3 ms·

This doesn't even touch on the fact that albums now seem to leak months in advance of their release date. I don't doubt that this means that people in the UK c

by ctide 15y ago

This doesn't even touch on the fact that albums now seem to leak months in advance of their release date. I don't doubt that this means that people in the UK can be listening to albums 2-3 months in advance of when they can legally purchase them. I can't help but imagine this is one of the leading causes of music piracy these days. Why wait 3 months to listen to an album if you can get it today?

ethank 15y ago
It is not hard to keep a record from leaking: just don't allow pre-releases, or watermark them, or MSI them (MSI makes the disk violate redbook so it can't be ripped). The whole reason that NPR and the like get a record one week before street is because once the records are on trucks to retail (1 week out) it leaks without fail. The REM record I just worked on never leaked. Why? We protected the prerelease distribution and people honored that. We also didn't put out the full record early to anyone, only a sampler. Leaks are always from carelessness or are deliberate. Either or.
- ctide 15y ago
  I was impressed with this, which I saw (ironically) about 15 minutes after I posted my earlier comment: http://ninjatune.net/article/2011/apr/19/amon-tobin-isam-available-digitally-now http://ninjatune.net/article/2011/apr/19/amon-tobin-isam-ava... This is the best response I've seen from a label to a leak yet.
  - ethank 15y ago
    Yeah, we were usually prepared to do this if need be. I can't remember if we ever had to though.
  - viraptor 15y ago
    Huh? I don't get it. I mean moving the digital release date is a cool reaction. The description is a bit weird. > "not everyone realises how much is invested in ambitious, groundbreaking tours" How many people would see those? Hundreds? Thousands? Probably not one percent compared to sales. Then again fans would still like to buy it. Whoever wanted to hear the tracks at a gig, will wait for the gig before buying the album. I don't see how tour timing is related here. Tour posters will be visible anyways to remind people about the artist - it's not like they got cancelled. > "collaborations with brilliant artists" Again - what does it have to do with the release date? > "lovingly designed packaging" Not related to digital sales at all. > "All that happens is a lot of great ideas and music come under threat." To me it translates to: We were waiting so you can all experience the release in a way we imagined it, but apparently all you wanted was the music, not our tours, designs and marketing campaigns. And because of that the music came under threat. The horror!
    - ctide 15y ago
      You're pulling things out of context. The full quote, which answer most of your questions: " A nameless person has decided that he, not us, is best placed to release the new Amon Tobin album, and to do so for free, online via a watermarked promotional copy. We know these things happen, and we know that not everyone realises how much is invested in ambitious, groundbreaking tours, collaborations with brilliant artists and lovingly designed packaging... It still hurts." The point they're making is that it costs them a lot of money to produce an album, and someone deciding to leak it early sucks. An obvious point, but one that's probably written more out of frustration than out of a desire to communicate something people don't already know. The translation that I took from it, is that they want to offer a full package on a given date. That package includes the option to digitally purchase the music, or buy a physical disc that includes things that they feel are important to some people. By having it leaked a month+ early, most people are just going to acquire it they only way they currently can -- by downloading it for free. Offering a digital download a month early is obviously not the ideal scenario for them (it means people who would have otherwise purchased a physical copy will now just purchase a digital version) but it's better than just losing all the sales that will otherwise result from people being 'finished' with the album before it's even released.
      - viraptor 15y ago
        I didn't try to handle it out of context. I don't understand what is the problem with releasing digital version early. There are mostly 2 groups - people who will go only for the media in the format convenient to them (either CD, or a download) and those who will get more products because they're more involved fans. How does releasing one product early affect any of those groups? How does it affect sales in a bad way? Maybe I am missing something obvious, but I cannot imagine a bad result here. Fans will want to go to a gig anyways. Amon Tobin is bound to fill venues - it's not like they're fighting for customers there. If the worry is that people will buy only one format and not both, they could always offer pre-orders.
- fragmede 15y ago
  > MSI them (MSI makes the disk violate redbook so it can't be ripped) That, unfortunately, sounds very naive. What reason do you have to believe MSI won't be broken soon? (Assuming it hasn't already been broken.) (Limiting pre-release distribution is certainly a good approach to the problem though.)
  - ethank 15y ago
    Of course its naive. I ripped MSI using optical out from an old CD player into Quicktime. Oops.
saw-lau 15y ago
'Why wait 3 months to listen to an album if you can get it today?' Well, I know I'm in an ever-decreasing minority here, but: because that's the legal thing to do? I've always had a hard time understanding the argument 'I'm forced to steal this because I'm unable to buy it.' To me, items like CDs or computer games are luxury goods, not a right. Maybe it goes back to my teens when I'd eagerly save up my pocket money to buy the latest 12" single and be excited when something was released from one of my favourite bands... Would I like all DVDs to be region-free? For every bit of consumable content to be available world-wide at the same time? For the price of things I enjoy to be lowered? Absolutely! But, for better or worse, that's not how the world is at the moment. I guess I'm just one of those crazies who accepts that and tries to live within the current rules.

