Please Self-Release Me, Let Me Go

harmonium.ro wrote: Dean wrote: I'm a natural pessimist so a bad flip-chart is never going to convince me of anything. Word-of-mouth perpetuated the success of Part The Second, but it did not start it - without the initial impetus given by their prior history and Toby Driver's (cult) status that word of mouth would not have propagated far. If KD only drew 100 people at their London gig then that was result of venue size rather than low popularity - Blue Lambency Downward was available in every HMV I looked in when it was released.   My view is the perfect opposite: they have a cult following and their album albums are well distributed, still they couldn't fill a club in London (!). That makes them pretty underground to me.

^ Yahoo also wiped out Yahoo Blogs, but at least they sent a notice to all users asking them to back up before it happens. Still they suck for doing this.

I somehow missed the Live Prog blog, I'll check it out

stefolof wrote: 1. Hasn't it always been this way (and worse)? Was it easier for Bach 300 years ago to make his works stand the test of time?

jplanet wrote: Why aren't television broadcasts slowing and losing momentum? or telephone conversations? It's all moving over the internet now, even cable television such as FIOS is really just like a web browser behind the scenes - and what differences there are that enables such content to stream without buffering, could be used to deliver music as well, which is far less bandwidth-intensive than video...   I also don't believe there is any differentiation between internet phenomena and anything else - newspapers are certainly fizzling out, books, magazines - the internet is rapidly becoming the only means by which people consume media... I'm just trying to understand your points here - the examples you gave are all relatively small websites that try to monetize their services by nagging people with ads, delayed timers and slow bandwidth - but anyone can get cheap storage and bandwidth from any number of inexpensive webhosts...Ultimately cloud computing will derive profits form advertising, just as television always has, but only more effectively due to its ability to target demographics better...

Dean wrote: In the past 20 years we have seen the number of TV channels increase but the actual original content decrease. Bandwidth is increasing but pot of cash to fund it and the revenue to sustain it is not increasing by the same ratio. In the world of TV shows get cancelled because they don't achieve the right Nielsen ratings which means they are not pulling in enough viewers to please the advertisers. The same thing will happen to the Internet, just by a different mechanism and route. There is no reason to advertise something if no one is buying.

But those channels run such wonderful informercials when you're up late at night and can't sleep. (Thank God for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.)

With regards to advertising, it seems more about trying to influence people's buying than to reach those who already are.  Case in point, the Snuggie,  Consumer Reports says it's a piece of crap and why can't you just put your robe on backwards for crying out loud?

Back to the topic of self releasing, that sounds a little bit too much like a euphemism for masturbating.  And maybe that gets back to original point, it may feel good, but ultimately you'll usually just be enjoying yourself alone. 

To harmonium's point above, I couldn't agree with you more.  The internet took off like it did precisely because it didn't have those kind of monetary constrictions on what you could access.

^ I remember when I was kid growing up in tropical Florida, you could roam through woods, swamps and fields for miles in any direction and hunt for snakes or whatever, (brushes back one tear), but all that's gone now.

Good point Dean, I'll try to enjoy it while it lasts. Ebay sure was fun when it first opened, scored some amazing stuff for cheap, I wouldn't touch it now except as a reference to look up prices on completed items.

P.S. on a related subject: Keep paper money alive and use it as much as possible.
Demand non-electronic voting that produces a traceable paper trail.
Sorry to change the subject and sound paranoid, but it is somewhat related to things mentioned earlier.

Edited by Easy Money - February 13 2010 at 16:56

^ But if we rid music of business, then what will happen to those of us who make our living through music. Is it wrong to want to make your living through music?
Should the local symphony orchestra play for free and not pay their musicians?
Should Jeff Beck fix cars for a living?
Should the store where I pick up sheet music for students repent and give away all of their music and confess that they used to expect something in return for their work?

In the case of the orchestra, once the musicians who were expecting to be paid quit, we can replace them with musicians who will play for free, I'm sure there will be a huge improvement in performance skills.


Edited by Easy Money - February 15 2010 at 10:42

Well, there are people making millions out of selling bottled water, which is a proff that just about anything is possible. When people are willing to pay for a commodity they can get for free in their own homes, it should be possible to sell people something they can't get for free as well.

It's a matter of finding the right channel though. The right way to market it, the right place to market it, the right people to market it too.

Of course - in the music business there is that additional factor called competition to add to the formula.

A concept that might be worthwhile pursuing by someone, is some kind of subscription system. Let's say that you paid 15 bucks plus a fixed postage each month to get a CD in the post. You get an email monthly with links to - say - 5 mp3's by 5 different artists. Monthly selected choices. You can listen to 30 seconds samples or complete songs, and make a purchasing decision after listening. Direct link in the email. Also with links to MySpace pages, for those who'd like to check out further before deciding.

If none of them are to your liking, you can log in to a website and make a selection from a catalogue there instead.

Those that don't make any choice will be sent one specific highlighted CD.

Is that something that people might find interesting I wonder?

It's an age old concept, but by using emails and direct links - as well as a webpage and being approachable on various social networks like Facebook, Twitter etc. for eace of accesibility - could this ancient way of doing business be viable?

Of course - in this day and age there wouldn't be a need for a central unit to have all CDs and stuff there and then. Individual artists could sign up to become a part of this system, paying a fixed amount (1 dollar perhaps) on each sale they get through this system. And send out any ordered CDs themselves or through whatever cooperating partners they have set up to handle the biz part of their affairs.

Oh - signing up for a digital only system should be an option as well in such a system. The CD is fast approaching the end of it's life cycle after all.

Just an idea - perhaps a tad out of place inside this discussion - but thought to get it out now before the teflon in my brain covered it again ;-)

harmonium.ro wrote: Windhawk wrote: Well, there are people making millions out of selling bottled water, which is a proff that just about anything is possible. When people are willing to pay for a commodity they can get for free in their own homes, it should be possible to sell people something they can't get for free as well. Why do you assume that? Do you think everybody has great tasting water at home?

Our water tastes like stale flowers.

Seriously, the water in central Florida has such a distinct aroma it even permeates homes.

To add to the sidetrack - from Wikipedia on bottled water: "The global bottled water market valuation grew by 7% in 2006 to reach a value of $60,938.1 million. The volume of bottled water grew by 8.1% in 2006 to 115,393.5 million liters. In 2011, the market is forecast to have a value of $86,421.2 million, an increase of 41.8% since 2006. In 2011, the market is forecast to have a volume of 174,286.6 million liters, an increase of 51% since 2006"

Two articles - here and here - might be worth reading.