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A comment on Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Off in Royalties. Parent comment

Re:Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Of... by snowwrestler on Sunday August 26, 2012 @06:22PM (#4436459)
Unfortunately piracy has the exact opposite effect--it strengthens major music labels by preferentially harming more responsible or smaller labels.

Major label A&R looks for young bands that it can sign to 360 deals and promote like crazy to teenagers. (For those not aware, a 360 deal means the label gets a cut of every revenue source: album sales, concert receipts, sync licenses, etc.)

Smaller labels do not have the capital to operate that way, or (in many cases) choose not to operate that way out of a greater sense of responsibility to the artist. As a result they are more dependent on their cut of album sales--which have declined tremendously under the pressure of piracy.

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Re:Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Of... by eikenberry on Sunday August 26, 2012 @07:03PM (#4436592)
Depending more on album sales for revenue is stupid and will keep you very small. Albums are now merchandise, akin to shirts, posters and stickers. You don't get rich off them. If you cater to the fans you'll make some money as they like to collect things and support their band. But compared to other merchandise, albums are probably one of the least valuable.

Labels need to realize they are promotional agencies primarily and take a cut, like acting agencies. You promote them and help them get gigs. You get a cut of the profits in return.

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Re:Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Of... by bri3d on Sunday August 26, 2012 @07:16PM (#4436627)
The problem is that there's already a promotional agency which takes a cut - the tour promoter! [0]

That industry is slowly converging to a state of brokenness near that of album-selling record labels, as Live Nation (themselves a Clear Channel spinoff) were allowed to merge with Ticketmaster in 2010 to form a unified ticketing, venue booking, and promotion cabal.

0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_promoter

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Re:Pandora and Spotify Rake in the Money and Then Send It Of... by eikenberry on Sunday August 26, 2012 @07:36PM (#4436674)
That's not a problem. That is just another player. There are tons of people taking a bite of the pie when it comes to actors. Yet they continue to make a living and so do their agents.
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