Who Buys Downloads From Independent Artists?

[JohnR]

I have. Especially if they can offer 24/96 flac files. I have no interest in MP3.

[dannybuoy]

I buy FLAC from Bandcamp regularly, in fact I can't remember the last time I bought music from anywhere else!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='JohnR' timestamp='1492710407' post='3282645']
I have. Especially if they can offer 24/96 flac files. I have no interest in MP3.
[/quote]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1492719938' post='3282752']
I buy FLAC from Bandcamp regularly, in fact I can't remember the last time I bought music from anywhere else!
[/quote]

Doc you choose to buy just the downloads deliberately, or is it that the artists don't have CDs or Records available?

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1492709531' post='3282641']
I find Spotify fine for the genres I listen to - some of it fairly obscure black metal and doom, be it new or old.

The only bands I've had trouble with are small UK and Icelandic black metal acts and the occcasional older artist like Hellhammer. For the most part, almost anything I'm after is on there, I've had more trouble with some big name pop for dep gigs - Taylor Swift, Emile Sande than more obscure stuff.
[/quote]

For the last 20 years or so I've been making compilations of my favourite tracks for each year, which I give to my musically inclined friends. I've just tried making Spotify playlists of some of them, and at least one quarter of the songs are missing from Spotify. Ignoring the fact that almost all the Japanese artists who aren't signed to a UK or US label are completely absent, it does get better from 2010 onwards in terms of coverage, but there are still a lot of what I would consider fairly mainstream artists who appear to be unrepresented. I certainly couldn't rely on Spotify for all my listening needs.

[Graham]

I had a quick look, all the Japanese bands I know (Sigh, Church Of Misery, Coffins, Gallhammer) are on there, as are the Taiwanese Cthonic and Singaporean Wormrot.

I guess it comes down to which labels have wanted to deal with company, perhaps the business model doesn't make sense for Electronica and J-pop artists.

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1492697524' post='3282454']
I have never downloaded or streamed anything.

I like to be able to hold my music.
[/quote]

To be pedantic, listening to music on YouTube is streaming

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1492754806' post='3282851']
I had a quick look, all the Japanese bands I know (Sigh, Church Of Misery, Coffins, Gallhammer) are on there, as are the Taiwanese Cthonic and Singaporean Wormrot.

I guess it comes down to which labels have wanted to deal with company, perhaps the business model doesn't make sense for Electronica and J-pop artists.
[/quote]

My Japanese tastes are much more mainstream expect for the Pico-Pop artists who all seem to be on small labels.

It's interesting to see who is on Spotify and who isn't.

Shena Ringo is, although for some reason Spotify will only find her as Ringo Sheena - a westernised spelling I'd never come across before.

Only one Polysics album (of 19 including compilations) is on there.

One single by Cocco.

Two tracks by Pizzicato Five.

Nothing at all by Supercar or any of their post break-up off-shoots (Miki Furukawa, iLL)

Nothing by Quruli or Fra-Foa.

These bands are all on major labels in Japan. I assume none of the labels want to deal with Spotify?

The Pico-Pop artists are much better represented after 2010, but hardly anything before that. Plus-Tech Squeeze Box who are probably the best known of these outside of Japan have a single track available.

From what I've seen the Spotify Catalogue is very hit and miss. Even artists who appear to be well represented don't have their entire catalogue available. For me there is simply too much music that would want to listen to missing to make it a substitute for my record and CD collection.

[NancyJohnson]

As a band, we've recorded just the four tracks and they're on Bandcamp and we have CDs (we 'press' in batches of 100 and are going to bundle in some very good live recordings of new material imminently). We sell a few when we gig, but by and large I never really see bands doing a roaring trade in tangibles at the places we place.

Have I bought? Yes. Going back a bit, I used to love CD Baby, Not Lame and MP3.com. Done downloads and bought CDs, found some truly wonderful bands via these sites. I'd actively be searching for new stuff too, I was on the Usenet boards for music that was pertinent to what I was interested in and used to subscribe to a couple of US publications (primarily Alternative Press) and source out material from there.

Nowadays, I just don't have the time or realistically want to take the effort to find new stuff online; while I'd say my band (Who Killed Nancy Johnson?) deliver on many levels, I'm just tired of listening to bands who make little effort to do things properly or can't even write something interesting. FFS, if your material sounds worse than mine, I just don't want to bother with a repeat listening. Get into a studio and have your material properly produced, rather than passing off recordings that sound like they were done in a freaking toilet.

