

He'd Rather Be "Raped By Pirate Bay" Than Played On Spotify  - jasonlbaptiste
http://torrentfreak.com/id-rather-be-raped-by-pirate-bay-than-go-with-spotify-090813/

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aw3c2
spam, the actual article is at [http://torrentfreak.com/id-rather-be-raped-by-
pirate-bay-tha...](http://torrentfreak.com/id-rather-be-raped-by-pirate-bay-
than-go-with-spotify-090813/) (as much as I despise Torrentfreak for often
inflating things into many words though)

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chrischen
Why don't artists just distribute their music themselves? I've never
understood why artists always signed with labels. Is it the prestige? Is it
the credibility that comes with being signed, or is it somewhat like venture
capital? Surely the internet has made this somewhat easier...

~~~
sho
Same reason startup founders take VC. They might be able to do it themselves,
especially these days. But they want to be BIG.

~~~
astine
It's more than that. A label takes care marketing, sales, and other things in
order to free the artist up for art. Selling music and film, esp. through the
normal channels, is a complicated process, and it's a lot easier with a label
to do it for you.

~~~
chrischen
Music seems like it could sell itself. Personally I don't _really_ care about
the artist behind it (unless she's attractive) so long as the music sounds
good. So maybe the record companies make artists attractive looking? Is that
what _marketing_ is?

~~~
mr_eel
Music doesn't get heard unless you tell people about it. At it's most basic
level, that's what marketing is. Of course it can and often is much more
sophisticated or manipulative, but that's the core of it.

So if you have music you want people to hear, you need to get it on the radio,
get it played in clubs, have it reviewed etc. Most people don't _hunt_ for
music, they find what they like passively. So if you want more ears, you have
to work to get the music in front of them.

That takes expertise and time. Artists don't necessarily have either -- not if
they're giving the music the time it deserves.

Hence labels. They understand marketing, have money to pay for studio time,
handle the technical details -- engineering, mastering -- and have the
distribution channels.

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skylineb
The story was broken by Torrent Freak anbd they link to it but this puts in in
better context

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thras
An ad-supported version of your product that doesn't make you any money _is_
worse than the Pirate Bay. Advertisements shit on your brand.

~~~
patio11
_Advertisements shit on your brand._

I don't know if I'd go that far, but I will say that the absolute best
performing advertisements are for competitors. Thankfully, my free competitors
have mostly not figured this out yet, and think that their yearly AdSense
check is webmaster welfare instead of an indication that charging money is
working for _somebody_.

~~~
jimfl
Okay, advertisements fart in the general direction of your brand.

