the vinyl countdown

[tioneb]

Interesting topic... Though im a vinyl nerd, it rasies many many points i agree with.

http://www.themonobrow.com/ar.php?id=6


the vinyl countdown

Whilst conventional record labels play catch-up on the mp3 download phenomenon, Sebastian Redenz is something of an old hand at the digital distribution game, with over 60 releases on his Thinner netlabel under his belt.

One of a growing army of internet-only record labels, “netlabels” like Thinner are in some ways the natural evolution of peer to peer filesharing, offering free downloads of mp3s of high-quality release standard music to literally thousands of users worldwide.

“People are just excited when they find something such as netlabels – free music that is legal to download,” says Redenz of the huge reach that his label has achieved in just three years.

Individually designed graphics and a strict A&R filtering policy help Thinner’s music stand out from sites like Soundclick, which offer free demo mp3 downloads from such a huge catalogue that separating the wheat from the chaff would test the patience of even the most dedicated music consumer.

And with a four track EP release via Thinner receiving around 4,000 downloads, a figure which puts the sales of many a conventional vinyl label to shame, artists who make it through the Thinner selection process are assured that their music will reach a far bigger audience than most vinyl releases today could ever dream of.

Such is the kudos attached to a Thinner release that established producers from the vinyl world are more than happy to let Redenz give their music away for free, from Holger Flinsch to Mateo Murphy to Jeff Bennett.

“Times have changed dramatically for artists in general, for those specialized genres we operate in,” explains Redenz.

“Today, a label must be very sure about the predicted sales for a release, if they want to break even.

“But that doesn’t correspond with the amount of good music available, so netlabels are a good forum to do uncomplicated and quick releases, as our distribution is the strongest in terms of listener potentials.”

A netlabel offers a more direct route from artist to audience, bypassing the long chain of labels, manufacturers, distributors and shops who would otherwise take a slice of the pie, bumping up the end price of the music.

“Vinyl is nothing more than an expensive business card - the production is simply too expensive, the medium too inflexible,” says Redenz.

But although Redenz can certainly offer some lessons to the industry old guard on the benefits of mp3 distribution, the free downloads model is only viable for netlabels thanks to the benevolence of not only the artists who donate their music, but also whichever organisation pays for their bandwidth and hosting costs - often an educational or cultural institution, or the Internet Archive digital library project.

And whilst a proportion of Thinner’s users may well subscribe to the notion underlying the culture of peer to peer software, that music should be free, others are so eager to contribute some sort of monetary thanks for the music they enjoy courtesy of Thinner that the label recently introduced a micropayment system allowing users to donate directly to the artist.

“We believe the digital format is unstoppable, and the whole idea of consuming music is changing,” says digital evangelist Redenz.

“You don’t even need to leave your house and go to a record shop to obtain the music.

“If you have WLAN you can download it lying in your bed. Its all about accessibility – that’s the future.

“Of course its nice to watch when a DJ plays records, but he will appreciate the idea of having his whole record collection on a single hard disc, instead of carrying these heavy vinyl bags.”

And the digital distribution model is certainly much more compatible with today’s iPod culture than clunky old vinyl which you can only listen to at home on your decks.

“Enjoy our music in a park, below a tree, or on a slim-fashioned digital player,” invites Redenz.

Thinner
Internet Archive Digital Library
Soundclick

gemma sheppard (2004-10-14, 0157

[Joseph Isaac]

Fascinating. I think vinyl will become something for the 'elite' in terms of labels (especially techno) being able to keep manufacturing them. What I mean is labels ranging from Djax to UR will always have their "core" audience to buy their releases and maintain their production costs. Newer labels, regardless of how good or bad the music is, will have to attempt to (re)create their own core audience to support them. New labels will have to find new avenues of promotion/distribution in order to accomplish this feat. Djax and UR (and others) didn't have the competition of mp3's and broadband internet access...We (new labels) do. Good luck...

[Internal Error Records]

*zips mouth shut*

i'll bet five bucks this thread is locked in a page or two.

can't kick this horse too many more times.

moves on to another thread.

[dirty_bass]

Wow, that certainly makes for interesting reading.
Hopefully minds will relax over the next 12 months and then we can make this a smooth transit to new technologies and keep the scene alive, by being at the front of the technological revolution.

[Evil G]

maybe my post about following the underground comic strip scene to a free download model with readers paying donations and/or buying merch to support the artists wasn't so far fetched.... ;)

human nature is multi-faceted after all. yes, we are selfish and will download things for free if we can, but that very selfishness can and does lead to people donating to artists to ensure that they keep producing what we like.

[gustavo]

free music that is legal to download

mm thats very nice...

so they earn theyr money to publicity ??


i think affordable downloads...for tcks

and sets!!!! are the way....

i think most of the people wouldnt mind to pay 15 c to download a set...

of course a network must be created...the person who makes that will earn a lot of money

[Komplex]

What do you mean by creating a network? I'm not too sure if that can be done by one person it would need co-operation from dozens/hundreds of people...

Great Article by the way.

[fresh_an_funky_design]

as much as i love the idea of downloading music, i think it does need to be payed for as at the end of the day how do these artists that are giving away free music afford to live???

[Komplex]

as much as i love the idea of downloading music, i think it does need to be payed for as at the end of the day how do these artists that are giving away free music afford to live???

Yeah definately. There are online stores where you can download music that you pay for. Thinnerism just decided to make it free.

When it comes to pircay, if somebody wants to honestly pay for music they will. If somebody doesn't they will pirate it whether its on vinyl, cd, mp3, tape, radio, whatever. The format doesn't matter. Whatever it is it will be ripped off sooner or later.

Also if somebody can't find what they want on vinyl but want the actual music what will they do? Find another way to get it.

[tioneb]

free music that is legal to download

mm thats very nice...

so they earn theyr money to publicity ??

the basic idea with netlabels is not earning money. as its explained in the text, the big cost comes from bandwith and storage facilities, but luckily most of netlabels can get this for free through internet archive and similar ftps....

then, the artsits have to accept doing the music for free, and the label management is also totally free... but im sure artists running their own "regular" label recently launched dont earn money neither for their tracks or their involvement in the label anyways...

[gustavo]

free music that is legal to download

mm thats very nice...

so they earn theyr money to publicity ??

the basic idea with netlabels is not earning money. as its explained in the text, the big cost comes from bandwith and storage facilities, but luckily most of netlabels can get this for free through internet archive and similar ftps....

then, the artsits have to accept doing the music for free, and the label management is also totally free... but im sure artists running their own "regular" label recently launched dont earn money neither for their tracks or their involvement in the label anyways...

small , new artists dont really earn money unless they r really good
but basically it seems to me that if we r going to follow a total amateur way i dont see what future people have ,it makes more sense to me that u get payed for a broadcast+ the labels/artists get a percentage per download i mean this is not a really big industry and giving everything away ( perhaps in the begiining as a label promotion might work)when lots of people are willing to pay small amounts per download.

i think people who r good will eventually earn some money that is sure
to me the solution is taking advantage of the internet making low affordable prices and giving a qualitty product