Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
November 24, 2008 - 10:42am
#1
GNR on myspace. How does it make sense?
Loudspeakers Amplification | Digital Sources Analog Sources Featured | Accessories Music |
Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
Loudspeakers Amplification Digital Sources | Analog Sources Accessories Featured | Music Columns Retired Columns | Show Reports | Features Latest News Community | Resources Subscriptions |
GNR?
Kal
kal, I meant Guns N Roses: Chinese Democracy.
Kind of the Glenn Gould of hair metal.
Some people are asking how you could actually sell such a thing when most people will download it for free anyway.
I can see a few arguments of why this works for famous bands: (1) concerts (GNR's ticket prices are huge I'm sure, and they make money on merchandise), (2) good-will, (3) advertising (weakest). Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done similar things with some success.
I wish I knew more about the record label/artist relationship. I read somewhere about what % of each CD bands typically get, and I recall the percantage being higher for concerts and other things, but I can't swear by it. It does seem bands are more likely to do this when either their contract with their label expired (Radiohead, and I think NIN), or when they are big enough to boss them around a little.
I don't see a way on myspace to download it for free, although they do allow someone to listen to it for free. I guess that Axl is so confident that if he lets people listen to it for free that they will want to buy it. Not that strange if someone has confidence in their music.
If it is just a free streaming listen, I don't see the harm unless someone only listens to music while at their computer and doesn't care at all about quality (i.e., they would be happy to just listen to the stream).
This is a good move for unknown bands too. On reflection, this is stating the obvious since so many bands get people to discover them this way.
True, I did buy the album so that I have good sound quality and I can listen in my car. But I am still not able to come to terms with this! I do know a lot of friends who would stick to the internet if the album is available for free .