that will probably change as more independent and smaller labels get on iTMS, if they choose to that is.
Independent labels (and independent, unsigned artists using CD Baby) will start appearing sometime in late September / early October, unless Apple's ahead of schedule with their support software. The labels will be doing their own ripping and submitting, so Apple won't be a bottleneck there.
I wouldn't underestimate the demand, either. Independent labels want sales as much as anyone else does, and their great bugbears are distribution and (especially!) retail.
In fact, if iTMS (and any non-sucky competitors) really takes off, some artists might go all electronic, just to avoid the substantial (to a little guy) upfront cost of ordering CDs, and the hassle of distributing and selling them. Even as it stands now, iTMS represents a distribution and sales channel that a small label or an independent artist couldn't dream of tapping into only a few years ago.
In fact, if iTMS (and any non-sucky competitors) really takes off, some artists might go all electronic, just to avoid the substantial (to a little guy) upfront cost of ordering CDs, and the hassle of distributing and selling them. Even as it stands now, iTMS represents a distribution and sales channel that a small label or an independent artist couldn't dream of tapping into only a few years ago.
I have no doubt that when iTunes is released for windows, that the music corps, will start zapping Zazzaa user's hard drives, as they have been threating, and reacently given permission to do.
You're actually more likely to see some relatively obscure band than the Stones, especially come the end of September. There are far fewer lawyers in the way.
Getting the juggernauts on board will take a real coup. None of them have anything to lose under the current system, so I expect them to sit back and wait until the services are long since proven, or the services get desperate enough to accept whatever terms the juggernauts offer. Or both.
Wrong! A lot of pirating is going on and no one looses more than the big ones
What I meant was that they have extremely favorable and lucrative contracts with the largest labels, and promotion and distribution on a global scale are non-issues. None of them are exactly starving, either - or if they are, it's a heroin-induced craving for sugar. "Hurting" in this sense is an extremely relative term.
Then there's the issue of the impact of piracy (which means, and which has always meant, unauthorized publication, especially for profit), or for that matter on the hoped-for impact of iTMS on P2P piracy - but that's another thread. I was concerned with measuring the added value of iTMS as a sales outlet, and noting that it looks like a much better deal to the little guys than it does to the big guys - it addresses logistical problems that hurt obscure artists (like the punks of the thread topic), but which are non-issues for established acts; the intention, again, was to illustrate why small and independent acts may appear much more quickly than institutions like Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones.
Comments
Originally posted by Wrong Robust
that will probably change as more independent and smaller labels get on iTMS, if they choose to that is.
Independent labels (and independent, unsigned artists using CD Baby) will start appearing sometime in late September / early October, unless Apple's ahead of schedule with their support software. The labels will be doing their own ripping and submitting, so Apple won't be a bottleneck there.
I wouldn't underestimate the demand, either. Independent labels want sales as much as anyone else does, and their great bugbears are distribution and (especially!) retail.
In fact, if iTMS (and any non-sucky competitors) really takes off, some artists might go all electronic, just to avoid the substantial (to a little guy) upfront cost of ordering CDs, and the hassle of distributing and selling them. Even as it stands now, iTMS represents a distribution and sales channel that a small label or an independent artist couldn't dream of tapping into only a few years ago.
Originally posted by Amorph
In fact, if iTMS (and any non-sucky competitors) really takes off, some artists might go all electronic, just to avoid the substantial (to a little guy) upfront cost of ordering CDs, and the hassle of distributing and selling them. Even as it stands now, iTMS represents a distribution and sales channel that a small label or an independent artist couldn't dream of tapping into only a few years ago.
I have no doubt that when iTunes is released for windows, that the music corps, will start zapping Zazzaa user's hard drives, as they have been threating, and reacently given permission to do.
Getting the juggernauts on board will take a real coup. None of them have anything to lose under the current system, so I expect them to sit back and wait until the services are long since proven, or the services get desperate enough to accept whatever terms the juggernauts offer. Or both.
Originally posted by Amorph
None of them have anything to lose under the current system, so I expect them to sit back and wait until the services are long since proven
Wrong! A lot of pirating is going on and no one looses more than the big ones
Originally posted by kelib
Wrong! A lot of pirating is going on and no one looses more than the big ones
What I meant was that they have extremely favorable and lucrative contracts with the largest labels, and promotion and distribution on a global scale are non-issues. None of them are exactly starving, either - or if they are, it's a heroin-induced craving for sugar.
Then there's the issue of the impact of piracy (which means, and which has always meant, unauthorized publication, especially for profit), or for that matter on the hoped-for impact of iTMS on P2P piracy - but that's another thread. I was concerned with measuring the added value of iTMS as a sales outlet, and noting that it looks like a much better deal to the little guys than it does to the big guys - it addresses logistical problems that hurt obscure artists (like the punks of the thread topic), but which are non-issues for established acts; the intention, again, was to illustrate why small and independent acts may appear much more quickly than institutions like Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones.