http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2275858,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=39
This article illustrates perfectly the battle that faces even an established act like The Roots in making a sustainable living from releasing their albums.
?uestlove will be getting a call.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Beatblocs; a new revenue stream for recording artists and producers.
We’ve explained how we anticipate the majority of our content to come from our grass-roots user-base; street level producers, and how this content will be aimed at both music production beginners looking for a professional sound and busy music professionals looking for quick beat solutions for their remixes, pitches, submissions, etc. This is just one element of what Beatblocs offers.
A new remix culture is unfolding. In this hungry climate signed recording artists and their managers are looking for ways of making an income from their music other than the traditional (and new) distribution models. Even Ad agency budgets are shrinking (something I know about well).
Artists are beginning to find out that elements or pieces of their music have value too. Bedroom music production is now big business. People want the opportunity to buy into the way a particular artist makes music. When you love a piece of music, there is a fascination to find out how it was done, or at least a wish to add a bit of that magic to their own music.
Radiohead recently posted an online competition to remix their track “Nude”. The site contains links to each element (“stem”) of the original track available for sale on iTunes. Also included is a Garage Band file (ubiquitous Apple music production software) where each of the “stems” are saved as Apple Loops files, with all the contained metadata, making the process even simpler for budding remixers. While this is promoted as a competition, all of the combined stems cost a total of £4, where as the individual track on the album could have been downloaded for free. Thus Radiohead, understandably, place a higher financial value on the elements within their music than the final product. The competition is also a lure for what is at heart additional revenue stream.
Obviously, at Beatblocs, we concentrate on the beat alone, rather than the whole track (for now, at least), but the point I am illustrating is that there is a value to each element of Radioheads’ music. People want to buy into the magic of their music, even if it is just remixing it in their bedroom.
Artists and their managers should not underestimate the value of simple elements of their music. That other people (fans and non-fans) can see the magic and the skill that goes into these elements and want to buy into it. Even if its in the comfort of their bedroom.
The artist will not be giving away any secrets or credibility (if anything, a good producer will be adding more cashe, by showcasing his/her production talent) and would be able to recycle unreleased tracks in a positive (and hopefully lucrative) way. The content will be presented with articles and background to expose the artist to a new potential fanbase.
Bottom line, if your artist has profile, he/she will sell beats. If anything, there is more value today, right now, on a simple beat produced by a favourite artist, than the whole album of the same artist that will probably have been downloaded for free.
It’s food for thought.
A new remix culture is unfolding. In this hungry climate signed recording artists and their managers are looking for ways of making an income from their music other than the traditional (and new) distribution models. Even Ad agency budgets are shrinking (something I know about well).
Artists are beginning to find out that elements or pieces of their music have value too. Bedroom music production is now big business. People want the opportunity to buy into the way a particular artist makes music. When you love a piece of music, there is a fascination to find out how it was done, or at least a wish to add a bit of that magic to their own music.
Radiohead recently posted an online competition to remix their track “Nude”. The site contains links to each element (“stem”) of the original track available for sale on iTunes. Also included is a Garage Band file (ubiquitous Apple music production software) where each of the “stems” are saved as Apple Loops files, with all the contained metadata, making the process even simpler for budding remixers. While this is promoted as a competition, all of the combined stems cost a total of £4, where as the individual track on the album could have been downloaded for free. Thus Radiohead, understandably, place a higher financial value on the elements within their music than the final product. The competition is also a lure for what is at heart additional revenue stream.
Obviously, at Beatblocs, we concentrate on the beat alone, rather than the whole track (for now, at least), but the point I am illustrating is that there is a value to each element of Radioheads’ music. People want to buy into the magic of their music, even if it is just remixing it in their bedroom.
Artists and their managers should not underestimate the value of simple elements of their music. That other people (fans and non-fans) can see the magic and the skill that goes into these elements and want to buy into it. Even if its in the comfort of their bedroom.
The artist will not be giving away any secrets or credibility (if anything, a good producer will be adding more cashe, by showcasing his/her production talent) and would be able to recycle unreleased tracks in a positive (and hopefully lucrative) way. The content will be presented with articles and background to expose the artist to a new potential fanbase.
Bottom line, if your artist has profile, he/she will sell beats. If anything, there is more value today, right now, on a simple beat produced by a favourite artist, than the whole album of the same artist that will probably have been downloaded for free.
It’s food for thought.
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