20 Comments

1. People would download music for free and still yearn for music to be free regardless of whether radiohead, trent, and all the other bigger bands/artists decided to de-value music as Ian is suggesting. It’s not like he is setting a precedent or starting a revolution against all the radiohead modelers out there, because free music became a model in 1999, not 2007 when In Rainbows came out.

2. @Nick – Agreed, I’m really glad that Astbuy sees that bands need to give their fans more value though.

3. Oh god, here we go again, another “Lilly Allen” who just discovered yesterday that there is thing going on called the new music business.
   His statements only reveal how uneducated he is on the subject.

4. I guess Ian forgot about all of the free CDs that his label used to give away radio stations to get his records played, copies to jukebox operators and on and on. I would love to see the Cult’s charge back sheet from the label for marketing expenses and cutouts.

5. Ian seems to have grasped something about a modern trend without seemingly realizing it. The money people used to spend on records is now spent on visual things like videos, games and good tools to present videos and games. So Ian is joining this trend by releasing EPs with films and photography. Way to go Ian and The Cult!

6. Haha.. What a stupid argument!
   “[…] is hearing, ‘You know what kid? Your music’s worth nothing’. […]”
   What the hell is life about if you cannot share and give what you want? This monetization of life reduces the value of humans and replaces it with imaginary coins and bills. If people like to give away their music, it’s their choice. If they want to charge for it all, it’s also their choice. It is all about freedom.

7. Ian- you’re music isn’t worth the hard drive you recorded it on. make money on touring and merch you old dinosaur.

8. i hate it when people say “Make money on touring and Merch”……I always say back “if you think it’s such a good idea, You go make money on touring and merch, and give it to all the musicians who’s music you didn’t STOLE you you ugly troll!”. I know how exactly how far these internet trolls will get…..nowhere!

9. TYPO CORRECTION: “If you think it’s such a good idea, you go make money on touring and merch and give it back to all the musicians who’s music you STOLE, you ugly troll!”

10. Donald, how do you define worth?
    Perhaps Ian isn’t as well versed on the changing industry as many of us hypebot readers are, but he is a sucessful artist who is lamenting that other sucessful artists like Radiohead are lowering the bar for new artists who haven’t made a living yet. This is a grey area now, but I applaud the intent of his message.

11. It’s obvious how the industry is split: Those who have everything to lose and those who have everything to win.
    The Cult is one that try to preserves something that no longer exists: worth of music as a merchandise.
    Since those “who have nothing to lose” have the Web to reach directly tons of pair of ears, and sell to fans something on which we still have control on (like publishing rights, concerts, merch, etc…), please expect more and more “lazy ass dinosaurs” starting to cry what there loosing.
    I respect The Cult for its great music. But today, its another ballgame. I have much more respect for Radiohead’s way of being inventive. Welcome to the future!

12. It’s obvious how the industry is split: Those who have everything to lose and those who have everything to win.
    The Cult is one that try to preserve something that no longer exists: worth of music as a merchandise.
    Since those “who have nothing to lose” have the Web to reach directly tons of pair of ears, and sell to fans something on which we still have control on (like publishing rights, concerts, merch, etc…), please expect more and more “lazy ass dinosaurs” starting to cry what there loosing.
    I respect The Cult for its great music. But today, its another ballgame. I have much more respect for Radiohead’s way of being inventive. Welcome to the future!

13. music = free… that’s the world we live in now. If you’re not happy with the way things work, then put down your guitar and put on an apron and scan my groceries b!tch. cuz really, if you can’t make money off touring, merch, licensing, you shouldn’t be trying to make music your full time gig. period. a musician’s self entitlement is sooooo 20th century.

14. Jay — Ian is out of touch & his opinions are irrelevant. How much money did the Cult make on fans by selling a slews of mediocre tracks bundled on LPs without allowing fans the ability to cherry pick digital singles? (essentailly picking the “good” ones from the filler cuts). Dude is pissed he can’t replace his solid gold pants because the fan now has power to decide which songs to own and how much $$ they are worth.
    This fat cat artist is almost as bad, if not worse, than the major label cadre that bungle every possible innovation and salvation for this limping industry. I can forgive this dude for being a selfish, entitled, and washed up artist angry at the evils of the internet. He embarrassed himself by saying this nonsense.
    What I CAN’T forgive is Atlantic having one of their artists use pledge music. It’s like do your freakin’ job Atlantic, save this dude some embarrassment and give him the $$ he needs to make his record or drop him if you aren’t willing to pony up. WTF?!?!

15. What a welcome break from celebrity whining! Reading the headline I thought “Dear Christ not again” but to his supreme credit, he’s walking the walk and he’s got alternatives and he’s trying something new in an effort to adapt. I think this is excellent and I definitely respect the guy’s opinion even though I wholly disagree.

16. I love that quote: “It’s obvious how the industry is split: Those who have everything to lose and those who have everything to win.” Thanks for sharing.

17. U2 might not give away their music, but they do whore themselves out to Blackberry so that after you’ve paid 200 bucks to see them live you are assaulted with adverts everywhere you look at the venue. So much for integrity and respecting the audience.
    Ironically, giving away their record might be the only way for the Cult to get people to listen to their new music. They probably have never made money off record sales (perhaps one of two records in their catalog, but they’re probably unrecouped on the others), which is why they tour regularly.
    The thing that Mr. Astbury misses about Radiohead is this: the money generated by the offer went directly to the band, almost immediately. They didn’t have to hire accountants to audit the label two years later, they didn’t have to offset the royalties versus any unrecouped balance. The band got more money, faster, off the In Rainbows experiment than any other digital sales EMI handled for them.
    Somebody should sit down and explain it to him. Bruce, why don’t you contact him and do an interview for the site?

18. The biggest barrier a 17 year old musician faces is obscurity, and ‘free’ helps break that barrier.
    ‘Free’ does not signify an absence of worth. Instead, it signifies a possibility of future worth. Music is a community and the currency is attention – the more people hear your music and your ideas, the more they’re worth.
    With the sheer amount of entertainment options out there, free is that 17 year old’s best chance of getting his music into people’s lives, which will make his other offerings worth more (merchandise, tours, vinyl etc).
    Furthermore, when it comes to digital – yes, a medium that is near-free to produce isn’t worth $9.99 at Itunes. It doesn’t mean the songs are worthless, but let’s face it, anything digital should be pretty damn near free.
    Ian is out of touch.

19. Seems to me like he is saying the wrong thing while doing the right thing. He slams free music culture, but acknowledges the diminishing value of music by his release strategy- i.e.utilizing a multi-media bundle (w short film and photos) to justify a price point.

20. We paid 30 bucks for our U2 tickets.

Comments are closed.