Posted on 05/30/2007 5:02:12 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(CBS) NEW YORK -- When the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah packaged and shipped its new CD, called "Some Loud Thunder," they released it without a record label. And this was after their first self-financed album had sold more than 200,000 copies, prompting plenty of offers from the big labels, which they turned down.
When asked why, Sean Greenhalgh, the band's drummer, told CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason, "The question that we asked record companies was essentially, 'What can you do for us that we can't do for ourselves?'"
Billboard magazine made the band the poster boys of a "do-it-yourself revolution." Even million-selling artists like Jewel are considering going it alone. Garth Brooks did; so will The Eagles with their next album.
One big reason: The Internet is now doing much of the promotion & distribution work, as fans themselves spread the word and the music.
"Now you have blogs, other places where people go — that's how the publicity happens now," said Greenhalgh.
So band members hired their own manufacturer, distributor and marketing company, and instead of the $1 an album they'd typically make from a record company, they'll get about $6 for every copy they sell.
Jeff Tweedy is lead singer of the Grammy-winning band Wilco, whose new album, "Sky Blue Sky," comes next week on the Nonesuch label. But he wonders how long labels will be important.
"Technology has evened the playing field. If the artist can gain more power over the situation — over the economics of the situation — why wouldn't they take it?"
Like many artists, Tweedy admits asking himself the question: Do record labels deserve that big a cut?
And his answer? "It's getting to be a really tough call" — because the record companies aren't moving albums the way they used to. CD sales plummeted 20 percent the first three months of this year.
Empty shelves are all you'll find now at Tower Records, which until December was one of the most famous music store chains in the country. But it's now out of business, bankrupt — the abandoned display cases another unsettling sign of an industry in turmoil.
As the industry tries to figure out where the business is going, bands like Clap Your Hands believe they're better off going it alone.
"It was definitely a calculated risk," said Greenlagh, "but we felt like we had everything in place to do it ourselves."
It's not necessarily their music that's revolutionary — it's their business model.
Good for them. My wife and I were just talking about the same sort of thing, though about publishing.
If radio isn’t going to play new non-hip hop/dance music on the radio, then the majors’ weight won’t count for much.
And just because you are on a major doesn’t mean they will spend their resources on marketing your album.
Record stores are falling away so they can’t even guarantee you prime real estate/visibility in retail.
The RIAA says we are paying too little for CDs now (and the majors got caught a few years ago in a price fixing scheme trying to push the retail price of a CD up past $17). Do you think that the bands would see $5/disc profit that way?
The old guard killed what was once a lucrative business.
I'd like to write in retirement but I think I'd like to just work hard and go it alone with publishing and marketing. If I'm good, people will read it. If I suck, the people who watch a lot of TV might like it. Anyway, this is a business model I'll be watching as it spreads to other industries where a mediocre middleman controls the success of the artist.
www.lulu.com was founded by one of the co-founders of Red Had Linux, and offers an intriguing self-publishing print-on-demand solution. You can even sell your downloadable books from their site.
Ping
If instead of earning $1 for each album sold, they can earen $6, will they then LOWER the price of their album, and make it up on volume? That’s what is killing CD sales..IMHO. prices of$15-$20 for a CD, when most people onyl want one or two songs on any given album
What I’m learning about this upheaval in newspapers, television, hollywood, etc. is that its all about DISTRIBUTION. The content providers (newspapers, tv, etc) in order to maintain their monopoly and pricing power, had to also control distribution. All gone now...
Capitalism at it's best, learned first hand, at a young age. Love it.
Yup..and actually...I think that once the dust finally settles, there will be a way for a great many good journalists to earn a good living.. They’ll pick a particular field or area of expertise, follow it, and be able to sell their product...to a wide range of users..
FYI..related news..today’s NY POST reports that the best seats at MSG for the upcoming Police concert are going for $11,500@...
Even if I were a Police fan, I’d pass.
I’ve heard of them. There are a number of POD options out there now but some of them seem shady (although it’s possible some writers just don’t do their homework before going that route, get screwed and then complain loudly).
Or Realtors.
Good news! Thanks for posting.
Thanks very much for the ping.
Do you know of any specific problems that people have had with podcasting or other publishing/broadcasting sites?
I can’t think of anything specific, but I used to read some newsletter that had a warning section about shady publishing deals, both PODs and small mainstream publishers. I just recall people complaining about certain PODs (XLIBRIS or something).
Thanks. Beware vanity poetry publishers, I’ve heard! ;^)
Welcome to the world of de-massified media Alvin Toffler prophesized about way back in 1979 when he wrote The Third Wave. And that's EXACTLY what happened when you have 60+ channel analog cable TV, 100+ channel digital cable TV, 150+ channel small-dish satellite TV, 80+ channel satellite radio, home video devices such as VCR's and DVD players, and the public Internet.
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