Reznor makes $750,000 even when the music is free...

Here...

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/update-trent-reznor-sells-all-2500-ultra-deluxe-ighostsi-300-each/

And...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080305-reznor-makes-750000-even-when-the-music-is-free.html

It means nothing. He can give it away for free. If he were just starting, he'd never make that choice; and if he did he'd make $750.

Eyesore wrote:

It means nothing. He can give it away for free. If he were just starting, he'd never make that choice; and if he did he'd make $750.

It means other large artists like him can do similar things & leave the record corporations flapping in the wind...

It's coming...along with more affordable options for us little people...

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

It means nothing. He can give it away for free. If he were just starting, he'd never make that choice; and if he did he'd make $750.

It means other large artists like him can do similar things & leave the record corporations flapping in the wind...

It's coming...along with more affordable options for us little people...

Sure, that's partly true, but only in the case of already-successful bands. I'm just sick of reading about how this proves that music was meant to be free and it's the end of labels and all that nonsense.

Stuck Mojo gave away their last album for free a year before Radiohead and NIN decided to. You could also buy the actual CD. Now a year and a half later, Nuclear Blast just put out a reissue of the album. Why? Because the little bands just can't afford to get away with this sort of thing. No one would pick up the distro for the album; the band couldn't get promoters to sign on for gigs because they were without a label, etc. And Mojo is a well-known band.

Quote :

I'm just sick of reading about how this proves that music was meant to be free and it's the end of labels and all that nonsense.

It's not that it was meant to be free. It has nothing to do with that thought.

Its an example of how much things have changed & how business models are being forced to evolve with technological changes. It's about how long-established ways of doing things are becoming obsolete.

Quote :

Because the little bands just can't afford to get away with this sort of thing.

Not yet. This model may not work for "little bands" right now...it's too new...but it's painfully obvious that the old model doesn't do them any favors either, financially speaking. It's going to take a little longer for similar models to work for lesser known bands...but its coming.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Quote :

I'm just sick of reading about how this proves that music was meant to be free and it's the end of labels and all that nonsense.

It's not that it was meant to be free. It has nothing to do with that thought.

Its an example of how much things have changed & how business models are being forced to evolve with technological changes. It's about how long-established ways of doing things are becoming obsolete.

Quote :

Because the little bands just can't afford to get away with this sort of thing.

Not yet. This model may not work for "little bands" right now...it's too new...but it's painfully obvious that the old model doesn't do them any favors either, financially speaking. It's going to take a little longer for similar models to work for lesser known bands...but its coming.

Right. I know that's not necessarily what you meant, but I've heard the "music was meant to be heard" argument so many times. Haha.

And yes, things have changed, but the entire model must crumble before anything changes, and it won't crumble. There's too much money in the music business and the companies will adapt and regain control at some point.

Eyesore wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Quote :

I'm just sick of reading about how this proves that music was meant to be free and it's the end of labels and all that nonsense.

It's not that it was meant to be free. It has nothing to do with that thought.

Its an example of how much things have changed & how business models are being forced to evolve with technological changes. It's about how long-established ways of doing things are becoming obsolete.

Quote :

Because the little bands just can't afford to get away with this sort of thing.

Not yet. This model may not work for "little bands" right now...it's too new...but it's painfully obvious that the old model doesn't do them any favors either, financially speaking. It's going to take a little longer for similar models to work for lesser known bands...but its coming.

Right. I know that's not necessarily what you meant, but I've heard the "music was meant to be heard" argument so many times. Haha.

And yes, things have changed, but the entire model must crumble before anything changes, and it won't crumble. There's too much money in the music business and the companies will adapt and regain control at some point.

There will always be "ringtone music". There will always be people who just want to be famous. There will always be companies to provide it.

But, for the artist who wants to make music (then for the traditional "label", as a result) things are changing in a huge way.