on Live365 and In Dark Faith Eternal. The discussion so far has not said much about net broadcasting. I believe that is a/the replacement for the local, independent, broadcast radio stations - the ones that pretty much don’t exist any more. When I like what I hear, I go hunting for where I can buy that CD, or the paid downloads someday.
So, net broadcasting = good.
Streaming audo from an artist’s web site looks a lot like broadcasting to me. As a consumer, I understand that you don’t want to give away the store. With streaming I still get to hear you and maybe click those links to order the CD, or those downloads.
So, streaming = good.
I see some free downloads from the artist as pretty neat, too. I think you, the artist, are a pretty good sport if you put some of those out there. I get to copy them to the jump drive and listen at work when most everyone is gone and I’m not. As a consumer, I understand why you don’t want to put all your material out there as a free download. You don’t want to give away the store. If it like it, I’ll click those links to get a CD, or those paid downloads someday.
So, a few free downloads = good.
All your material on a web site posted as free downloads? Well, that’s great for me, the consumer. I have to wonder how you make a living and if you will still have that web site up a year from now. The grocery store don’t let you have boxes of mac and cheese for free.
So, all downloads free = too good to be true.
At the consumer end we need to realize that or you at the artist end can’t carry on.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:12 am
[...] Opinion Matters, a Real Musician War-N, one half of Reaching for Lucidity Royal Court members, Hungry Lucy, has a great post right now talking about musical Piracy. The post talks about sharing music, [...]
April 6th, 2008 at 11:12 am
[...] Opinion Matters, a Real Musician War-N, one half of Reaching for Lucidity Royal Court members, Hungry Lucy, has a great post right now talking about musical Piracy. The post talks about sharing music, [...]
April 7th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Wow. Talk about sitting on the fence with this one! I have never downloaded anything in my life. I discovered Hungry Lucy on a compilation CD, liked what I heard, ordered your CD and have purchased everything you have made since. Whether or not I had first heard of you from a compilation or a free download doesn’t really matter, since I ended up buying everything anyway. However, when a friend shows interest in some of the music that I like, I will burn him/her a CD (actually my son will burn it, since I’m a computer idiot) - featuring my favorite Hungry Lucy songs, as well as a few others. What they do from that point, I don’t always know. I just so happen to share similar musical tastes with my son, (the aforementioned computer genius) and I know that he will burn some compilation CDs for his friends too. I also know for a fact that some of his friends have become major fans of some of the artists on the “compilation” CD he made, and have gone out and purchased several CDs from some of the bands that they heard for free.
The bottom line I guess for me is…free is good. However, I hope that it is also a tool that will hook fans for the group that is providing the music for free. Then, I hope that the fans will BUY the music and support the artist. I think that is how it mostly works, but I don’t really know.
Keep up the great work and great music.
Sam in Phoenix.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Compared to how many CDs I have purchased in the past I believe I have a right to download the songs first for free before I decide I want to buy the CD or not. When I was in High school I used to buy one or two CDs every pay check sometimes I got to listen to it first at certain record stores. But every once in a while I would hear it once like it and then buy the CD and end up getting annoyed and hating it and then selling it later. usually wasting lots of money in the process. When I download the album first I can listen to it a few times and if it sticks then I WILL buy it. I relate it to tipping my waiter, if the service was excellent I give her/him 20% if not I give NOTHING.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
[...] Hungry Lucy read, hear and see what Hungry Lucy is up to « Obscurity vs. Piracy [...]
April 7th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
While piracy is wrong in the majority of cases, it is often in the artist’s best interest in the long run to allow it. A case in point: My studio recorded Dar Williams (with full permission of course) in performance for a radio broadcast. Her label of the time, Razor and Tie, called me to tell me that, once broadcast, the recording was being traded all around the world. I half-jokingly asked, “So, do you wish you hadn’t done the radio show?”. Unsurprisingly, the woman said they absolutely were not. I don’t remember her exact words, but the essence of what she said was this: the more excitement there was about Dar, both among her fans and the uninitiated, the better. The long-run advantages are increased CD sales, concert ticket sales, and general interest in the artist. If it works for the artist, it works for me.