I can't find the thread on this, perhaps it was on MI and died there?
Either way, it looks like HMV is biting the dust (again) and marks another step towards the death of the physical format in any mainstream sense. Not one single kid I know got any CDs or DVDs for xmas. In fact the only person I know who got any was me, thanks to my sis.
I view the content-controllability of an all-streaming future with a deeply cynical eye. Make sure you have a physical copy of whatever it is you like because your ability to watch/listen to whatever it is you want to watch/listen to will be far from assured.
I really hate the idea of having a centralised service for music. At the minute there's only a few big streaming services which have the majority of the market (Spotify, iTunes, and maybe YouTube/Amazon/Googleplay). As convenient as they are, I still try to grab a physical copy when I can as I've been scummed over before when I've paid for something and then it gets removed from the library and I lose all access to it. I'm a big fan of Bandcamp as it's simple, allows streaming, but most importantly it gives you a download of the album to keep forever (including lossless!).
Currently I've got all my music copied onto my server which I can access from anywhere. It gives me all the benefits of streaming, but I'm 100% in control of content and availability
I'll only buy cds and the odd vinyl, and download stuff if it's a band I really like and they don't have an option of a physical copy. I'll rip them to my ipod for when I'm out and harddrive for backup though
Having said that I used to have a massive DVD collection that I got rid of to clear up space and I don't really miss it at all, but I just can't see myself doing the same with music
I only buy physical. Not into movies so if DVDs stop getting made I'll not worry.
I mostly buy vinyl these days unless the price of the vinyl is rediculously expensive compared to a CD or tape. When I buy something of Bandcamp I usually wait to the physical product arrives before I even listen to it. I also try and buy as much from my local record shop as well but will use Amazon, EMP etc. I do use Amazon music as plenty of stuff I've bought over the years is on autorip but wouldn't be surprised if it disappeared in the future.
Personally I don't see physical copies of mainstream metal releases disappearing anytime soon. There are enough people like me about who want the physical product.
Ugh. Got this yesterday. This is the equivalent of some cunt pushing a shit CD in your face when you're browsing in a shop.
QuoteHi
I came across your bands page on bandcamp and I think your music is great. The riffs in The Dread are catchy as hell.
I would like to help you get more listeners and fans. I'm a big rock and metal fan, especially the fuzz/stoner/doom stuff. I promote music on the website Reddit, using hundreds of accounts to upvote and push your music ahead of all the other posts, resulting in it being seen and heard by thousands of people each hour. Which can lead to new fans and additions to Spotify playlists etc.
I am willing to let you try the service for free, let me know if you're interested!
Thanks,
Karl
The future is not krieg.
I think promotion is necessary but there are ways that are acceptable and ways that are not, in my view. I was listening to Thergothon the other day on Youtube and the ads between songs are a pain in the hole in general, but after the first song finished the ad that came on was a full fucking song from another metal band! Bands who think that that kind of advertising is a good idea are the enemy. Long live CDs, tapes and vinyl.
I agree entirely, there are ways of doing things when it comes to music promotion. Spamming people who don't want to hear you isn't one of them. I'm far more likely to go out of my way not to listen to a band who indulge in that kind of shite.
Still prefer physical copies of music although vinyl nowadays can be expensive (don't remember it always being that way). I still buy CDs ( and the odd cassette) not because I think I'm cool or kvlt but because it's an instinct thing from belonging to a generation where there were record shops everywhere, no streaming. You bought albums or borrowed them off a mate. To each his own though.
Grim reading for physical, and not the cool, frostbitten kind of grim
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46735093
Does it effect smaller underground bands who do small runs as much as it effects bigger mainstream bands?
I'm much more likely to pick up an album from a gig or directly from the band online than I am to go to HMV and buy a Metallica CD for £16
I've drastically reduced my buying of CDs, especially as the car doesn't have a cd player. Can't bring myself to go down the streaming route though. As I do most of my listening in the car, I've become a fan of making playlists/best-ofs for the MP3 player. Of course it's not the same as listening to an album properly and physically holding it but I suppose it's not bad either.
Rightly or wrongly, I can't bring myself to become a paying subscriber of Spotify etc. I feel if I'm paying for music, I should have a physical product, if only to rip it for MP3 purposes.
Quote from: Hambeast on January 04, 2019, 11:55:26 AM
Does it effect smaller underground bands who do small runs as much as it effects bigger mainstream bands?
I'm much more likely to pick up an album from a gig or directly from the band online than I am to go to HMV and buy a Metallica CD for £16
If the mainstream disappears, most of the CD plants will follow and the distributors won't be far behind. They'll become a niche item (far more than they already are), more expensive to manufacture and without the ritual appeal of records to justify the additional expense.
Quote from: Emphyrio on January 04, 2019, 12:10:40 PM
Rightly or wrongly, I can't bring myself to become a paying subscriber of Spotify etc. I feel if I'm paying for music, I should have a physical product, if only to rip it for MP3 purposes.
