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The Digital File-Sharing DebateHere's the commentary that started it all:Two Thumbs Down! Let's move on to an e-mail I received from Paul Abramson, of Van Richter Records, who took issue with the excerpt I ran from Roger Ebert's column on the benefits of digital music file sharing: "This is a bunch of crap! What the hell does Roger Ebert know about the music biz? I would like to see him try and run an indie label! Remember the days before the Net when people bought CDs sans free music? This is the most disingenuous argument I have ever heard. Why would you buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" My response: Actually, in Ebert's full article he recalls going to the local record store when he was a kid and playing the latest vinyl singles in listening rooms (similar to the headphone sampling setups of today). He claims that type of free exposure spurred sales. I respectfully disagree with the notion that the "days before the Net" were "sans free music." Today's digital downloads are just the latest incarnation of free sampling. In fact, when you think about it, radio has been one of the biggest sources of free music for decades. I remember rock jocks in the '70s saying "Start your recorders now" just before playing entire albums on the air -- albums like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," one of the most consistent selling albums in history. Disclaimer: I do realize that recording to tape off the radio is a lot different from downloading a digital file, which can be flawlessly reproduced and distributed. And I don't advocate taking music from any artist without their approval and making it available to the masses online. But I do believe that, despite the paranoia of major labels, music file sharing leads to at least as many sales as it deters -- especially for newer artists. Here are some responses from subscribers: It's rather funny to me that people are so adamant against free downloads. I know the Brobdingnagian Bards give away more than our free share, but we've successfully built a marketing model whereby free downloads are launching our success. We've had nearly two million downloads of our music and have successfully established ourselves as one of the most popular Celtic bands online. That's all from giving away freebies. And yes, we are still selling CDs. Actually, we're selling more CDs than we ever did before, thanks to the free downloads. (I think last month we sold about 200 CDs online, still small, but respectable for an indie band) But we also meet people daily who don't have the money to buy our CDs. You know what, many of these people are our Biggest fans. Why? Because we've given them a couple albums of music for free! Yesterday, a woman in Virginia asked if we'd mind if she burned our MP3s to CD. She didn't have the money then to buy some CDs, so she downloaded MP3s and made her own. She also volunteered to promote us next time we were in Virginia. She may not be a paying fan, but she is a dedicated one. And that word-of-mouth marketing is much more valuable than a single CD sale. I realize that music labels all around are suffering. But I believe that is because they haven't learned how to promote with MP3s. The music business is changing. It's time to learn how to best take advantage of this technology. Here's a great suggestion for giving away free MP3s while still promoting your Indie label. Add a statement about your record company to the MP3. For example, check out "Only Time" by Enya on MP3.com: "'Only Time' brought to you by Reprise Records" Why not do the same to promote your record company? Add your URL to the audio file if you want. But give the MP3 away free. You'll have a lot more people coming back to you to buy the lastest CD from your artist. And the sooner you learn, the sooner you will be a step above the rest of the competition! -Marc Gunn, Brobdingnagian Bards
Bob, I'm surprised and disappointed that you took Roger Eber'ts side regarding his article, "Don't Confuse Fans With Pirates". Might not the main reason many people repeatedly come to record stores to listen to records and the reason they eventually paid for them be that there were no free downloads and because getting caught shoplifting would result in embarrassment and possible arrest? I strongly feel that the people who write these articles in favor of "file sharing" are merely trying to curry favor with fans of free downloads, knowing that they vastly outnumber those who are (or would like to be) making, recording, promoting and distributing music. The DJs that told you to record an album knew that there was a limited number of people in their listening area that would record it on their tape recorders and what a reel of tape cost. You will note that that practice ended over 25 years ago. I wonder why that might be? There is a HUGE difference between posting a sample or an entire song on cdnow, cd baby, mp3.com, numerous band web sites, etc, and having anonymous people uploading your entire cd without permission, whether you like it or not. -Jon
I find these polar discussions between Roger Ebert and Paul Abramson very interesting. Paul seems to think by his statement "This is the most disingenuous argument I have ever heard" that Roger has an ulterior motive. I don't know Roger personally, and I'm not sure why he's commenting on this subject publicly, but where would he get personal gain from a hidden agenda? I agree to a certain extent with Roger Ebert. But only to the extent that 1-3 songs per album make for good promotion, not the whole album ripped and shared. Because it's digital now, it's not like it was in the old analog days of copying with sound degeneration. Songs and music can be copied infinitely, that can easily be abused. So with that said, I think the solution is not to have an entire album digitally uncopyable, but to have key tracks that the label would release to radio and promotion of the album anyway be easily ripped and shared and protect the rest. -name withheld
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