by ctide 15y ago

ethank 15y ago

It is not hard to keep a record from leaking: just don't allow pre-releases, or watermark them, or MSI them (MSI makes the disk violate redbook so it can't be ripped). The whole reason that NPR and the like get a record one week before street is because once the records are on trucks to retail (1 week out) it leaks without fail. The REM record I just worked on never leaked. Why? We protected the prerelease distribution and people honored that. We also didn't put out the full record early to anyone, only a sampler. Leaks are always from carelessness or are deliberate. Either or.

ctide 15y ago
I was impressed with this, which I saw (ironically) about 15 minutes after I posted my earlier comment: http://ninjatune.net/article/2011/apr/19/amon-tobin-isam-available-digitally-now http://ninjatune.net/article/2011/apr/19/amon-tobin-isam-ava... This is the best response I've seen from a label to a leak yet.
- ethank 15y ago
  Yeah, we were usually prepared to do this if need be. I can't remember if we ever had to though.
- viraptor 15y ago
  Huh? I don't get it. I mean moving the digital release date is a cool reaction. The description is a bit weird. > "not everyone realises how much is invested in ambitious, groundbreaking tours" How many people would see those? Hundreds? Thousands? Probably not one percent compared to sales. Then again fans would still like to buy it. Whoever wanted to hear the tracks at a gig, will wait for the gig before buying the album. I don't see how tour timing is related here. Tour posters will be visible anyways to remind people about the artist - it's not like they got cancelled. > "collaborations with brilliant artists" Again - what does it have to do with the release date? > "lovingly designed packaging" Not related to digital sales at all. > "All that happens is a lot of great ideas and music come under threat." To me it translates to: We were waiting so you can all experience the release in a way we imagined it, but apparently all you wanted was the music, not our tours, designs and marketing campaigns. And because of that the music came under threat. The horror!
  - ctide 15y ago
    You're pulling things out of context. The full quote, which answer most of your questions: " A nameless person has decided that he, not us, is best placed to release the new Amon Tobin album, and to do so for free, online via a watermarked promotional copy. We know these things happen, and we know that not everyone realises how much is invested in ambitious, groundbreaking tours, collaborations with brilliant artists and lovingly designed packaging... It still hurts." The point they're making is that it costs them a lot of money to produce an album, and someone deciding to leak it early sucks. An obvious point, but one that's probably written more out of frustration than out of a desire to communicate something people don't already know. The translation that I took from it, is that they want to offer a full package on a given date. That package includes the option to digitally purchase the music, or buy a physical disc that includes things that they feel are important to some people. By having it leaked a month+ early, most people are just going to acquire it they only way they currently can -- by downloading it for free. Offering a digital download a month early is obviously not the ideal scenario for them (it means people who would have otherwise purchased a physical copy will now just purchase a digital version) but it's better than just losing all the sales that will otherwise result from people being 'finished' with the album before it's even released.
    - viraptor 15y ago
      I didn't try to handle it out of context. I don't understand what is the problem with releasing digital version early. There are mostly 2 groups - people who will go only for the media in the format convenient to them (either CD, or a download) and those who will get more products because they're more involved fans. How does releasing one product early affect any of those groups? How does it affect sales in a bad way? Maybe I am missing something obvious, but I cannot imagine a bad result here. Fans will want to go to a gig anyways. Amon Tobin is bound to fill venues - it's not like they're fighting for customers there. If the worry is that people will buy only one format and not both, they could always offer pre-orders.
fragmede 15y ago
> MSI them (MSI makes the disk violate redbook so it can't be ripped) That, unfortunately, sounds very naive. What reason do you have to believe MSI won't be broken soon? (Assuming it hasn't already been broken.) (Limiting pre-release distribution is certainly a good approach to the problem though.)
- ethank 15y ago
  Of course its naive. I ripped MSI using optical out from an old CD player into Quicktime. Oops.

saw-lau 15y ago

'Why wait 3 months to listen to an album if you can get it today?' Well, I know I'm in an ever-decreasing minority here, but: because that's the legal thing to do? I've always had a hard time understanding the argument 'I'm forced to steal this because I'm unable to buy it.' To me, items like CDs or computer games are luxury goods, not a right. Maybe it goes back to my teens when I'd eagerly save up my pocket money to buy the latest 12" single and be excited when something was released from one of my favourite bands... Would I like all DVDs to be region-free? For every bit of consumable content to be available world-wide at the same time? For the price of things I enjoy to be lowered? Absolutely! But, for better or worse, that's not how the world is at the moment. I guess I'm just one of those crazies who accepts that and tries to live within the current rules.