[newsarticle] Century Media pulls out of Spotify to "protect" artists[views:6375][posts:15]_________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 9:26am - Doomkid ""] from the no,-it-doesn't... dept We've definitely seen plenty of confusion from record labels over the value of Spotify and similar services. But, a heavy metal/hardcore label, Century Media (which runs a variety of smaller labels: InsideOutMusic, Superballmusic, Ain't no Grave Records, Hollywood Waste and People Like You) has claimed that it's pulling all its music from Spotify to "protect artists." It's a funny way to "protect" artists by punishing fans who want to hear them. They complain that "physical sales are dropping drastically in all countries where Spotify is active." Their assumption appears to be that correlation is causation, and merely removing their works from Spotify will now shoot sales back up. But that's not how things work. If anything, it seems likely that this move will accelerate their problems with physical sales. Not only will people not want to buy CDs, they won't even know about the musicians on this label. They'll just listen to someone else instead. The way you protect artists is by helping them to better connect with fans, not making it even more difficult. If I were a band on a Century Label, I'd be pretty pissed off that the label has unilaterally decided to piss off a bunch of my fans and stop many potential fans from discovering my music. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110810/...usic-spotify-protects-artists.shtml |
| ____________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 9:28am - Alx_Casket ""] Saw this on the borknagar facebook page this morning. Dumb move. |
| _________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 9:31am - Doomkid ""] I agree, I posted this because I was rather flabbergasted (though perhaps I should not have been) that a record label who relies on grassroots promotion of its musical style to survive would do this. |
| ________________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 9:33am - DestroyYouAlot ""] wtf is spotify |
| ____________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 9:37am - Alx_Casket ""] hipster internet radio |
| _________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 10:17am - KEVORD ""] I support Relapse pulling their artists from touring. That should boost record sales. |
| _______________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 10:21am - the_reverend ""] yeah, I got this 2 days ago and thought it was stupid. I would have posted about it, but didn't. Century Media and its associated labels "InsideOutMusic", "Superballmusic", "Ain't no Grave Records", "Hollywood Waste" and "People Like You" have decided to pull their repertoire from Spotify in an attempt to protect the interests of their artists. While everyone at the label group believes in the ever changing possibilities of new technology and new ways of bringing music to the fans, Century Media is also of the opinion that Spotify in its present shape and form isn't the way forward. The income streams to the artists are affected massively and therefore that accelerates the downward spiral, which eventually will lead to artists not being able to record music the way it should be recorded. Ultimately, in some cases, it will completely kill a lot of smaller bands that are already struggling to make ends meet. At the same time Century Media also believes that Spotify is a great tool to discover new music and is in the process of reintroducing their bands to Spotify by way of putting up samplers of the artists. This way, fans can still discover the great music released by the label. Physical sales are dropping drastically in all countries where Spotify is active. Artists are depending on their income from selling music and it is our job to support them to do so. Since the artists need to sell their music to continue their creativity, Spotify is a problem for them. This is about survival, nothing less and it is time that fans and consumers realize that for artists it is essential to sell music to keep their heads above water. Obviously it is ultimately up to the music fan and consumer, how they access their music, whether it is buying, streaming or stealing. There needs to be awareness though, that how you will consume your music has direct consequences for the artists, who we are all trying to support. http://www.centurymedia.com http://www.insideoutmusic.com http://www.superballmusic.com http://www.aintnograverecords.com/ http://www.hollywoodwaste.com/ http://www.peoplelikeyourecords.com |
| _____________________________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 10:40am - RustyPS should be working ""] KEVORD said:I support Relapse putting their artists in their grab bags. That should boost record sales. FXD |
| _____________________________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 10:42am - RustyPS should be working ""] "The income streams to the artists are affected massively and therefore that accelerates the downward spiral, which eventually will lead to artists not being able to record music the way it should be recorded." I wish they elaborated on that, because that statement just sounds stupid. |
| _____________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 11:16am - eyeroller ""] How is this "punishing fans who want to hear them?" If you want to hear a band, go see them and/or buy a fuckin' CD. Anything above and beyond that (like airplay - Radio or otherwise) is a bonus. People feel entitled to get everything for free. Are you on welfare? If bands want to share their own intellectual property via a download or streaming audio, that's their decision, not ours. That being said, the industry is DEAD, and anyone thinking they can make a reasonable living from being a recording musician is deluded thanks to "filesharing" thieves. That being said, I can't think of a single thing on that label I want to hear anyway. Wahh. |
| _________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 11:36am - xmikex ""] The real story here is that Century Media is still in business. They're honestly the Radio Shack of the music industry. |
| _______________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 11:55am - goatcatalyst ""] Pretty sure Century Media and its affiliated labels doesn't have any bands people should be listening to, anyway. If I Wrestled A Bear Once and Vampires Everywhere go under the radar of the consuming public, I'm all for it. |
| ________________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 11:59am - rageragennli ""] eyeroller said:How is this "punishing fans who want to hear them?" If you want to hear a band, go see them and/or buy a fuckin' CD. Anything above and beyond that (like airplay - Radio or otherwise) is a bonus. People feel entitled to get everything for free. Are you on welfare? If bands want to share their own intellectual property via a download or streaming audio, that's their decision, not ours. That being said, the industry is DEAD, and anyone thinking they can make a reasonable living from being a recording musician is deluded thanks to "filesharing" thieves. That being said, I can't think of a single thing on that label I want to hear anyway. Wahh. Artists are not entitled to compensation for work they release, getting paid is a bonus. If you think you're entitled to get paid for producing something that only has subjective use-value then you're probably just a shitty artists. People whining about declining record sales are just like people who whined about declining sheet music sales when radio and recordings came along. This is capitalism: ADAPT OR SHUT THE FUCK UP. |
| _____________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 12:03pm - eyeroller ""] Wax cylinder or GTFO - Only Edison is real. [img] |
| ________________________________________________ [Aug 11,2011 12:23pm - IllinoisEnemaBradness ""] eyeroller said:Wax cylinder or GTFO - Only Edison is real. [img] YOU STILL LISTEN TO WAX YOU'RE NOT USIN THE CD[img] |
| _____________________________________________ [Jan 29,2016 5:03pm - don be reDEEculous ""] Just got Spotify [img] |