# 'What Is Going on with the Recording Industry?'



## Vaneyes

From New Music Box, a thought-provoking piece about the current state of the recording business. 

http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles...ign=what-is-going-on-with-the-record-industry


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## KenOC

Thanks Vaneyes. An interesting article, but aimed at people who want to get their music out into the world. For most of us, I think, our interest is more theoretical. We like to know "how the industry is doing" because it helps us think about what music will be available down the road, how it will be sold, what it will cost, and so forth. I hope this discussion includes some illuminating things on that!.


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## Vaneyes

KenOC said:


> Thanks Vaneyes. An interesting article, but aimed at people who want to get their music out into the world. For most of us, I think, our interest is more theoretical. We like to know "how the industry is doing" because it helps us think about what music will be available down the road, how it will be sold, what it will cost, and so forth. I hope this discussion includes some illuminating things on that!.


Isn't your curiosity factual instead of theoretical? It sounds like you want specific answers.

Howz this? The only answer is that there is none.

"*It does not matter how the market is doing. Stop asking." 

*


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## KenOC

"*It does not matter how the market is doing. Stop asking." *[/QUOTE]

Hey it matters to me! What am I, chopped liver?


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## Vaneyes

KenOC said:


> "*It does not matter how the market is doing. Stop asking." *


Hey it matters to me! What am I, chopped liver? [/QUOTE]

Now that you ask.....

No big picture is available...only small picture. Things like, What's going on in the studio? Or, releases two months in advance.

Rather than secrecy (although that may matter occasionally with some larger label's large releases), I think it's more about taking it day-by-day. Okay, month-by-month.


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## KenOC

My understanding from reading articles from the UK and USA press:

1 - Classical sales are about 3% of industry revenues.
2 - Total revenues from sales of recorded music are down and have been trending down for some time.
3 - In England, at least, downloads now are >50% of music revenues. Don't know about the US.


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## Vaneyes

KenOC said:


> My understanding from reading articles from the UK and USA press:
> 
> 1 - Classical sales are about 3% of industry revenues.
> 2 - Total revenues from sales of recorded music are down and have been trending down for some time.
> 3 - In England, at least, downloads now are >50% of music revenues. Don't know about the US.


That's some of the usual stuff one reads. Real classical is even less than that, if you take away some of the cross-over, soundtracks, etc. stuff. Now and then, some of Andy Doe's former boss' ("Mr. Naxos') interviews will give you an inside the industry glimpse. IIRC in one of his recents, he was talking about artists recording on various labels for nothing, just to get the exposure...keeping their name alive. It's become rougher and rougher. He was, no doubt, addressing Naxos policy of a $1000 payment with no royalties. Which can look good now, compared to other recording companies. Andy Doe mentioned the D-I-Y aspect at the end of his article, because that's the way it is. Again, rougher and rougher.

Sorry for the run-on, but sometimes it feels okay. :tiphat:


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## Sid James

Thanks for that, Vaneyes. D-I-Y is becoming something I see more commonly in Australia. Even things like musicians selling their self published cd's at gigs or when they are busking in the city streets. I think that the vast majority of musicians will not be millionaires like Hilary Hahn or Lang Lang, people like that. So what many do is have a day job and do music on the side. It is the reality in these tough economic times, and not only for classical musicians. So what I do is try when I can to support local musicians - by going to their gigs, buying their self made cds (which almost always pretty good) and spreading the word about them to friends and colleagues who are into music. That's another thing, word of mouth is still considered the best publicity. Exposure in the simplest of ways - like busking - can also reap benefits of many kinds. Eg. one of my favourite singers of decades past, Edith Piaf, was discovered by a cabaret owner singing in the streets of Paris. The rest, as they say, was history. So maybe there is a bit of silver lining to this dark rain cloud? KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. Maybe things can be done without the middle men in their fancy suits? Or maybe we just need a mix of things & solutions as the article suggests, not all on the corporate model, which does not apply to all musos out there anyway.


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## Vaneyes

Sid James said:


> Thanks for that, Vaneyes. D-I-Y is becoming something I see more commonly in Australia. Even things like musicians selling their self published cd's at gigs or when they are busking in the city streets. I think that the vast majority of musicians will not be millionaires like Hilary Hahn or Lang Lang, people like that. So what many do is have a day job and do music on the side. It is the reality in these tough economic times, and not only for classical musicians. So what I do is try when I can to support local musicians - by going to their gigs, buying their self made cds (which almost always pretty good) and spreading the word about them to friends and colleagues who are into music. That's another thing, word of mouth is still considered the best publicity. Exposure in the simplest of ways - like busking - can also reap benefits of many kinds. Eg. one of my favourite singers of decades past, Edith Piaf, was discovered by a cabaret owner singing in the streets of Paris. The rest, as they say, was history. So maybe there is a bit of silver lining to this dark rain cloud? KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. Maybe things can be done without the middle men in their fancy suits? Or maybe we just need a mix of things & solutions as the article suggests, not all on the corporate model, which does not apply to all musos out there anyway.


