I still don't see why people have to hate on Nickelback. Record companies have been generating hyped out bands and singers ever since someone invented record companies. For every Beatles and Elvis Presley, there are a couple hundred Monkees and Nickelback.

By and large, people are sheep. They move with the herd. What is Facebook and Twitter other than versions of this cult of popularity? They are both shit "apps", but they make money and are popular.

I bet over half the people who like "indie" music download it illegally instead of supporting their favourite bands. The fact most people support bands like Nickleback and not indies is almost funny in it's irony.

>> ^bareboards2:

music
Kudos to Lady Gaga for allowing the rights to that song at the end.


I'm going to hazard a guess and say that she wasn't even consulted, the BBC has a music buyout agreement with the majority of the record companies, which allows them to use all their music, royalty free.
Still an appropriate song none the less, its not just for queers .

Buy on iTunes: http://bit.ly/n1Mphd
Song Title: 
Without You
Artist: 
Rainbow Arabia
Album: 
Boys and Diamonds (2011)

Record Company: 
Kompakt Records
Website: http://rainbowarabia.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1705822430
Myspace: 
http://www.myspace.com/rainbowarabia
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rainbowarabia

>> ^Peroxide:

Nowadays with the money in my budget I do the best to go to the movies, shows, and buy the media that I actually like.
Before access to the internet I can recall too many bad memories of coming home with CDs and DVDs that I thought I would love, and then ended up being really upset that I had purchased them.


I pretty much only purchase content from artists directly.
Money goes straight to musicians I want to support.

If I buy a song on itunes for a dollar, Apple takes half.
Of the $0.50 remaining, the record company takes 1/2 or 3/4.
Then the label (and others) takes their cut.
If five cents on the dollar actually goes to artists I want to support, they have a really really good contract.

@heropsycho - recorded music simply isn't profitable? Firstly, I don't believe that is true. The big record companies may be making less than they think they are entitled to, but they still operate pretty much as they have for decades: generate a big star, make lots of money from them, lose money on lots of little guys until you generate another into a big star. Repeat.

Secondly, my understanding is that despite the bleatings of the music industry to the contrary, there are more professional musicians making a living out of their talent now than ever before. Selling albums has certainly featured less in this economy, and touring more - this is partly due to the growth in purchasing 'experiences' rather than products in rich countries. Those on independent labels struggle along pretty much how they always did.

The internet has simply changed the laws of commerce. You can't make a shitload through protecting IP the way you used to - but you can still make a shitload. It's just going to take a while for the entertainment industry to catch up.

Louis C.K. has been hilarious for years, and for years has been making comedy at the expense of big bizz, and had much to do with an old favorite comedy of mine.

As an artist, your job is to convince people that what you do has value, and then give people an opportunity to express (to you) that they agree that what you do has value and that they would like you to continue making your art. At the inception of recorded music, the companies that facilitated this did much to help people to be able to express their sense of value towards recording artist, but over the last few years, those same record companies have done much to get in the way.

What LCK is essentially doing is opening up his cupboard to honesty and respect. He's fully aware that there are lots of people who will not buy his recordings no matter what, but he is fully aware that making things easy for his fans to support him will never bite him in the ass.

Ditto fucking love Rollins talking about fucking anything. Bonus points for being totally right here. I remember a story someone told me about the Black Eyed Peas being completely awesome in Brazil for years before some record company said "We'll produce your records if you take this Fergie Bitch" and they agreed. One they had already been awesome for years and years, time to get paid and think about your kids and your future and your retirement. Maybe not ridiculously 5 mansions paid, but paid none the less, who wouldn't take that?

Watch the doc I Am Trying to Break Your Heart for a great example of her point about the record company backing out of a deal.

Bill Withers is the man. He's had many hits that are still popular today in their original form...covers...rap artists sampling him, etc. Not to mention a captivating voice. Pretty fascinating career too, battles with record companies and such.

I've always loved his lyrics...simple and right to the point, but still somehow colorful and emotional. Best. I love when people try to sing his songs on American Idol (what, my little sisters watch it) and the judges all shake their heads because they fail at reproducing the soul of the song.

You've also gotta respect his outlook on life:

COX: So, I want to ask you to look at the choices that Bill Withers has made in his life to now and tell us which choice you made was your best choice, and which one you made was your worst?

Mr. WITHERS: Let's make it a generalization thing. The best choices that I made was when I was - when I accepted who I was and was honest with myself and went about things how I believed it, without worrying about whether I was going to impress somebody or not. And the worst choices that I made was when I was trying to gain somebody's approval rather than choosing on principle. And every time I compromise one of my principles, the price is fierce for that.

