Jump to content

Commentor on music blog called me "rude" for not giving my music away for free.


niceguy

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I found a German music blog reviewing one of my songs. The blogger said something along the lines of "it's a good song, but this other song by him is better."

One of his readers commented, "You're right, his other song is better, but to require a dollar for it is rude."

Um... What. The. {censored}.

On one hand, I'm just boiling over with a mix of rage and laughter. It's like a stranger coming into my kitchen and saying, "Oh, you won't give me your loaf of bread? That's rude."

On the other hand, this only sadly confirms what I've been thinking: that in order to get heard, I really do need to start giving my music away for free. Rather, give SOME of my music away for free.

Just venting, looking for either support or a kick in my ass wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by niceguy View Post
On one hand, I'm just boiling over with a mix of rage and laughter. It's like a stranger coming into my kitchen and saying, "Oh, you won't give me your loaf of bread? That's rude."
I'd say it's more like eating a free sample at grocery store and calling it 'rude' to charge for some other item.

We're living in the Age of Entitlement.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's got to the point now where even bands who aren't signed (and are a long way away from a position where they might "sell out") are being branded as sellouts because they're not giving anything away for free. Where will it end? By giving everything away for free, there's just no way to make the transition to asking for money for your music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

This is a timely topic because as someone who writes/records/releases music, I've been struggling with the idea that it seems to be harder and harder to get people to be willing to pay for music. Since maybe 2004 I've argued against "just giving it away" on these boards, and when I started my own band and started to release records in 2007 I always made it something of a point of pride to sell stuff (minus stuff like a free promotional track, previews, and so on), even if I wasn't selling much. Sadly absent long-time BWTB BlueStrat made a lot of very sound points about it back in the day.

So it makes me a little sad to admit that I find myself in 2013 saying I've given up. I still think people holding out have been in the right, but at this point, I'm just worn down and discouraged. I'll probably be giving away everything I do in the future, including the album my band just finished. (which cost me personally around $2000 in studio time to record/mix/master frown.gif )

One thing that is gonna change though is that I intend to record much more cheaply. Part of why I felt justified in charging for the album my band did was that we always recorded them in a "real" studio with a "real" producer. I intend to move much more towards recording stuff myself and using the studio more for mixing and polishing, at least the stuff I'm doing on my own and paying out of my pocket for. I don't mind losing a little money making records, but not several thousand dollars anymore.

The sad thing is I can actually remember an old band I was in releasing a record in 2002 on CD and re-couping our considerable recording costs through CD sales alone in a few months. We could have never done that today, no way.
frown.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Glad to hear you fellow musicians see the absurdity in people's entitlement to "free" everything.

But 8 Foot Manchild makes a good point. This truly is the Age of Entitlement, and people view free music as free samples.

And I also realize that by offering a few songs for free download, I can clearly get heard much more effectively in far-flung places, places which I cannot physically go to at this point. So, right now, it's either I give some songs away and get heard more broadly, or not give anything away and not get heard at all.

Actionquid makes a great point about the overall reduction in quality, however. I didn't pay studio fees or hire a producer, but I did buy a nice computer, software, and home recording gear. I know for a fact that the actual sonic quality of my music would be greatly enhanced in a professional studio with professional engineers, but if I have to give music away, then why on earth would I make such a huge investment?

Oh, well. This is the new normal, and apparently, either we adapt with it, or we die.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...