Post by Butterfly Effect // Conor on Aug 5, 2009 17:57:33 GMT 10
Is Leaking Music Aiding Piracy or the Way Forward?
With the overabundance and ease of use of illegal downloading sites and software and the expected decline in legal purchases and downloads of music the industry is suffering. The industry is attempting to combat these forces, boost sales and breathe new life into this (very, very, very) slowly dying business before it is too late but as of yet no solutions seem to work. One solution that seems to be making the rounds lately is that of leaking your own music onto the internet before its official release.
Now I’m not talking “Let’s chuck it onto thepiratebay and have an open slather” but the releasing of songs onto their myspace page or other music sites for free ‘live streaming’. Unfortunately at a click of a button websites that offer ‘Myspace Music Downloaders’ can rip the music from your site and onto their computer. While this is certainly risky it can be less of a hindrance and more helpful than you might first think. If you are a moderately popular band that has a small but loyal fan base but gains very little attention on public music sites and radio that happen to have a very narrow variety of different music and often don’t depart on safe music you could leak some of your album onto your myspace page, it doesn’t . If the leaked songs happen to clock up thousands of listens then when you release your album ‘bam’ its purchases start going up. Yeah, you’re bound to find that at least some of your new fans are part of the ever growing group who prefer free music but there are still fans around that do care about the music industry and struggling bands and want to support them.
Take for example Fuelled by Ramen Synth-Rock band Cobra Starship who recently leaked the complete version of their latest offering 'Hot Mess’ to American listeners over the internet through MTV and three ‘mood setting’ tracks to the rest of the world. Cobra Starship have a considerable following through becoming regulars of the Vans Warped Tour but as of yet have not broken into ‘the big time’. Letting potential buyers could potentially become a brilliant move on their part due to the demographic of their current fanbase and their possible growth which is largely teenagers and young adults.
Teenagers generally have a low amount of disposable income (albeit all their income is disposable) and don’t want to “waste their money” on buying an album that they view as being mediocre. Being the tech-savvy kids that they are they then illegally download the album for the purpose of ‘trialling’ said music. They listen through the album and like it quite a lot but now that they have the album on their hard disk why should they bother going out and actually buying it? Or maybe, they find an album they like better and simply buy that one instead. Leaking your music lets teenagers get a great (sometimes even perfect) gauge on your album without having to illegally download it and without the illegally gained copy already in their possession they are more motivated to go out and actually buy the album in question. This method isn’t completely bullet proof as a large number (possibly even the majority) will download the album anyway but that problem will occur anyway and can’t be resolved until the attitude towards music downloading is changed. Even so, at least it’s a start and increases your chances slightly.
In a perfect world, none of this would be necessary as radio stations and internet music sights would give emerging bands a go. Unfortunately due to the monopolization of the charts by established artists creating disposable hits for the consumers and the need for radio stations to play it safe to cater to advertising demands this isn’t always possible.
Another argument against the leaking of music is that artists could merely release singles which would provide the same snapshot but with more profit for the record company and artist. Due to the popularity of singles (due to them monopolizing air time on the radio) and single file download programs such as Limewire illegal single downloading is just as more rife if not more than albums. So while the artist’s singles or sitting on the shelf not selling the only cost is to the artist for producing those singles. Another argument against the use of singles is that it only showcases one song instead of many different songs that showcase the different skills of the artist.
So maybe the leak is the way of the future? Isn’t it true that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? Many bands may be following the leads of artists like Cobra Starship especially those who cater to young audiences.
