I'm surprised that most of the possibilities offered by these new
technologies and media are used just by a very limited bunch of
underground artists.
Here's how I see it:
- I'm confident that printed cds are dying anyway and that mainstream
music will go in the iTunes direction.
BTW, why iTunes has a lot of success? The answer is fashion. iPods are
trendy, and people link buying music from iTunes to the whole iPod
experience. Sad but true.
- For independent artists and bands publishing their music on the web is
the way to go, here are the plus:
* Cheap, virtually free of costs.
* You can publish unfinished versions, you can make your fans hear the
process of the creation of a track
* Let's say that you've made a better version of an already published
track (even one included in an album). If you've published it on the
web, you can swap the old version of the track with the newer one,
instantly. There's no reason to wait years for a rerelease of the album.
Or you can put both on-line and the listener can chose which one he/she
prefers.
* No need for the physical medium but also no need to backup your music.
You can go to the artist's website and download the music anytime you want.
* True artistic freedom (the most important IMHO). Nobody else decide if
and what to publish, but the artist.
* Instant releases. As soon as the track or the album is finished. Or
even before (the work in progress).
* Out of print doesn't make sense anymore.
* No (or at least less) pollution (this is and will be even more
important in the next few years)
* Zero costs means also the freedom to publish more music.
* You've made a typo in the liner notes? No need to wait for a rerelease
to correct the typo.
* You're no longer fond of that guitar solo or your vocals on a track?
Rerecord them and swap the tracks instantly.
Just my two cents, but I believe that 'free' is not the best adjective
for this.
I define myself a 'web releasing musician'. But thousands of artists on
the web are already doing the things described above.
Anyway, what do you think of 'web released music'?
c.
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www.cesaremarilungo.com
