Stealing from artists #2
Hey ho. I've just received a rather peevish message of complaint from matey at Wagon Repair about us providing opportunities for people to 'steal' their tracks. Firstly, I apologise to the Wagon Repair label, and I'm also sorry that this is how they choose to view what we do here. Now, as someone who has bought the vast majority of Wagon Repair's releases (at considerable expense)and who tries actively to promote their work, this attack kinda annoyed me. By the same token, it's an inarguable point - if you were going to buy the vinyl and you plumped for the mp3 because I offered it up for free, then we've all let down Wagon Repair and its artists. But I don't believe that we can work on that absolutist principle. This blog is meant to be a forum for the promotion and criticism of fine music on all the independent labels we love; and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't think that our writings/postings here are ultimately contributing to the popularity, record sales, gig revenues and general success of the artist concerned. So Wagon Repair - accept my apologies, but also please try to understand that we only want to push your sound to as many as people as we can, as long as we're liking what you do. I'm fortunate enough to be able to go to my local record store, pick the new WP out of the racks and listen to both sides at my leisure before I decide whether or not to pay eight quid for it. Not everyone has that opportunity. And certainly I wouldn't have bought the Wagon Repair releases I have done if I hadn't got into the label via an mp3 of 'Draconia' and surrounding online hype. But more importantly, the links to tracks on this site are extremely limited; each track is only up for 7 or so days - we hope people will go out and buy the vinyl after hearing the mp3s, because God knows we do. If you have a problem with a particular posting, please contact me and I will remove it.
Meanwhile, you, the readers of this page, please be good - if you like something you hear from us, I implore you to treat yourself to a lovingly packaged piece of wax from any of the great number of record stores out there. If you don't have a local, try Phonica, otherwise the guy on the cover of the Konrad Black 12"s (pictured) will come and get us all while we're sleeping. Seriously, these artists deserve your dollar - pay the fuck up.Best online record stores:
Phonica
Juno
City16
posted by Blackest at 11:01 AM
3 Comments:
1) I actually find it impossible to purchase tracks from the internet as I don't hold a credit card, and the sites generally don't accept Maestro payment. Which is a little annoying to say the least, but there's no way for the companies to get their way round the bank charges for those types of cards. Maybe a text message purchasing system could be used?
2) I feel that streaming the media would do exactly the same thing as a sample on a retailer's website. Poor quality, and a minute of a random part of the song, you often miss out on quality tracks that don't get showcased properly. When you have the whole track and can listen to it properly, you can make your mind up about whether to buy it or not.
3) However, I do think that you're right about the 'buy from' links. It would probably be better if we directly link to that product in an online retailer's catalogue below the tracks. We do love our music and buy the records that we love, however, the internet allows us to be a lot more selective. Hopefully we're able to give some lesser known artists some publicity and maybe get a few people to buy their records.
Thanks for the comments. Nothing wrong with a bit of constructive criticism!
Rich x
Definitely a good idea. We'll get some links up on the sidebar soon. Cheers!
Rich
1) I actually find it impossible to purchase tracks from the internet as I don't hold a credit card, and the sites generally don't accept Maestro payment. Which is a little annoying to say the least, but there's no way for the companies to get their way round the bank charges for those types of cards. Maybe a text message purchasing system could be used?
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