Steve Albini on the state of the music industry

[dannybuoy]

An interesting read:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/17/steve-albinis-keynote-address-at-face-the-music-in-full

And what he had to say on the matter 20 years ago (might be worth reading this one first!):

http://www.thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-music

And, just because we're talking about Steve Albini, a letter he wrote to Nirvana that was posted on here a while back!

http://imgur.com/a/p0tKn

[Stylon Pilson]

Excellent article. I agreed wholeheartedly with the original when I read it a few years back (5? 10?) and I agree wholeheartedly with his latest.

The music "industry" was a fad. Music was around for thousands of years before it, and it will be around for thousands of years after.

S.P.

[redstriper]

Bob on - thanks for the link

[miles'tone]

That was a fantastic read, cheers!
I started at the letter to Nirvana (how could they refuse?!), then old essay, recent essay.
Wow what a switched on guy Mr. Albini is.

Reading all that actually makes me glad my previous bands never got anywhere in the "industry". I knew it was bad but we would have been eaten alive. Total f***ing snake pit!

[Skol303]

Brilliant, thanks for sharing

I'm a fan of Steve Albini and as usual, he's talking sense.

[ThirteenDevils]

Makes for interesting reading! He really has a good point.

[r16ktx]

Certainly puts Taylor Swift's current antics into perspective!

[Damonjames]

[quote name='r16ktx' timestamp='1416408084' post='2609886']
Certainly puts Taylor Swift's current antics into perspective!
[/quote]

She came out all noble about protecting her material, then sold it to google's online streaming software instead!

Where is the shame in just coming out and saying I stopping company "A" from using my product because company "B" are going to pay me more?!

[Damonjames]

I really like Steve Albini, although he comes across a little abrasive at times, he is a purist and believes in making music for the love of it.
His business philosophy is unique also, he takes payment of an agreed figure to produce an album, then that's it. No percentage, no royalties, deal is done.
Considering he produced Nirvana's In Utero, he should be minted. Instead, he has nearly lost his studio a few times through lack of money to keep it open.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Damonjames

[cameltoe]

I agree with a lot of what he has said from a listeners point of view, and from a local musician point of view. I presume he is correct (generally speaking) that it is greed driving the backlash against the download era from the record industry.

I use a lot of apple products- but I don't use iTunes. I've found it very frustrating and time consuming, and completely at odds with the idea of digital music. If I buy a CD I can listen to it in any CD player. That hasn't been the case when downloading a song from iTunes. Plus is it just me, or is it really expensive?

The closest thing I have come to serving my needs is spotify premium. It's not perfect, but it allows me to listen to decent quality digital music, doesn't clog up my hard drive with downloaded tracks (and make me consider going for a lower-quality bit rate so I can store more), I can listen on my phone/iPad/Laptop, I can log in anywhere on any computer..... it's on the right track. I'd be interested on other people's thoughts.