Not only is it 'Techno Tuesday' but it's also the start of what I hope to be a 'New Music Tuesday'! As you probably know, music comes out on Tuesdays - meaning that's when the cd is available to the public. So I'm going to try to profile at least one new album a week every Tuesday. It's kind of a two-fer this week, as Caribou just dropped last week and you'll see what I've got coming up next. Anyway, this band was totally new to me. The band is actually a guy, that has performed under the name Manitoba and now Caribou. He's put out a plethora of albums since 2000, but to my knowledge never really cracked into the mainstream. After my rant about iTunes the other day - here is another cool thing about it, they can help an artist reach places and people once unthinkable. Millions of people download the freebie of the week, and last week it was the single for 'Odessa' which is actually a really awesome track. This has a beat and stretched out funky vocals that I dig. I need to buy this record so I can put it on my iPod and transform that onto my 7.1 surround system at home. I think it'll hit pretty hard and sound amazing once I get it off my headphones. (Quality headphones mind you, I don't run a cheap organization) Check this out though, it's really cool. Really pay attention to the arrangements in your headphones - as he does some neat stuff there too. Enjoy!
TRACK LISTING:
1. Odessa
2. Sun
3. Kaili
4. Found Out
5. Bowls
6. Leave House
7. Hannibal
8. Lalibela
9. Jamelia
Listen To Samples
Top 3 Tracks:
1. Odessa
2. Kaili
3. Found Out
FINAL RATING:
3.75 out of 5 stars
I've seen you rant on about the glories of iTunes, and I can't keep silent anymore. You keep talking about how great it is that you can download some songs for free, you talk about how cool it is that artists can "get out there." There are a ton of websites for independent artists to put their work up, and they don't have the fee structure that apple has worked out with the record labels to screw the artists. I did some searching around for how that works out for the artist, on each $.99 track, the artist takes in between $.13 and $.02, depending on fee structures and how the label works out their cut. Many websites will allow the artists trying to break out to post their own items, and pull in nearly all of the return from the purchase. Does the volume of iTunes work out in the artists favor? For the hugely popular ones, maybe, but the little guys, I doubt it. I will tell you this, someone is making out, and it isn't the artist every time you purchase an iTunes song.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=independent+music+downloads&aq=f&aqi=g2g-m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/dl_newmedia.htm
msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/docs/baffling_itunes_royalty_calculation.pdf
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/15627
Nice post Mith.
ReplyDeleteI actually know of a ton of websites where I can listen to music for free. There are dozens of them out there. My point is mainly that, the sheer number of people on iTunes is what allows a relative unknown to become known. If I'm Caribou in this case, and no one really knows my work, allow something like 5 million people to download one of my songs for free as a taste. Say 1% of those people like it, that's 50,000 people that might go out and buy my record. Not necessarily from iTunes (which seems to be your main beef) but from the actual store. I don't doubt that Apple is working in their best interest to keep the profits in house, but I can't say I blame them. I don't think that many people use iTunes to buy full albums anyway, just singles. Myself and most people I know, will still go out and get the actual cd since it's the same price as buying the album digitally and you have the cd to take along. (For those that don't have iPod adapters in the car)
If I'm a new artist, there isn't a great website out there to profile me like iTunes can. I have my Myspace page where people can listen to everything for free, or Grooveshark, but how do they come to my page? What makes them hear of Caribou?
I certainly agree that iTunes may not be your best medium if you're a middle sized guy, but it's a good way to get a start. I think part of the issue is regulations and contracts not keeping up with technologies. Now that PAY digital downloading is becoming so popular (in lieu of illegal downloads) this will become something that the artists will write into deals. If the norm is getting .13 cents on the dollar, an artist like Metallica can come in and say, I'm putting this new one out, I want .25 cents or whatever. A number that both parties feel comfortable with. Rights and laws I assume will change in the near future to prevent this stuff from happening.
Great post!