[CamdenRob]

I never buy CDs etc I dont even use iTunes anymore and just stream everything from Spotify or check stuff out on soundcloud / YouTube.

I don't like CDs / DVDs etc I find they just clutter up the place. I'd far rather access media in a streamable format which means I don't have to physically store something.

Edited April 21, 2017 by CamdenRob

[BigRedX]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1492772843' post='3283079']
I never buy CDs etc I dont even use iTunes anymore and just stream everything from Spotify or check stuff out on soundcloud / YouTube.

I don't like CDs / DVDs etc I find they just clutter up the place. I'd far rather access media in a streamable format which means I don't have to physically store something.
[/quote]

But are you happy with the choice on Spotify? For me there's too many important artists and songs missing for it to be a replacement for my CD and record collection.

[Dad3353]

I don't know what these streaming sites are like for classical music, but I can't see myself listening to Mahler or Schubert in that way. CD's, and DVD's are the way for me; many have the video, too, to enjoy..!

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1492787568' post='3283257']


But are you happy with the choice on Spotify? For me there's too many important artists and songs missing for it to be a replacement for my CD and record collection.
[/quote]

Yes that's a valid point. My tastes are far from eclectic so most of the stuff I'd listen to on a daily basis is readily available.

I can understand the limitations of Spotify etc for folks with a broader musical palate*.

I really do hate having CDs, DVDs etc around though, I can't bare clutter... which probably says more about my mental state than it does about music delivery formats 😕


*Ive attempted to spell this three times and I'm still not convinced 😕

Edited April 21, 2017 by CamdenRob

[Dad3353]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1492798763' post='3283369']...with a broader musical palate*.
...
*Ive attempted to spell this three times and I'm still not convinced
[/quote]

That's correct; well done.

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1492799503' post='3283380']


That's correct; well done.
[/quote]

Third time lucky 😊

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1492727452' post='3282807']
Doc you choose to buy just the downloads deliberately, or is it that the artists don't have CDs or Records available?
[/quote]

Deliberately. I don't have a turntable, so my priority is FLAC > CD > MP3. If FLAC is not an option, I'll go for the CD option, rip it, then chuck it in a cupboard never to be seen again.

Physical CDs aren't much use to to me, only CD players I have are the ones in my PC and XBox. I have SONOS and PLEX in the house so I can play anything from my NAS in any room.

Edited April 21, 2017 by dannybuoy

[Dapper Bandit]

Pretty much all the music I buy now is digital downloads, mostly through bandcamp. Our house isn't massive so I haven't got room for an enormous CD library any more and I kind of enjoy being able to purchase music from bands all around the world and enjoy it straight away.

Plus I think bandcamp's royalty policy is fair and I have a lot of respect for their transparency about it compared to Amazon and iTunes. Another small thing that I enjoyed was that I bought an album on release and a couple of months later received an email from the artist thanking everyone that purchased along with some information about how the album was made. Not necessarily something every artist on there does but the framework is in place for a much greater level of intimacy with the artist than buying a CD off Amazon.

[BassTractor]

As a customer:
1 - Physical medium if possible - preferably CD or DVD/BluRay music formats. Vinyl if must.
If it's an artist I wish to support extra, I'll buy the downloads in addition.

2 - Downloads if must.

3 - No streaming ever.

Edited April 22, 2017 by BassTractor

[PaulWarning]

I do enjoy the Discover Weekly on Spotify feature where they pick tracks they think you might enjoy, scarily they don't pick many duff tracks for me, I guess I'm really predictable

[BigRedX]

I've not bought any downloads only from Bandcamp. Is there some way that you can keep track of what you have purchased just in case you have a problem with your computer at some point in the future and you need to download them again?

This one of the things that worries me most about downloaded music. It's keeping track of what I have bought and where I have bought it from. My current CD and Vinyl collection is over 2000 albums and singles. Should anything happen to the hard disk that they have been ripped to (and it's back-ups) I know that I can always go back to the originals as a last resort. What I don't know about are the few tracks that I have downloaded from various suppliers. I believe that anything I got from iTunes can be downloaded again, but not everything has come from such a mainstream source, and some of the downloads that I bought directly from bands in the early days of on-line distribution might not even be available any more.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1493042908' post='3285110']
I've not bought any downloads only from Bandcamp. Is there some way that you can keep track of what you have purchased just in case you have a problem with your computer at some point in the future and you need to download them again?

