Should music be given away free?

I thought the gigs would pave the way for techno artists and djs but I guess not.

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Originally Posted by blistanbul

I thought the gigs would pave the way for techno artists and djs but I guess not.

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That's all good except getting booked :/

Certainly not nearly as much Techno being played in the UK as say back in mid-90s to early 2000.
I was personally doing upto 2 gigs a week in Bristol and westcountry back then.

defo not! people have invested in equipment and time to make these tunes...

back in the day was all gd and im sure the gary d's and the westbams of the time made ****loads of dollar off tunes but nowadays its all dl this an share that

i personally dont think a producer's efforts should be just given away altho im aware that obv to get exposure these days thats the shiz

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Originally Posted by RDR

Its a tricky one thats for sure.

I think it all depends on what else people have going on, A touring/gigging artist will have more invested in the live set-up.

There are many instances where music is paid for and in big amounts. but these are one off pieces like music for adverts on commision etc etc.

It all depends on wether or not anyone regards music as intrinsically worth anything or as a vehicle to promote a brand image or the artist as a product. The recent rash of people giving things away for 'FREE' (OT i think the word FREE has much more power than the word F-U.C:K in modern day society) has hardly been FREE, there was always another option for people.

Look at princes recent giveaway in the papers, it was free to the consumer but not really free at all. Most artists in the independant sector 'enjoy' the long tail in terms of sales. Prince didnt do that. How much did he get paid by the papers for having this album given away free? Instant money. Not only that, but he exploited the long tail and gained some more fans in the process (i accept that he aliented some as well) plus the fact that if he had tried to BUY that marketing and publicity it would have been extremely expensive. The consumer accepts a free album on the premise that it is really free, and it is, the cost to them is hidden. Prince on the other hand gets rapid payment, the consumer pays HIM to publicise TO them. Look at the Radiohead and NIN jaunts recently, FREE meant giveaways, but they still made money from it. Not from the sales so much, but the publicity was MASSIVE. something they couldnt buy without spending millions.

For the independant? Well, havnt we always given away music for free in the form of Mix CDS? Isnt that what DJs are meant to do? Record pools have been around for a LONG time and did exactly that, gave away promo's to DJs so they could play them out. I think in the techno scene the problem is that who the hell is buying the music, its not the standard consumer, its the DJs and most of them i meant didnt really expect to pay for music at all. They felt that it should be free because they are 'Promoting' a certain artist. This rings true when you have a product like vinyl, hard to copy etc etc, but not MP3.

One of the side effects (IMO - like everything here else of course) is that all of a sudden the DJ jealously guarding their record collection has gone, no white labels on a CD is there? A DJ lives and dies on their tunes, but that piss and vinegar approach seems to have gone, in the endless round of circle jerk promo action.

/Rant.

EDIT: Just seen jamies comment and wanted to add a +1 for most of that. I know im trying to talk from a commercial perspective here.

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well said chief...

I reckon from a music collectors point of view it would be a good idea if labels provided MP3s free of charge with every vinyl purchase. At the moment I believe labels/online stores expect you to buy both at full price if you want both, forcing the decision to one or the other. I doubt many people can really afford to buy both.

Obviously some people probably rip vinyl to MP3 straight away, however I've always found this a bit of a chore and fiddly to get the best sound from the rip. On top of that some MP3s / WAVs are superior to the vinyl pressings from the start...

Additionally there would be the benefit of instant download access to your tunes, with the physical product delivered to your door in the next few days.

Its the best of both worlds solution!

Economically viable for the music labels themselves though I don't know

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Originally Posted by pion33r

I reckon from a music collectors point of view it would be a good idea if labels provided MP3s free of charge with every vinyl purchase. At the moment I believe labels/online stores expect you to buy both at full price if you want both, forcing the decision to one or the other. I doubt many people can really afford to buy both.

Obviously some people probably rip vinyl to MP3 straight away, however I've always found this a bit of a chore and fiddly to get the best sound from the rip. On top of that some MP3s / WAVs are superior to the vinyl pressings from the start...

Additionally there would be the benefit of instant download access to your tunes, with the physical product delivered to your door in the next few days.

Its the best of both worlds solution!

Economically viable for the music labels themselves though I don't know

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many mixes i dl now have no vinyl release/discogs info etc from trakkys as its all files,,,so many gd tunes im missin out on tbh...

id far rather pay a fiver for a record than have a file for the tune altho its gettin to the stage now where i am goin to be buyin files as summa the tunes are that gd and i cant miss them

i am an oldskool hardtrance/italiano collector aswell, so many tunes that i could never afford/justify wax price i have on mp3 not to mention all the tunes that were never released on wax back in the day off compilations etc or are just too rare to get is making me buy serato later this year to play them...saves outputting on a cdj and u still get the touchyfeelyness of the vinyl which is what i like tbh

There are far to many wankers making shitty tunes nowadays to be paying for it.

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Originally Posted by Little_Otty

There are far to many wankers making shitty tunes nowadays to be paying for it.

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such a joke for someone like you to say.

you are cool though.

Its an unfortunate state of affairs we are in, In my heart i believe that everything should be free to all mankind but thats taking things a little too deep, But obviously considering the social system we have in place where monetary value is placed on living, I think people need to earn a living, Although i think those that make music solely to make money are delusional, Get a real job to fall back on as the music industry could see you rocketing with fame one week and a nobody the next! Music is one human beings soul in essence being portrayed to others (Perhaps not techno because then there are many people with proper ****ed up souls!) hahaha Can a price be put on that? I love making music and i like to think others like my work too, So i try and make as many tracks of mine free as possibly, But i do hold out on some being released on a big record label, Not for profit or fame but just to be recognised as someone who has spent the last 8years of their life dedicated to a craft! - I dont think music should be free these days because any money is helpful!

P.S This comment "seems a nonsense. everything must have a cost otherwise it has no value." - Is the biggest pile of rubbish ive ever heard! Infact i think im going to have to laugh at it otherwise i will cry at how insanely stupid the human race has become :D Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Would like to add the part about getting a real job doesn't count for the older generations who have already made it lol Also i hold down a standard job and still find time to make tracks because i would rather not sleep in the night and work hard at it than not do it at all, because dance music is my life and i love it!! Everything is possible with a little determination!