Killing “It” Softly with a Song or 99 Pennies for your Thoughts!
Killing “It” Softly with a Song or 99 Pennies for your Thoughts!
Week 19 | September 28, 2017
By the Forgotten Woman, JoOnna Silberman
Just a quick note at the beginning for my regular readers. I am going to have to cut down on the blog to every other week. We have gotten very busy and I find that it is difficult to maintain the weekly posts. Was hoping this would not be the case because I love writing it. Also, as you know, Facebook is giving me a hard time. So, in this case less is more. Now to the meat!
I could not decide on a title, so came up with two. Both work, so why not use both?
Do you buy your music or do you “rip” it? Simple question. Or perhaps you stream it? And you say to yourself “Wow, this is great. I can listen to all this music and it doesn’t cost me a cent!” Well, it is costing someone. What is it that you all, who don’t pay for music think will happen down the road? In 2013 the L.A. Weekly came out with an estimate that put it at about $8320 per song in a DIY environment, and this is on the low end. This does not include the distribution or promotion, nor does it account for the artists time, creativity or intellectual property. And an Album? Well, just do the math. Also, this article was published in 2013. I would suspect that the cost is about $10K now. I just asked one of my business partners for the cost of producing one of our released albums, and the number that they came back with was $30K (for 12 songs). Imagine that? That is a lot of money!
When you go to your job, you produce work product for your company and/or boss. You expect to get paid for that work? Right? No matter what your job might be. If you are an Administrative Assistant, Mechanic, Executive, Software Engineer, when you go into work, no matter what you do, you expect a pay check at the end of the week (two weeks or Month). So why would one not pay an artist for the work that they do? Why would one think it is okay to rip the music and/or listen for free and not pay to listen to it?
In my last blog “Music or Lie: The Torture of Rock by Pop & the Media” , I wrote about the perceived demise of the guitar, and certain facets of the rock industry in general. While my conclusion was that the guitar is not going anywhere, it also became clear that the music and rock industry are in trouble. Album sales are down in digital especially, and mainstream artists must tour to make money. Imagine the impact on the little guy?
The digital age is both a blessing and a curse to the music industry. While there are some extremely fantastic contributions it has made in recording, sound and editing. It has also oversaturated the market enabling anyone to produce a song in their basement, and mixing good musicians and music in with bad, because nowadays anybody can record at home and sell their music online. The truly inspirational and innovative musicians are getting lost is a very big pond and people are being overwhelmed by a ton of music. Don’t get me wrong—making music is great and wonderful. However, when a market gets overrun, it is hard to find product that truly makes you twitterpated. It can be exhausting sifting through the endless barrage of music out there and we tend to lean towards where the mainstream masses are telling us to go. However, once you find an artist what do you do? Do you buy a song? Or do you just listen to it on a streaming service, or visit a YouTube Channel to hear it. Artists are left with the unfathomable task of having to post certain songs for free now, just to get seen and heard. And once they do that, they are giving it away, but frankly you as the listener do not have to take them up on it. You have a choice. You can buy a song. One song? 99 cents! Even five songs $5. If you truly believe in an artist and love their music the stand-up approach is to buy the music and before you ask, yes, I buy my music! Even though I am in the music industry. Why? Glad you asked.
The fact is that for each mainstream signed artist there are ten more who are equally as talented. Independent musicians can usually be more creative, experimental and innovative. Once an artist has signed, their creative input dies, they enter the world of template music dictated by the label and the music suffers. No all, but many! Not to mention everything ends up coming out of their own pocket and a good number of them end up losing money not making money, thus many choose to be independent, as to not lose their creative integrity and ensure that they are not having to pay a middle man. The rule now, that musicians must perform and tour to make money is across the board. Signed and/or unsigned. However, the signed artist has the bank of the label behind them to do much larger tours, which hopefully make them more money in the end. Again, being dictated to by the label, and losing some of their artistic freedom, however, that is where the money is. And for the record the cost of that tour comes out of their pocket, after the fact. This said, the Independent musician, in not wanting to lose their art does it all on their own and they don’t have the budget to do big tours or pay for huge advertising campaigns or press a multitude of discs. So, they must build incrementally and much more slowly hoping that they create a big enough following to make some money. They beg, borrow and barter each song. But it still cost them money to bring you beautiful music.
Recently someone said to me, “But now you can buy your own recording equipment and do it all yourself, which is great!” Not really! Much of what comes out of the basement, in many cases is garbage. Good (not great) for a demo perhaps, but not for a finished product. Having a great sound engineer and a recording studio that knows what it is doing is paramount to a successful recording of a song and/or Album in most cases (I am aware that there are those who can do it well, so not saying “All”) So again, that song or album that you listened to by an artist you have come to love, who is not signed has paid dearly to bring you that music. Yes, it is on Spotify and other streaming services, but they, the musician have paid for that out of pocket as well through distribution costs. Yes, you found it on Facebook, and or their website! Guess what, that cost them as well. Making the video cost them, posting it cost them something. Creating their website cost them something. All of it costs them money on top of the recording cost.
I ask you again, what do you think happens when you do not buy a song? Or better yet, what do you think will happen in the future if people continue not to purchase the songs and continue to listen to them for free? Well, either that artist will be lucky (and I say that with my heart on my sleeve) to be signed, in which case they might lose their artistic integrity and won’t sound the same as when you first fell in love with them, it’s a crap shoot frankly. Go ask Mumford & Sons, who are finally back to playing music their way, which was the right way all along. Or they will stop making music altogether, because they cannot survive because nobody is buying their songs.
It is up to us, those who love music to be on our honor and to start to support the Independent artists that we find. Even if it is just purchasing one or two songs. Stop “ripping” music or just assuming, that it is okay to listen for free, because you can. It is not okay. If you want to keep the music industry healthy, please buy a song from whichever artist you feel or love. Singed or unsigned. While the digital invasion has brought much in the way of great things to the industry, it has also taken away the ability for artists to make money. If you love music, if you want the industry to flourish pay for some music. I am not saying don’t stream, or don’t not watch the video. Just remember that it was brought to you at a cost. If you love a song. Buy it.
While we at FMP are continually working on ways to assist independent artist in figuring out ways to make money and stay relevant, but it is also up to the listener. I will continue to write about these topics because I love music. I will continue to support Independent artists because I love composition, structure and creativity in my music. I hope all of you will take to heart what I write about, because I truly believe that the industry, especially the rock industry is in peril. I for one, want to hear truly beautiful sounds and creations, but it will be lost if people don’t start paying for the songs, going to gigs and supporting the cause. Free in this case might not be a good thing.
To answer the question. I buy my music, even the artists I work with, because I want the industry and the music to continue. How about you?
Cheers and thank you for reading,
JoOnna Silberman, The Forgotten Woman at Forgotten Man
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