From:
Songwriter Bill Withers And A Career Cut Short
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7236327

think of the artists you are cheating when you post this. now they won't get paid their minimum wage by teh record companies

@rosser99

I think it's impractical to think about it as right and wrong anymore. File sharing isn't going away, policing the internet is never going to be plausible or practical, lawsuits are a drop in the ocean and the measures they're using now with having ISPs in certain countries such as France disconnect you on a 3 strikes rule are bound to be circumvented in one form or another. I mean sure, you can have opinions on it either way, but moral arguments won't change the state of things. The real question should be how should the industry adapt?

What record companies should be doing is slimming down by moving towards internet distribution and promotion, and casting a wider net by relying less on one-hit wonders and more to catering to a broad range of niche audiences that they're losing by the throng. Instead they're going in the opposite direction.

I remember reading a thread in a popular music file-sharing hub by an ex-recording industry professional that back-catalogues and collectors editions are where the real dough is made. Many of the 'artists' (I use the term loosely) will be forgotten and never heard of by the end of the year. Plunging sales have meant that record companies have become more concerned with making the quick buck, extract the one hit, and move on. As a result the vast majority of artists are simply not able to develop their musical talent on big-name record companies over time because they're passed on for the next big hit. Similarly bands that are selected and promoted are the ones that have the most broad and banal appeal. You know, the ones that sound like every generic hip-hop song you've heard in last 3 years, the ones that have strippers prancing around during the entire video clip. The problem is, there's a sizable group of people who no longer have any interest in laying down money for this disposable music.

The successful ones are also generally bled dry nowadays. It used to be that live performances and merchandise profits were entirely or mostly in the purview of the artist, now that record companies are having their purse strings tightening, they're extending their contracts to include chips out of these earnings too. It'll be hard to tell what this environment will eventually lead to in terms of mainstream music progression. I think it's inevitable though that the likes of iTunes (which has more or less already adopted this model) will begin to dominate. Perhaps at that point we will see some kind of turning point.

As far as I'm concerned the ability to sample music has meant that I've been able to discover some great bands, and had the opportunity to buy their albums (I tend to buy in 10+ bulk orders every so often) and otherwise support them by going to see their shows. It has also meant that I've only paid good money for albums that stand the test of time and have been able to support bands that genuinely need the monetary support to continue their endeavor rather than reward big-name labels for their exorbitant ad campaigns.

So YEAH! I challenge you to read all that

Reason #445 to not pay for music created by large record companies.

holy shite! wonder if a record company finds this...

Well actually, I was reading about Warner Music group on BoingBoing last week. I had a lot of George Carlin videos on here before he died and some more right after. In just two or three days after Carlin's death Warner started removing Carlin posts all over the place. (Which of course pissed me off because Carlin being alive was probably the only reason some asshole record executive hadn't pulled them already.) Anyway, the reason I mention it is that the article I was reading was talking about copyright in general and new ways that record companies are trying to discourage people from downloading material.

What you're talking about actually sounds similar to some of the stuff they mention. Apparently somewhere along the line some younger and hipper industry people started pointing out that there are other ways to discourage people from taking their stuff. The six-figure lawsuits and DRM were actually just serving to demonize companies and someone realized that the key to reaching their goal was to get people on their side.

Now, I'm not saying I'm sure but I've noticed a few things on youtube these days that seem fishy so I went directly to Warner's site to investigate and you know what I found?

They actually ha a whole army of techs working onwe're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I. Full commitment's what I'm thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other guy. I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling. Gotta make you understand. Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and, desert you. Never gonna make you cry. Never gonna say goodbye. Never gonna tell a lie, and hurt youyou belive that shit?

They'll stop at nothing these days.

>> ^dannym3141:
I'd just like to say i installed this just now and searched for "pink floyd - comfortably numb" and various alternatives.
This program failed the litmus test. That's a pretty staple song really, by a huge band. It only had covers and versions done by individual members of the band and no original full-band version.
That's a pet peeve for me - any search return that doesn't have the original right at the top is an absolute shambles and an insult, if you ask me. Scissor sister's terrible cover version smiling at me from the top and no original.
So i did another search for "pink floyd" and got absolutely nothing. No music by pink floyd. Lots of covers though!!!!!!!!
Uninstalled


Blame Pink Floyd's record company, not the program itself.

*edit* added the mac link for you mac users (god have mercy on your souls you blasphemers)