Likewise. I see Spotify as organised crime, to be honest. If I go non-physical, it's only from bandcamp.
Smaller runs of CDs are basically CD-Rs, so it'll always be cheap enough to burn your own at home. I get your point though.
Could still be a while yet anyway. Tapes are fairly dead, but they're still dirt cheap to make and it's not too hard to find somewhere to get them done.
It is painful to witness the death of the concept of ownership
I went over to the dark side a number of years ago,Spotify is my music life now.
Life changed,kids came along,just didnt have the room for physical music anymore.
I love the idea of physical but unfortunately at this point I've neither the money nor space for it currently. Streaming all the way.
Even from the point of view of playing/releasing music, I'm not sure if physical releases are something I'd see much point in any more.
Is there even many places in Dublin to buy cds anymore? Only places I can think of are Sound Cellar, Freebird and Tower?
Bought a gaff recently and have a spare room full of my music. Sprog on the way now too so I should stop buying... still buying....
Quote from: Trev on January 11, 2019, 08:51:44 PM
Is there even many places in Dublin to buy cds anymore? Only places I can think of are Sound Cellar, Freebird and Tower?
There's a place in the Grafton Arcade too. They're the only four I know of.
A guy i work with has been collecting wrestling memrobelia for over 30 years,massive amount of stuff.As life moved on and kids came along he ended up buying an insulated porta cabin type of a thing out his backyard to store his stuff,pure man cave.
Started the year well 😩. I bought two records and a CD this week on discogs. Just can't stop, nor do I wish to. My wallet is of course lighter but I just have to have those physical copies.
Quote from: Juggz on December 30, 2018, 08:06:46 AM
Ugh. Got this yesterday. This is the equivalent of some cunt pushing a shit CD in your face when you're browsing in a shop.
QuoteHi
I came across your bands page on bandcamp and I think your music is great. The riffs in The Dread are catchy as hell.
I would like to help you get more listeners and fans. I'm a big rock and metal fan, especially the fuzz/stoner/doom stuff. I promote music on the website Reddit, using hundreds of accounts to upvote and push your music ahead of all the other posts, resulting in it being seen and heard by thousands of people each hour. Which can lead to new fans and additions to Spotify playlists etc.
I am willing to let you try the service for free, let me know if you're interested!
Thanks,
Karl
The future is not krieg.
Ha! I still sometimes get simmilar emails for Decapitated Jaysus, even though we've been finished for many years now. Bad bots.
yeah the annual delve into the Drainland email account is fairly similar alright.
I've decided to sell off my record collection this year as there's no point in having it if I'm paying 100 odd euro a month to store it when I can't even listen to it anymore. At the same time the dread of how to actually go about doing that is wrecking my head now. Discogs seems like a pain in the hole, and while I'd love to sell it all in one go I can't see any of the shops around here giving me much for it.
Quote from: Eoin McLove on December 30, 2018, 09:45:25 AM
I think promotion is necessary but there are ways that are acceptable and ways that are not, in my view. I was listening to Thergothon the other day on Youtube and the ads between songs are a pain in the hole in general, but after the first song finished the ad that came on was a full fucking song from another metal band! Bands who think that that kind of advertising is a good idea are the enemy. Long live CDs, tapes and vinyl.
You need adblocker on your browser.
I don't get any of that guff when listening to stuff on youtube
https://getadblock.com/ (https://getadblock.com/)
Yep, I'll get on it!
I'd recommend uBlock Origin over AdBlock. Does a similar job but much better. Can be used to block those annoying fullscreen banners which force you to sign up or log in
You can manually kill them too. Right click on anything and select "inspect element" and it'll show you everything which makes up the page. One of the windows has the page code and whatever you clicked to inspect will be highlighted. Just right-click on the highlight and choose "delete node". Very handy.
The recent versions of Adblock Plus have fucked it up completely. You used to be able to add custom block rules by adding addresses like http://www.website.com/ads/* etc, using the asterisk as a wildcard and it'd block everything in that folder. It also used to show you everything which the page called, all the external tracking and shit which didn't show up in the page visually and you could just add all the bastards in. You can't do it anymore and it fucking sucks.
uBlock Original allows you to add wildcard rules. Can see everything it's blocked on the page too. It also includes an "element zapper" tool which is similar to the element inspector but it'll allow you to click on the element you want to block and it'll keep it blocked after a page refresh.
I'd also recommend something like Privacy Badger if you're bothered by tracking too. Or Pi-Hole if you're a paranoid bastard and want it all blocked at the router level
It's about three weeks since I put out some music and it has been interesting and educational to see how it has moved across platforms, to me, at least.