Re non-classical, reminds me...from humble Y/T beginnings, Justin Bieber now has a net worth of $105M.


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## Sid James

^^I'm thinking of things like this in the past that are similar, in classical. The zither player Anton Karas was spotted busking on Vienna's city streets just after World War II, after the liberation by director Carol Reed. So Reed used his music so effectively in the film _The Third Man_, starring Orson Welles. I do think it built Karas' career up, probably not as much as our Justin Bieber's, but these things do give people 'profile' without too middle men and all that stuff.

There must be other examples like Piaf and Reed, and of course closer to today...?


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## Vaneyes

"We can't live off CD sales anymore." - Mr. Naxos

http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...231344-1877-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_print.html


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## Sid James

^^Interesting article. I like what it says of how they use youtube as free advertising. Instead of taking their recordings off youtube, Naxos leave them on. & its working, people are buying their recordings as a result. I'd guess that many of TC's members do this as well. A quote from the article:
_
Today, it looks to YouTube, where a tool called Content ID crawls the site, figures out how many of a given company's videos are illegally posted, and - rather than removing the videos - calculates that company's share of advertising revenue. "That's become an income stream," says Heymann, estimating that it covers about 75 percent of his recording budget. _


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## Vaneyes

Sid James said:


> ^^Interesting article. I like what it says of how they use youtube as free advertising. Instead of taking their recordings off youtube, Naxos leave them on. & its working, people are buying their recordings as a result. I'd guess that many of TC's members do this as well. A quote from the article:
> _
> Today, it looks to YouTube, where a tool called Content ID crawls the site, figures out how many of a given company's videos are illegally posted, and - rather than removing the videos - calculates that company's share of advertising revenue. "That's become an income stream," says Heymann, estimating that it covers about 75 percent of his recording budget. _


I just did some searches for Naxos CDs on Y/T and found very little. An underwhelming presence. Bits and pieces, mostly. There are some little-known Naxos artists there that advertise themselves as such, and include a few minutes of their playing. But nothing I saw/heard would entice me to buy a CD. I wouldn't expect to find much, because that would detract from their direct download service.


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## Sid James

^^Well maybe they are exaggerating the youtube presence of Naxos up in that article. However, I have found works on youtube from my Naxos collection, which I've mainly found for the purposes of sharing that music on this forum.


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## Vaneyes

Sid James said:


> ^^Well maybe they are exaggerating the youtube presence of Naxos up in that article. However, I have found works on youtube from my Naxos collection, which I've mainly found for the purposes of sharing that music on this forum.


Listening requirement(s) for immediate free entertainment and potential recs purchase can be different.

Re the latter, I don't have to hear an entire performance of a work to detect whether or not it agrees with me. I actually prefer hearing a good sampling of each movement, rather than the entirety of a movement, or a few minutes from.

Within this personal guideline, Y/T doesn't generally offer good commercial recording samplings with good sound. For this, I usually must go to a label or retailer that's in the business of downloading.


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## Vaneyes

With the considerable downsizing of recording industry's hard product, it's not surprising that performing artists are looking for every penny they can get elsewhere. I support this, within reasonable boundaries. Related links...

Future of Music Summit and IRFA quandry...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...yalty-rates-debated-20121113,0,1965334.column

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ea...er-pandora-internet-radio-fairness-act-390473


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## KenOC

An open letter to congress signed by prominent musicians. They oppose the so-called Internet Fairness Radio Act, backed by Pandora and possibly others.

"Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon? That's not fair and that's not how partners work together," the letter says.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ea...er-pandora-internet-radio-fairness-act-390473


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## EllenBurgess

Indeed a very well written article and thought provoking comments !


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## Vaneyes

Update:

'Why the record industry is not at war with free music' - RIAA

http://fortune.com/2016/03/29/riaa-free-music-2-spotify/

Related:

http://www.insideradio.com/free/sou...cle_8f7d673c-abd4-11e6-bfab-df80673280fd.html

https://www.royaltyexchange.com/learn/music-royalties#sthash.yXl4qntG.dpbs


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## haydnguy

This thread is a little over a year old. Don't know if anything has changed.

The record companies made bad decisions right off the bat. Others have certainly made the decision as well. They originally thought they could keep on "business as usual" and ignore the internet. Originally, when Napster was around, the record companies sued a few people that had downloaded, thinking that would be a deterrent. 

In hindsight, what they should have done was recognize which way the wind was blowing. Easier said than done, I know. There's no reason why the record companies couldn't sell music the way Amazon has but, unfortunately, they were late to the party.


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