A New York Times Op-Ed Piece by Damian
Damian has a New York Times Op-Ed piece about the major labels, YouTube, and non-embeddable videos in today’s New York Times.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE and let us know your thoughts in the comments on this post.
Amen, brother! The record labels have been taking advantage of the artists for decades and now they are screwing the artists and, in turn, screwing themselves. What a load! EMI needs to Get Over It!
Yeah, Damian! Stick it to the man!
In theory your YT videos can still be embedded in WordPress blogs, because all the WordPress software asks for is the URL of the YT video, and it creates the player.
However there is a further hitch in the EMI/YouTube agreement: from Switzerland I cannot view your more recent musical YT videos, not even on YT: if I try to view “OK Go – This Too Shall Pass” – i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY – a message says: “This video contains content from EMI. It is no longer available in your country.” So when I try to add http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY to a wordpress post, the player is created, but I get the same message in it. Dunno how it would look to people who aren’t geolocalised out.
Actually, there is a very simple way to bypass this geolocalisation – and embed block – without tampering with its digital restriction measure (which I wouldn’t know how to start doing) through another platform, but that platform requires that people using it be the content owners or have the content owners’ consent.
The record industries are too big and have had it too easy for too long to ever adapt quickly to change – they are dinosaurs and extinction beckons. That is a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand it is no loss as they have survived on the blood of musicians for the whole life of the mass music industry – but for the few who made it they were the funding key that gave them the world at their feet. On balance I am sure they crushed more than they nurtured.
I suppose the question is – where is the funding for music when the music industry dies out?
It seems likely that mass music will not survive without funding and access to the public: the internet must be that platform. The worlds of radio and especially TV seem closed to real talent, preferring instead to manufacture malleable acts with no perceptible talent and a very short shelf life.
Looking at the life cycle of bands in the past it seems fair comment that most of them needed many albums and often a break from their companies before they could turn a dollar for themselves. Of those bands, many never made it to that stage and bowed out at or around the point when the companies were about to relinquish a few more cents their way. It therefore suits the record companies if they relinquish their grip on the squeezed bands and move on to new ones on a regular basis.
So if the internet is both the shop window for bands and the income generator money must flow in proportion to the popularity of the bands. The shop window can be multi faceted. It can consist of viral marketing but it must have a fixed base which is accountable. It is a mark of weakness of the record industry that the PPV for streams is only for stuff on their own sites (and the rate is pretty low). Except where people actually host content on their own servers most people who embed take the stream off a server that is owned by YouTube for example. It cannot be beyond the wit of the server owners to record embedded streams as well. It just never happened. Perhaps nobody fought hard enough for it: perhaps it was just a case of the record companies seeing control as the solution when they could have had more and let someone else do the work by adapting to change.
A while back Michael Robertson founded MP3.com. It was originally a great site – you listened to music and bought MP3 albums. It worked well. He sold it, the new owners changed the way it was structured and it went down like a stone. It was a great shop window for bands while it lasted. My point is that there are ways of making music pay but it requires innovative business models administered by organisations that have the interests of the musicians and music buying public at large. And that, I’m fairly sure, will not be the current music industry.
The Internet is a great way to keep in touch with what is new, and I great way of discovering new music, however, label companies, are following the trend of Film/TV companies. Their content is restricted to their area, ie, the USA. But no only that, EMI is not the only restricting their material. WB has released a statement that will take all their artists content from streaming radios. This means that many artists that don’t have the support and the money behind like great, and massively recognized artist, may never have a chance of being hear.
Not only that, but for instance, iTunes don’t allow buying music if you leave in other Country that is not the USA. UK, and a few others countries have their own store, and they can buy, but for the majority, this is not possible. So it’s with Amazon. I can buy the physical CD, but I can’t buy MP3. I believe that many people around the world with these limitations would be more than pleased to buy and recognize the artist, and bring profit to the label companies, but with these restrictions that grow more and more with everyday, people will continue to support piracy, and many artist will not have a chance to reach potential new fans throughout the world, because they will never have a chance to be heard.
“It cannot be beyond the wit of the server owners to record embedded streams as well.”
I agree with oggbad. I’m no computer whiz, but is that impossible?
So, what do you suggest? Although not even at any recognizable fraction of your level, I could benefit from your experience and insight, which means many others could as well, so I suggest that you start an agency consulting firm. Step one would be getting paid on the side for consulting in your free time, which would take very little time; you’d simply review contracts with labels and offer feedback. “OK Go approved.” Or even develop a standard OK Go record company contract that you sell. Step two would be forming your own label and having a tremendous advantage over what is currently out there. Step three would be signing me, obviously, because without this suggestion, you would still be out, being superstars touring five continents and playing shows instead of being stuck in an office in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
I once saw John Perry Barlow speak at a conference about the success of the Grateful Dead, which he thought was greatly enhanced by their willingness to let (and encourage) their fans to record bootlegs at live shows. Of course, they label was vehemently against bootlegs and tried everything in its power to discourage the practice. Barlow argued that in the world of art – music, painting, dance, etc. – the value of a work of art increases the more played/seen/recognized the work is. Hence, the value of the Mona Lisa (and the Dead catalog). In other words, in the digital age, we can see the Mona Lisa anytime we want, but still, thousands flock to Paris every year to have a look at the original. Same is true with music as evidenced by the Dead.
Also, look at the iTunes revolution. If you give customers an inexpensive way to abide by the law, lots and lots of them will. That said, the greed (perceived and actual) by the record companies is reulting in a generation of kids who think stealing music is ethically ok since they are “sticking it to the man”. Change the perceptions, solve the problem… and maybe even make some dough!
Damian,
I found this piece to be exceedingly intelligent, thoughtful and well-rendered. I am surprised that there are as few comments as there are (especially when compared to those for your videos), but encouraged that the responses have likewise been, on balance, similarly thoughtful. In light of today’s landmark announcement of your peaceful split from EMI, I wanted to revisit this piece, to congratulate you and your band for your accomplishments thus far, and to wish you all the very best in your new venture with Paracadute. I hope that this does indeed make ‘being OK Go’ more than a bit easier, and that you continue to succeed on all the levels that are important to you. Yours is a unique story, and you have placed yourselves in a unique position. Obviously, many of us are watching with vicarious relish and happiness for you. I certainly am enjoying being a witness to your art and your adventure. Your evolving place in the industry and business model are fascinating byproducts. Thanks for the music – it really is great – and for the trailblazing. Keep enjoying the ride.
Godspeed and prosper you all. See you on the road!
Well thought, well said – well done!
If you were able to make that situation clear for someone like me, then it should be crystal clear to anyone in your business, including, of course, the record companies. It makes perfect sense to me. I’d love to hear what their response would be, but it’d likely be delivered in legalese that no one out here in laymanland wants to deal with.
We just like the videos. Wise up, record companies. All of us are leaving you in the dust, not just the bands.
I keep thinking about this. Nobody buys a CD because they have to anymore. I rarely purchase anything; mostly I rent music from Rhapsody, and that’s because I’m one of the honest ones. For me to buy music, I need to be invested in the band…to like them enough that I know I’ll hate it if they can’t afford to put out new music. Groups (like you) who are welcoming, who see their fans as part of the process instead of the enemies who must be kept behind the gate …only those groups will survive. And I will support you with every penny I have because I feel invested, included even, in what you are doing.
As for Paracadute, it’s a brilliant thing to know when the plane is going down… when it’s time to get out alive. Though you have to play nice in the media, I think you’ve gotten the message across with one simple word. Kudos.