The Value of Music: Plugging the Leaks

Artists have been bitching a lot recently about pirates, about pick pockets, about file sharers and essentially pointing the big guilty finger at everybody other then themselves when it comes to the sudden appearance of their work on the internet.

Now I’m going to put this out there in spite of knowing that the door already has been blown wide open to the musical safe, meaning that everything – pretty much every song and album from rare Garth Brooks B-sides to the entire back catalogue of Sparks is there for the taking. But a great deal of artists from the pre-file sharing age have been helpless when it comes to their music being illegally downloaded, however there are those who have been releasing their singles and albums since the advent of file sharing just haven’t been careful enough, it is those artists that we must question, are they truly valuing their music?

Don’t give me any crap about this being a problem that is out of their hands. If you make something then you’ve got to be responsible for it, from composition to release. I know there are variables that contradict this statement, but if you’re an artist then you’ve got to keep an eye on your music, and I really don’t believe enough artists are doing that. I’m led to believe that an artist records a song, and somehow between the final take and the moment they leave the studio that song becomes suddenly available. Come on this doesn’t make any sense; the modern day equivalents of Zero Cool and Acid Burn from the movie Hackers aren’t breaking the code and freeing the music into the public domain.

Last year the weasel faced drummer from the Kaiser Chiefs whined about the leak of his band’s album. Boo Hoo. Why did the album leak? That should be the question; it didn’t just escape out of the air conditioning unit of the recording stereo and walk onto the internet for public consumption. If I was an established artist I would be obsessed with protecting my art. The studio would be tighter than Fort Knox.

It used to be that an album or a new single from your new band was something to look forward to, the expectation as a music fan almost made you want to salivate. Now you can get hold of that piece of music weeks before the official release date, any dummy can do this. Most likely if you get it early, you get it illegally. Can’t people wait to download it from various online outlets, or listen to the stream on Spotify?

Of course not, the internet has created a sense of entitlement; we are used to free access to information, free shemale porn, free communication via social networking, and most importantly free music. There are obvious benefits – for the unsigned artist looking to get heard the internet is a life saver, if you come from a cultural backwater with no local scene the using the internet will get your music out there, if you are a fairly well known local band and you want to hit the road, the internet will help you develop a nationwide following, file sharing therefore becomes an important tool to take advantage of. For the fan, the real music fan, you can try before you buy, which means file sharing can be a useful browsing tool. But unfortunately a lot of people aren’t fans; these people are junkies, and they steal music.

And like real Junkies often the problem stems from a bigger social ill. In this case the music junkies jacking up their music players with stolen music are actually in the most part blameless. They can steal because the technology is available, the punishments don’t deter and it really is a complete free for all.

However hypothetically if a junkie was a fan of the Arctic Monkeys and they wanted to get hold of a copy of Humbug then they would be shocked if their usual reliable source didn’t have the album, in fact nowhere else did. In this sudden strange scenario which actually travels back in time to August, a week before the official release date – all that is available to the junkie is a few exclusives online, token video performances on TV and on radio an exclusive play of a few songs from the album presented by fuzzy faced guff puffin Zane Lowe. Critics that week are invited to listen to the album at a designated listening party; the party lasts for four spins of the album. Apart from that if you want to hear the album, you either need to order the physical copy or wait for the official download, which you will have to pay for. There have been no leaks.

Imagine if both artist and label made sure that there was actually a little bit of a buzz surrounding the album, that the junkies couldn’t get their fix. Instead the junkies got so desperate for a fix they went cold turkey, before finally parting with their cash.

Now the perfect model for the Music Industry 2.0 is that the unsigned artist from the middle of nowhere will get exposure from initially putting their music online for free, they will be invited to tour, and eventually sign to a indie label that will offer the use of a decent studio, the chance to work with a respected producer or extra money for home recording equipment allowing them to put out a decent sounding debut full length release. Over time a buzz grows about the band, but critically at this point, in the midst of the buzz the artist no longer gives their music away, instead they place a value on their music. Sure you can hear a few songs on the radio, maybe a couple of minute snippets from a stream, but if you want to have the music from the unsigned artist then you will have to pay for the privilege. The reason why you will have to pay is that the leak doesn’t happen; the usual places don’t have the album because it never got leaked.

Unlike a band of Festival Headliner status the band on the rise will need to take advantage of the blogosphere, again this band must keep in mind what they give away, don’t just give away perfectly good promos, even if they are watermarked. No, annoy the shit out of us critics by plastering messages halfway through each song, obviously not during a solo or in the middle of the chorus, just unleash a monotone voice that says “You are listening to the latest album from Edgar and The Crab People”. Render these tracks impossible to leak. It would be like having an annoying Spotify ad in the middle of a song. Nobody would want to illegally download that.

There is a flaw to this plan in that eventually after the release date the music will almost certainly find its way onto the internet, and will be available to download illegally for free. But for few a moments leading up to the official release date at least the music will be valued. Artists and labels need to show a bit of nous and block the potential leakage. Who knows, preventing the leak might even mean that artists get a little bit more money in their pockets, sure it isn’t going to be much, but something is better than nothing.

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