This one of the things that worries me most about downloaded music. It's keeping track of what I have bought and where I have bought it from. My current CD and Vinyl collection is over 2000 albums and singles. Should anything happen to the hard disk that they have been ripped to (and it's back-ups) I know that I can always go back to the originals as a last resort. What I don't know about are the few tracks that I have downloaded from various suppliers. I believe that anything I got from iTunes can be downloaded again, but not everything has come from such a mainstream source, and some of the downloads that I bought directly from bands in the early days of on-line distribution might not even be available any more.
[/quote]I use google play to backup the songs on my computer, it's free for up to 50000 songs and syncs with the music folder on your computer only does MP3 though, I think

[RhysP]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1492694154' post='3282413']
Does anyone buy anything from record shops these days?
[/quote]

I do.
I still buy music on CD. I don't buy much so if I can get it locally I will. I also tend to buy CDs at gigs if they are available.

I have no interest in buying downloads or using streaming services.

[MartinB]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1493042908' post='3285110']
I've not bought any downloads only from Bandcamp. Is there some way that you can keep track of what you have purchased just in case you have a problem with your computer at some point in the future and you need to download them again?[/quote]

Yep, there's a page that shows all you've bought and lets you stream or download. But given the number of legal download sites that have gone bump over the years, you're sensible to maintain your own backup.
I don't have that much downloaded stuff, but I've got local and remote ([url="https://www.backblaze.com"]Backblaze[/url]) copies of all my music files anyway. It took me [i]forever[/i] to rip all my CDs - I'm buggered if I'm doing that all over again!

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1493042908' post='3285110']
I've not bought any downloads only from Bandcamp. Is there some way that you can keep track of what you have purchased just in case you have a problem with your computer at some point in the future and you need to download them again?

This one of the things that worries me most about downloaded music. It's keeping track of what I have bought and where I have bought it from. My current CD and Vinyl collection is over 2000 albums and singles. Should anything happen to the hard disk that they have been ripped to (and it's back-ups) I know that I can always go back to the originals as a last resort. What I don't know about are the few tracks that I have downloaded from various suppliers. I believe that anything I got from iTunes can be downloaded again, but not everything has come from such a mainstream source, and some of the downloads that I bought directly from bands in the early days of on-line distribution might not even be available any more.
[/quote]

You can login to your account and redownload anything (just click on Collection up at the top right). Not only that, but the mobile app will let you stream anything you have previously bought, and so can Sonos. My NAS had a hardware problem a while ago but I could still stream purchases that way until I got it back up and running!

[Dood]

Please may I just insert a blatant plug for one of my favourite independent artists. I have hopefully managed to purchase everything he has produced. Seek out [b]David Maxim Micic[/b] and the bands he has played in if you like a bit of prog mixed with metal mixed with atmospheric mixed with cinematic mixed with groove mixed with...

[Guest Jecklin]

A timely thread.

After the post on digital aggregators I too have been going over download sales figures in some depth.
The gigs I've done recently where I have lugged CDs or Vinyl with me I have sold well and it annoys me I didn't pursue this more last year.

What I'm seeing now is that my bandcamp sales are falling off considerably.
I'll assume that's not because people don't like my stuff as I'm still clocking up a lot of complete listens, but this no longer translate into downloads even free ones! So folks are using my bandcamp presents simply to stream from. They don't consider "owning" a download as important.

This has made me reconsider my strategy behind the album I want to record this year:
If I release it on bandcamp I doubt I'll sell many/any.
I'll only sell physical copies at gigs, so I need to carefully consider how many physical items to press.
I wasn't going to put it on spotify, but now see it may be worth it as a loss leading exercise to reach an audience I otherwise wouldn't. Hopefully they will come to my gigs......

A great deal of my friends ONLY use spotify for their listening.
I don't use it at all as a lot of music I listen to is not on there and I also begrudge being forced to use the internet as my main means of accessing "my" music.
However this is not how most people operate these days.