After some decent reviews in specialised blogs and a healthy amount of unsolicited social media sharing by people, we have a youtube video of the full EP which has over 16,000 plays since it went live under three weeks ago. It's still getting about 800 plays every day. On bandcamp, we have 2500 streaming plays. I think that's pretty decent, but I'm not too clued into what is good or not in these things. It's better than I was expecting, anyway. All this has resulted in, wait for it, 35 digital sales :laugh:
Like everyone else, the parasites weren't slow to show up. It is, of course, now available on multiple "free" mp3 sites in varying low bit-rate guises. What was most surprising was that the full EP appeared as a full youtube video a few days before we actually released all three songs, meaning either someone went to the trouble of ripping audio from the two tracks available on youtube and then ripping audio from the third track on bandcamp and then putting them all together in a video, or one of about five people who had the tracks before the full realease date jipped us.
It's enough for me to think that, really, if you're not fully plugged into streaming, you are screwing yourself even more than you are being screwed if you engage with them. So, I'm going to get them published to itunes, spotify, amazon etc and we'll see how it goes with them.
I subbed to Spotify before the Christmas (got it for 99c for three months) and whilst it has some usability niggles, it's been a revelation. It absolutely kills the "thrill of the hunt", but I don't have the time, money, energy or space for it any more. I moved down the country a while ago and all my music is currently stored in my brother's attic. He was shocked at how much stuff I have.
Was randomly surfing through it the other day and I came across a German funk band doing a steel drum-led cover of Jan Hammer's "Crockett's Theme". That'll do.
I think for anyone with an inclination to listen to all sorts it's fucking great.
Physical all the way for me. Tried spotify before and at the time it was missing a number of bands I was looking for + if your not lucky enough to live somewhere were phone data is cheap you need your own stuff and you can't always rely on having an internet connection either. I prefer a physical product as well I can't bring myself to pay the same price for a download as the actual physical release itself costs.
Any concerns about bandcamp after laying off half their staff today?
Sorry to be so self-centred, but do I need to be downloading all my digital collection there??
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/16/23919551/bandcamp-layoffs-epic-songtradr
The concern started when they were taken over a few weeks ago. I download anything I buy from them when I buy it as a matter of routine but, if I hadn't already, I'd be doing it now. It's heartbreaking to see the probable demise of what was the best digital music service we'll ever see.
I don't think it's self-centred at all. I downloaded my small collection earlier.
Frustratingly - you cannot batch download your files.
I don't know a lot about Bandcamp's business model and their attitude toward artists so forgive me it the answer to this is obvious;
Cork hardcore legends, Ten Point Rule, remastered their EP with a view to giving over a €1000 (that's their target) to a local charity at Christmas. Is there a chance that Bandcamp will default on payment to the artists? Or do the bands get their funds on a sale-by-sale basis?
Bands pretty much get their share of a sale (or sales) within a few days.
Yeah, they usually issue payment for sales the day after (almost 70% of the sale price) and the rest depends on how the band has chosen to receive payment. They've been, by a long way, the fairest service for musicians and fans alike.
This came up a few weeks back online when the idea amongst their staff was anyone in the bandcamp union wouldn't be offered a contract with the new buyers. Yesterday that seems to be what actually happened - anyone in the union wasn't renewed before the ownership transferred over so Epic (previous buyers) will pay out their redundancy and the remaining staff are all on new contracts. Bizarre, cost cutting shit everywhere. I fully expect them to gut the service to death and eventually raise fees to run a larger profit from it. Worth noting too that nowhere does it say they were running at a loss - operating costs increased sure but it was always know to turn a profit.
It won't disappear quickly but I do imagine the format of the site will change drastically and costs passed on to all users some way. Download yout music if you haven't already, continue to buy while it is good for the bands, keep an eye for alternatives I suppose. There will be a few, no doubt.
Quote from: Bürggermeister on October 17, 2023, 09:11:45 AMThey've been, by a long way, the fairest service for musicians and fans alike.
Bandcamp is 92% of the revenue for my music with the remaining 8% coming from apple/amazon/streaming etc. Would be pretty devastating if they went under.
Bandcamp is/ was the business. It'll be a shame if it dies on its arse.
It would be an awful awful pity to see it go. I had considered it the fairest model for this day and age and don't think it needed to be changed at all
It may or may not change the model. All tech companies are cutting staff due to hiring so many during covid. Hopefully it stays the same as it's the business. More likely it'll get fucked though.
Should hang on, though fees will inevitably rise. Shopify laid off a pile of people with no notice last year and they're still going strong.
Hope it keeps going. One of few phone apps I could say I actually enjoy.
Neil Young's music is returning to Spotify. Good news for fans like myself who rarely get a chance to listen to their physical collection.
Looking forward to streaming On the Beach in low resolution on my phone on a train to work just as Neil intended.
https://variety.com/2024/music/news/neil-young-returning-spotify-music-joe-rogan-1235940353/
Saw that earlier but no sign of old Neil back on it yet. Is it he there for anyone else?
Deja Vu was still up throughput but missing his tunes which rendered it a waste of time.