You sometimes hear about record labels screwing over music singers.

You may argue signer's beware. But that doesn't change the fact that somebody got screwed, at that automatically gives the screwer no right to complain about piracy if not much of the money actually reaches the artist in the first place.

Just like how there is a fair trade coffee certification to ensure coffee growers in developing countries are well compensated.

I would think music listener can be affected in their purchasing habits if they know that a suitable percentage of their digital download, cd, whatever... will actually reach their artist.
-- mofosyne, May 16 2015

That's what Jay-Z's music streaming service 'Tidal' was supposed to be all about. The downside: it costs $20 a month, and at twice the monthly subscription cost of all their rivals, such as Spotify Premium ($10), Pandora One ($10), Beats Music ($10), Google Play All Access ($10), etc, however, it has proven to be a pretty tough sell and industry analysts aren't expecting it to last long.
-- 21 Quest, May 16 2015


Simple, get your music in person from local artists, rather than from giant international corporations.
-- pocmloc, May 16 2015


Those giant international corporations are how artists get discovered and make as much money as they do. The corporations handle advertising, they setup gigs for the artist, they send attack lawyers after copyright violators and intellectual property thieves and to do all that, to stay on top of it all... it takes an army of people to do it, and all of those people have bills to pay and families to feed and they're entitled to be paid for their work. You think artists don't get a big enough slice of the income pie? The pie itself wouldn't be as big as it is if it weren't for all those other people busting their butts.

Too many artists these days want it both ways. They want to make all those millions of dollars, but they don't want to pay a fair wage to all the people who make it happen for them.
-- 21 Quest, May 16 2015


Besides the fact that music lables do make way more profit than they should the fact is for all their work they're not producing much of value. Do you really claim an artist can't find his own gigs? And copyright is way, WAY too long to do what it was made to do: encourage the arts. I'm not entitled to income from a computer I repaired 40 years ago. A doctor gets no residual income from a patient that's still alive because of his work. 30 years would still be too long to grant a copyright.

So these rent seeking companies which regularly lie about their money flows and send money to congress to distort their market even more, I'm shedding so many crocodile tears for them.
-- Voice, May 17 2015


Look, an artist with no experience is going to get screwed by anybody they deal with until they get the experience to handle the business aspect of their art on their own. You think some zit- faced teenage boyband singers operating out of Mom's garage is going to have the business savvy to get recorded, advertise, book gigs, make logistical arrangements, stay on schedule for a tour, start merchandising, hire a lawyer when a venue owner screws them over, pay all their taxes, etc? Some might be able to just that without the need for a big company. Most cannot.
-- 21 Quest, May 17 2015


Yes, but the old record industry made some people very rich. Like Lucy, and this guy with diamonds.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, May 17 2015


If Ian said what I think he said, then it supported the point I was trying to make, which is that you can't make the music and exert the time and energy it takes to practice and keep your skills and talents sharp while at the same time running the business end of it. While you're in your studio recording and rehearsing for concerts, who's answering the phone when people call and say they want to book you to play at their venue? Who's making all the phonecalls to arrange your accommodations and plan your itinerary? Who's going to the bank and meeting with people to handle the financial considerations?

There are only so many hours in the day. If you want to be a big star and make the kind of money you think the industry is screwing you out of, you have to be part of the industry and learn to work the system like a pro, and you have to have people working under you who do all the legwork while you make the music.
-- 21 Quest, May 17 2015


That's the whole point of this concept.

It's recognizing the fact that the music distribution industry does have it's own usage (even if its less so with the rise of the internet).

But at the same time recognizing the informational, financial and experiential asymmetry of the relationship between the record labels and music artist. Which you did mention with the "zit faced teen" example.

Thus a duty of care is expected by society, especially if the common complaint by the industry is that "artist will go hungry" if the record labels are not paid their dues because of piracy.

Can't have your cake and eat it too... and then declare yourself to be morally entitled to all the cake, because the makers of the cake deserves to eat.
-- mofosyne, May 17 2015



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