So as you might already know, I am all for the whole sharing, P2P framework for music in this day and age. I think the internet has just provided such an awesome opportunity for everyday people to get to know so many other bands on offer worldwide - instead of trying their luck on a CD that they may or may not like. I read some comment somewhere about how there’s no real ‘big’ bands today like there were years ago - for example, The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin, or the Rolling Stones. I mean please. Let’s face it. Music on offer today is so much more varied and EXCITING than those boring bands (yes i did say boring). The only reason I think they are so well liked is because they were so mainstream.
People probably didn’t really have many avenues for finding out new music so they just took whatever was shoved into their face. And I guess the music that appealed to them the most was all these has been bands. I’m not saying that these bands aren’t good…I mean that is definitely up to personal preference. But I’m just sick of people overlooking the GOOD side of internet music sharing - I mean seriously if it wasn’t for the internet, so many lesser known bands would still be playing at local pubs and clubs. So with that in mind, I stumbled across this article today, about Radioheads release of In Rainbows. It basically goes on to say how releasing their album to the public on the internet had no real damage to their revenue - in fact it seems to have increased it.
I have to admit, I’m not much a fan of Radiohead, and I don’t really get how people even understand what the hell Thom Yorke’s mumbling about in all their songs. I also am a bit dubious about their figures and pretty wary about the way they marketed the whole release. To me, it seemed like they marketed it as a huge gimmick that obviously appealed to a lot of torrent fanboys. I actually think it’s about time people stopped talking about Radiohead and started looking towards the future - and how music is going to be distributed once the CD dies(I give it two years). Obviously the music industry is headed somewhere unknown, and obviously bands would be taking a risk by using the internet to generate more listeners. I’m sure if the music’s good enough, and if it reaches out to a wide range of people, it’ll have a high chance of being successful though. The public is usually smart…though I do wonder how Death Cab for Cutie and the Arctic Monkeys get so many listens!! XD
