iTunes - For Honest Working Musicians
There is a growing group of people who somehow
believe the itunes music store is "ripping off"
musicians.
Somehow, they believe if the
musician is not making $.89 or $.99 of that $.99 song you purchased, that is the
same as ripping off the musician. That is a pretty extreme point of
view.
Why? Let's compare it to the lives
of normal, average people. Does everyone like working for themselves? Sure,
there are definite advantages and disadvantages, right? But is it right for
everyone at all times in their life? No. When it's advantageous for you to
strike out on your own, you do it - whether it's for monetary reasons or because
you don't want to work for the man, right? But for some people, they don't want
the unknown of literally having to do it all, right? There is something to be
said for knowing when to come in, where to sit, you have a desk, furniture, tech
support, office equipment and of course, that check every two weeks, am I right?
Sure, you have to play by more rules but sometimes and in some places, you can
do very little and still get the paycheck every 2 weeks - nice. But there are
other times that you feel like you are bringing in a lot of income to the
company and what's your reward - a tiny, tiny sliver of the pie. And sometimes
that means you have to find a better company that better rewards you or if you
have enough experience, contacts and the right attitude - it's time to pitch
your own tent. You have to self motivate, go to Costco & Staples, buy a Mac
(after all, you can't afford 24-hour tech support for all the viruii :-) ... you
don't automatically have a paycheck after 2 weeks but you have the freedom to do
almost everything you want ... for some people, that's appealing - others not so
much.
SAME with
musicians.
Some musicians want to know
and decide on EVERY detail of their career and more importantly - think they are
the only person they trust to have to final say. And for some artists, that's
true and others - well, maybe they should just stick to music
right?
Being a musician and having a
musical career are two different things. Some are obvious - what kinds of songs
should I write or sing, who should be in my band, who should produce my CD ...
but then it gets tricky - what's the best publicity? Should I present a certain
image or should I change if others think it looks stupid? What's the best way to
build my career - through tours in tiny clubs or try and go big immediately? Who
do I trust to get me from my parent's garage to the next "cusp" stage? Should I
sign with a big label or small? Do I sign all the paychecks for the band members
& crew after gigs? Who looks after merchandiscing? What after song
royalties? Or to extend it to downloading - how many people do you hire to
design the website, encode the music and set up an e-commerce site? These people
want to be paid upfront, I certainly would. Where's that money coming
from?
It's exactly like running a
business AND getting PR, advertising and marketing up & running - can you or
do YOU want to do it all?
Or maybe you
just want to play the freakin'
music?!
That's exactly why there are
record labels and now, the itunes music
store.
Because sometimes you don't want
to it all YOURSELF.
It's nice to get a
check and have people who have PR contacts (TV. radio, magazines) who can get
the word out - instead of you having to hire and PAY for a photographer, for CD
artwork and CD duplication, et al ... the label gives you as many options as you
would like to make.
Sure, there are
labels that rip off artists or chew and spit them out but that's the same with
any company we ALL go work for, right? Some are good and some are idiots. And
sure, there are major things that need revising like all artists having to sign
for 7 CD's and 7 years but again, if it all works out right - I don't think
Norah Jones is complaining. People are focused on one aspect of the relationship
but not what else the record label does - Norah Jones sold 9 million CD's - by
doing it herself, she would've had to pay to press those 9 million CD's herself,
upload her own music - is that what you're saying every artist and musician
should be concentrating
on?
NO.
Yes,
there are some artists who are better off running their own show. They like to
do it. They've earned the right to do it or they're willing to trade the advance
for possibly more down the line or they if have the money to hire employees,
they want the complete freedom to do as they damn please. But just like us, we
don't all work for ourselves - there are advantages to not being the
boss.
So, to complain about the itunes
music store is saying that no one should ever work for someone else. That if we
don't get the exact amount of work we put in return for the exact same
compensation, we walk away.
That's what
some people are advocating that you either download for free or download from an
artist site only - uhhh, welcome to the real
world.
If that's your justification for
free downloading - that's some sort of belligerent, selfish socialism ... and we
all know that socialism doesn't work - never mind adding in the belligerent
& selfish part.
The music industry is
far from perfect - it is like the factory work of the 1920s - some people are
losing (musical) limbs and reform is necessary. The itunes music store is the
new Bauhaus building with a lunch room and some cots. It's a step up from the
dreary brick buildings with no ventilation and progress is being made. Burning
down the factory and forcing musicians to make a living by singing on street
corners is NOT a solution.
Posted: Wed - March 3, 2004 at 10:00 PM