The Artists Speak About The Modern Age

It is of no surprise that many people, especially in this modern age, obtain music by downloading MP3s, burning CDs, sharing files, or other free means. But what does this mean for the artist? Are they mad because they are not making profit, or do they only wish to get their music out there? The opinions, especially after the attempted passages of SOPA and PIPA (two outrageous copyright bills), varied, however, even before copyright issues were more prominent of a problem, musical artists did not seem to mind their music being distributed for free or recorded.
                In a 2001 “Nardwuar” interview with Julian Casablancas (vocals) and Nick Valensi (first guitar)of The Strokes, the question of someone recording videos of their shows was posed.

Nardwuar: “Are you worried he might steal some ideas at all?”
                 Julian Casablancas: “No, I think that’s the way that art should progress.”

Some may call Casablancas’ response naïve as the interview took place early on, before the band could know the life of a “true” musician. 2001 marked The Strokes’ debut album Is This It? , and for such young men of 20 – 23 years of age, they had great success, which included a sold-out UK tour simply from the EP released before the full album (documented by The Strokes’ second guitarist, Albert Hammond Jr, here). The Strokes remain a lesser known band, but even though they’ve progressed since Is This It? , one can still argue that they care more about the music than the money.

                A band that started out in 1996, Linkin Park, had similar apathy towards the copying of their first album. The opinion is voiced by Mike Shinoda (vocals, keys, guitar) in a 2011 interview with Fuse.

“At the time when Hybrid Theory came out, we were still doing real snail mail lists, email hadn’t caught on yet.  … but we sent out our album samplers with two songs on it…half of them were CD half were cassette, and the fans got them and passed them around and dubbed them and everybody made copies, whatever. “

As with The Strokes’ Is This It? , Hybrid Theory was the key to Linkin Park’s establishment in the music scene. Unlike The Strokes, Linkin Park did not continue their belief that free distribution of music is okay; rather they were furious when their 2012 album Living Things was leaked. From this, it can be inferred that most bands are alright with illegal means of getting music if the consequence is that their music spreads.

                I was lucky enough to have gotten in contact with New Hampshire band A Simple Complex via Facebook to get their opinion on the matter. They offered great insight both as consumers of music and as an unsigned band, stating "Digital music is both a blessing and a curse". Like many music fans, they are ecstatic to find songs by their favorite artists for a cheap price of about a dollar in comparison to buying CDs as well as imports “priced anywhere from $2 to $13, to get the extra songs that didn't make the album” and even more-so to find free songs to fulfill their inner psychotic music fan (a necessary quality to be a music maker).

            

They continue, “On the flipside (pun intended), as an unsigned band, we spend about $1200 in the studio to make 3 polished songs. We then spend another $500 getting 300 CDs made for those songs. We mail 1/3 of them to radio stations and music publications (for free - let's add another $100 in postage for that!) Though we've had a lot of radio play and critical praise from industry people and rock fans in general, we have yet to recoup those expenses on any of the 3 CDs we've released thus far. So the idea of people ripping our CDs and giving the songs to their friends can be hard to swallow. However, we have to consider that there are people who have become fans only because they got a copy of our music for free - if they hadn't gotten it for free, they would never have become a fan. So these days, recordings of songs are almost considered 'pamphlets' (expensive ones) that you're supposed to hand out to then generate a fan base from, in hopes this will make them want to spend money to come see you perform live and purchase other merch like shirts and such. Recording your music is necessary, yet not immediately recoupable, like handing out free stickers or flyers for your upcoming shows in hopes it pays off - except recording can be a lot pricier, especially if you want it done right (by a professional).”

Here they are in their awesomeness.

(Source)

Left to Right: Mark (guitar 1), Stu (guitar 2), Jess (vocals), Jim (bass), Chris (drums)

So, what's the verdict of this post? When someone's a new band, it's hard to get out there. Free music helps and hurts. As a consumer, one should be wary.