We hear a lot about how the internet is killing music due to illegal copying (the same thing the music industry said about home taping, recordable CD's on PCs etc etc), but never hear the good side of it.

Yes I accept that a lot of illegal file sharing goes on, but think the music industry benefits significantly from the internet as well.

Ignoring the really obvious (music sales on sites such as itunes) I see a number of ways that fans gain (and the bands as well)...

1. More knowledge of forthcoming concerts. In the past unless you went near a venue and saw what bands were advertised there, the only way you heard about concerts was via magazines or newspaper ads. With the Internet then news of forthcoming concerts spreads very rapidly and its easy to see who is playing anywhere in the country. As a result I certainly go to a lot more conerts than I used to.

2. More information on forthcoming releases. As with the above the internet makes it easier to hear about bands that are going to be releasing albums in the coming weeks/months, and often you can hear tracks in advance on sites like myspace or the bands home page.

I'm sure there are other plus points, but those two are the main ones for me. I'd be interested to hear what other fans think, and also to hear the bands side of things - what do bands like Pythia think of the internet - a great help or the death of music ?

It's good for artists and bad for record companies! The big labels are suffering whilst the artist and smaller labels are flourishing.

In past years there was no way of building a fan base without the help of a major label but now you can make a good start through the means of websites and places like myspace.

It also gives you an opportunity to communicate directly to the people who enjoy your music which I personally delight in.

I think it's a great thing.

I agree. Also, seeming as I've got into a lot more obscure bands now, I have to thank the Internet otherwise I wouldn't know about bands just like Pythia!

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WE ARE THE ARMY OF THE DAMNED!

"Because Solitary Ground isn't made to be beautiful; it's just made to be a cheesy ballad in which Simone rofls in the sand."

I've heard that the majority of band's income comes from selling merchandise. They earn mere pennies from the sale of CDs (unless they sell them directly). So I'm with Emily on this one - Internet is good for bands but bad for major companies.

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wldespace wrote:

I've heard that the majority of band's income comes from selling merchandise. They earn mere pennies from the sale of CDs (unless they sell them directly). So I'm with Emily on this one - Internet is good for bands but bad for major companies.

I agree with this too but there can be a knock on effect of the labels losing money.

The label pay for an album to be recorded and expect the money to come back to them from CD sales. If the CD sales aren't great, the label may have little money to spend on recording the next album so a band may get ditched off their label or not get to record another album. It's probably not a bit deal for some of the larger labels but there's got to be an effect somewhere.

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I don't suffer from insanity; I love every second of it!

I think it's a great thing for unsigned artists and a great networking tool but in the long run artists do suffer.

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"Do you remember the death of love?"

wldespace wrote:

I've heard that the majority of band's income comes from selling merchandise. They earn mere pennies from the sale of CDs (unless they sell them directly). So I'm with Emily on this one - Internet is good for bands but bad for major companies.

I can see that so called "360 degree deals" (where the deal covers record releases, merchandise, tours etc) will become more common. So far its only a few very big artists such as Madonna and Jay-Z who have got these deals but I can see them becoming more attractive to the record companies as a way to make money. Yes there will be people downloading illegally still but the losses there will be offset by the revenue from tours and merchandise.

You'll find that a lot of new bands have 360 degree contracts. It's the only way for lots of mid-sized indie labels to make money.

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"Do you remember the death of love?"

Bass Behemoth wrote:

You'll find that a lot of new bands have 360 degree contracts. It's the only way for lots of mid-sized indie labels to make money.

Thanks - wasnt aware they were widespread.

One think I think contributes to the amount of illegal file sharing is the UK copyright law. It is illegal for me to take a CD I purchased legally and transfer the songs onto my ipod - illegal but done by millions of people every day. Because of that people see the law as out of date and get used to ignoring it.
Artists "giving away" music with newspapers must also contribute. People see the music as free and dont see anything wrong with then uploading it to the internet, which causes losses to the artist who was selling the album overseas but "giving it away" in the UK (people often dont realise that although the newspaper is giving it away free, they have paid the artist for the right to do so).

CD singles were killed by a combination of things - illegal copying probably being one, but record company greed being the main one - who will pay £3 or £4 for one song when the album is often around £10. itunes selling songs for 99p will have speeded the demise of the CD single.