Comments on: Add Oasis to the list of bands considering music giveaway

Music industry could be facing toughest test yet as performers seek a more direct relationship with fans.

[MSSlayer]

pressure from both sides

More and more musicians are realizing they have no need for a middle man that takes the vast majority of the profits.

today, few bands make real money off CD sales, their money is from concerts. So this model changes little, even if they don't charge for the songs.

[M C]

Even with "major label" deals, concerts are now where the money is

Because the labels have really good accountants, artists often see a mere dribble of income from music sales in comparison to the labels' take. So many artists are already forced to tour for most of their income. (In the latest round of insult-to-injury, labels now try and get a piece of songwriting and even concert earnings)

Then the label stiffs the small artists on marketing in order to throw everything at the wall when 50 Cent's album drops, then when sales aren't huge the band is cast off - minus the masters they put their heart and soul into, which remain with the label. (Let's not even think about the scenario, famously documented in Wilco's famous case, of the label who just takes your new album master and simply refuses to put it out.)

So faced with doing it the major-label way and MAYBE lucking out and making it big but more likely living out the above scenario, OR going DIY and keeping far more of your revenues.

Not a difficult choice.

Unless your music sucks. Then you need the major labels.

[Geminate]

HAAAAAA!

Notice how it is the floundering or old has-been bands not in the mainstream that are willing to try giving away their unpopular, unliked or undesired music.

Notice that hot or mainstream bands would never do anything of the sort. This speaks volumes about what will be made free; basically nothing that anyone really wants, by bands that no one really cares about anymore.

Me, I'll pay for a professional product produced by a professional band represented by a professional industry. I want a quality product that is actually seen to have value.

Once enough foolish musicians figure out that they are broke from giving away their product, they'll be begging for representation. If you give it away for nothing then nothing is what you will get.

[dcsonka]

Ha back at you

The fact that you consider music to be a "product" to be packaged and distributed, makes you sound like the RIAA suits that so many people hate.

If you think bands like Oasis, Radiohead, NIN, and Jamiroquai are "has-beens" and "old washed-up" bands, then I find it hard to believe that you even no what a "quality product" is going off of your dribble.

[M C]

Radiohead: last 3 LPs were #1 in Britain...how are they "has-beens"?

Explain pls. k thx.

[Eric Draven]

well...

@MSSlayer,
The model changes a lot. Now the music label won't make anything they shouldn't have been making in the first place.
@Geminate,
The only valid reason of you having this opinion is that you have more talent than these artists mentioned. I could never in a thousand years dream of accomplishing even a tenth of what Radiohead, Oasis, Nine Inch Nails or Jamiroquai have...

[ev61]

Has Beens???

Pretty sure worldwide, Oasis and Radiohead are as big as it gets. You can have your Kanye, I will take my Oasis and Radiohead (which I already preordered for $10)

[lwp13]

A finger poked into the vampire's eye

It certainly appear that the battle that the RIAA fights will have many victims, the record labels becoming the biggest. They could have played nice, but they wanted blood. As usual.

[mcsmith1981]

Oasis and Jamiroquai

Just thought I would add that while it may be true that Oasis and Jamiroquai are unsigned. They have both been hugely successful for years. They are major artists. Just calling them unsigned makes it sound like they are complete beginners in the industry and does not adequately portray the importance of this story.

[imacpwr]

FINALLY the Artists will get thier "fair share"..!!

The RIAA and the Labels keep telling us WE are the pirates who "steal" from the artists but in reality it's the RIAA and the Labels who are the true Pirates. I'm sick and tired of being ripped
off by massively overpriced CDs and then to learn that they disgustingly underpay the
Artists..!!! I was shocked to learn that the Labels ONLY pay a maximum of 15 cents per CD
to the Artists and turn around and charge us 100 times more than what they paid for that music in the first place..!! Again, and they call WE the
fans the pirates....?!?
I for one will gladly pay the Artists 10 times what the Labels pay them for a CD if we can cut the Labels out of the picture.
F**k the Pimps of the music industry (RIAA and Labels) and support your favorite band DIRECTLY...!!!!

[Stephen Russell]

Why not get the concerts out as well?

We all know that bands make the big money playing in front of the audience. Why not get those concerts out via the web as well.

Look to the success of Dave Mathews, you can get his concerts off of bt.etree.org as well as a host of other bands as well. ALL LEGAL and all free.

This is where I pick up my downloads from.

[Iam Free]

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead toured and made 45 million a year and allowed tapers to tape the shows."Live music is better bumper stickers should be issued."

[matthew-fedak]

i think its ok for noel and liam to charger still, when noel got pushed off stage earlier this year by that stupid canadian kid, doctors looked at youtube to see how it happened, thats the world we live in folks, its realistic that more people will illegally download dig out your sole than buy it n there performances n music videos are on youtubube in no time after being released. if they give away free cd they will loose a fan. people should be proud to buy a cd n oasis can stil pull it off. only reason In Rainbows was free is cause no one would of bored given radioheads previous few albums which were really really bad.