[Harp-L] Re: JR@terra 9/15/05 is "show spotlight" on archive.org

[Garry Hodgson <garry@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

EGS1217@xxxxxxx wrote:

> ......Okay, Garry - just gave my review since I was there in person. 

excellent.  nice review.  i gather you liked the show?

>  I can manage to buy the CD's and feel it's only fair to do so,  to support 
> artists like...

i agree completely.  i feel honor bound to support the artists that share
their music this way.  most of the folks i know who tape/trade/share live
music feel the same way.  there's a bond between the fans and the bands,
a shared understanding that each will treat the other fairly, and both contribute
what they can to keep the whole thing going.  the game only works if everyone,
or at least a critical mass of people, do the right thing.  generally, they do.

> I agree exposing more people to his music with the downloads might  bring him 
> more fans who will hopefully buy his CD's, but I still worry about  artists 
> like Jason not being compensated adequately for and losing control of  their 
> work.  Wish I knew the solution.

for those artists who've given their permission to let their music be taped/traded/
put on the archive, this is the solution.  they believe they have more to gain in
increased exposure than they may lose in cd sales.  you'll note that most of the
bands who do this make their living touring (vs. album sales), and their forte is
live performance and improvisation, not simple note-for-note rehashings of their
albums.

still, it's a gamble.  what isn't?  it's up to each artist to decide whether this is
right for them, either as a straightforward business calculation, or because 
they believe in sharing the music, or to increase fan loyalty (nothing so cool
as to listen to a great recording of a show you were at.  particularly when it
was on your birthday. :-) ), or whatever.

i asked jason recently whether he'd seen any effect from the archive.org thing.
and he said absolutely yes, that he gets people all the the time who come up
to him after shows and say they'd never heard of him, but downloaded a show
and loved it.  so at least in his case, it's working like it's supposed to. 

----
Garry Hodgson, Technical Consultant, AT&T Labs

Your love, your anger, your kindness, your hate.
All of it creates the future for you and your children.
What kind of future are you creating today?