Quote:
Originally posted by Yorick:
Yeah but he has the market share and profile to do something like this. How is an unknown band going to get know without the weight of a record company push for radio airplay/TV time/support tours etc.
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You might not like my answer, but I'd say mp3s and the Internet. Most of the bands I currently listen to would be completely unknown to me if the mp3-file phenomenon never existed, *because* those bands didn't have "the weight of a record company push for radio airplay/TV time/support tours etc", therefore wouldn't even *exist* to my knowledge without the Internet.
I think I've had a similar discussion with Leonis about this subject before on Ironworks (pity the Search option is taken down, so I can't look it up), but mouth-to-mouth advertizing for a band has never been so effective since the Internet has become popular and common property.
For instance, let's picture a band with practically no publicity whatsoever, whose work isn't available in regular CD-stores (especially not abroad) and can only be ordered through the Internet or imported for a small fortune if I want to get my hands on their CD's. If I stumble upon a recommendation online somewhere for that band nowadays with interesting references, the first thing I do is download some mp3s and give them some time in my playlist; to find out if I'd be interested in buying the full CD or not.
You could now point out that it's very illegal to do so, but if I end up buying the full CD because of those mp3s, is it really that bad? If I don't end up buying that CD there's still nothing lost, as I most likely wouldn't even have bothered with that band if mp3s or the Internet had never existed in the first place (probably wouldn't even know the band existed). We may disagree on this subject, but I think that especially bands who don't get any publicity whatsoever through "regular" channels don't have that much to lose by putting mp3s or samples of their work online. In fact, the most important benefit of the Internet medium is that they'll actually have a chance to get *heard* by a large crowd in the first place. You can't sell (that many) CD's without getting heard, I'd reckon.
In fact, let's assume someone recommends a certain obscure band to me and I want to check out some of their work but I can't find any samples or mp3s whatsoever online... Not to mention the "other" sources like radio and tv. Then there's a very good chance I'll just forget about them completely, to be honest. I'm not going to buy music blindly.
While radiostations are nothing but ennobled advertisement mediums for big record company music, the Internet is an even bigger advertisement medium, only you yourself are able to decide which advertisements you check and which ones you don't (well, in the music department anyways
).
[ 11-11-2002, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]