How do You Purchase Your Music?
When was the last time someone asked you this question? The last time I mentioned my extensive music collection (around 200 gigabytes) the first question asked of me was ‘where did you download it all?” I was stopped in my tracks and my brain halted. Where did I download it all? Is it a concern that this is the immediate question asked of me concerning my music collection? Should we be asking other questions?
I think we should. More importantly we should be asking ourselves where and how we get the music we listen to every day. Ultimately, when we make a purchase of music we should be asking ourselves ‘what is the best platform to purchase this music through in order to afford the artist the greatest amount of monetary compensation?’
When was the last time you asked yourself this before making a purchase? When was the last time you actively decided to purchase an album so that as much of that purchase made it into the artists hands? I would argue that most music consumers don’t actively think about this, and there are several reasons why they don’t.
The modern music consumer is faced with a veritable smorgasbord of choice when it comes to the consumption of music. You can opt for a physical copy of an album in anything ranging from vinyl to compact discs and everything in between (yes, cassettes are still being sold). You can purchase these items through local record stores, mass market chains, direct from the artists websites or label stores online. In addition to the physical form you can purchase digital media from various outlets. Digital distributors such as Itunes, Amazon, Google Play, CDbaby and Bandcamp all offer digital music in various bit rates and qualities. In some cases you can also purchase mp3’s direct from artists and labels. We are spoilt for choice in the modern music world. But why is it important to consider where you buy your music from? It is important because depending on where you buy it from determines the percentage of cents to the dollar an artist or band will receive. And that percentage will vary considerably.
I read an extremely interesting account of the royalties paid from format to format over at this location. It is a long read but an important and informative one if you would like to gain more knowledge regarding the current situation of the digital music world. It is an eye opener to say the least. It led me to write this article and ask myself why people don’t strategically purchase in order to maximise artist profit.
The first potential explanation that comes to mind is cost. Does the consumer simply seek out the most cost effective way to consume music? This potential explanation seems a little bit weak to me as Itunes currently has (from my personal experience) the most expensive prices on digital downloads, yet holds a 70% stake in all digital download sales.
Is it the ease at which the music is delivered to our personal music players. Most people already have an account with Itunes and/or Amazon and thus don’t need to go through the process of charging their debit or credit card manually. It is all automatic.
Or is it the lack of knowledge of the royalties paid to artists via modes of sale? Do we over-estimate the royalties paid to the artist on a digital download sale? As David explains in the previously linked article, these are important misconceptions within the current climate of digital music distribution.
As a consumer it struck me that I should be concerned about how much my favourite artists are getting from royalties - because if I remain ignorant of this then my spending habits could contribute to reduced revenue for them and in the long run make it more difficult for them to continue to create the music I listen to. Shit. Why wouldn’t I want to buy music from them in a way that they pocket as much dough as possible!?
There is a lack of information in the current music market, a lack of transparency exists when it comes to the royalties paid to the working artist. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could easily find a place which outlines the approximate amount an artist receives from digital or physical music sales. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if record Labels identified the average amount paid to artists per physical album sale? By understanding how my dollar works for the artist I would be more inclined to go out of my way to choose alternative methods of purchase to support the music I love and send a message to digital distributors and labels that artists should be paid a fair amount for the music that funds their technological and distributive empires.
Environmental ‘Disasters’ and Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance as defined by the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology is ‘an emotional state set up when two simultaneously held attitudes or cognitions are inconsistent or when there is conflict between belief and overt behaviour’ (p. 128). The recent headlines regarding a train derailment in Western Australia yesterday rekindled a thought I’d had early last year about the reporting of and subsequent disgust by the public of environmental calamities caused by corporations and/or business and the actual behaviour of that same ‘disgusted’ public towards the environment.
In Western Australia at the site of the train derailment the Department of Environment and Conservation was present at the scene as growing ‘fears’ mounted of an environmental effect. This only got me thinking of the recent BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. Perhaps one of the largest and widespread environmental calamities of our time (or is it?) which has seen significant public outrage and criminal convictions. But I argue that there is something much more significant than the public outcry at BP’s black oil flowing freely into the ocean. I argue that indeed the oil is not the primary issue here - the primary issue is the psychology behind the public outrage, and the behaviour of those who are against big corporations destroying the environment.
As I previously mentioned, cognitive dissonance plays a large role in the way everyone perceives environmental disasters - and perhaps the occurance of environmental disasters serves the purpose of minimising the ‘guilt’ aspect of cognitive dissonance with regards to the environment. Let me explain…
At the first level, we (the majority of the population) hold the attitude that preserving the environment is a good thing. In light of environmental disasters perpetrated by large corporations we are immediately outraged, if the BP oil spill did not outrage you then I would be concerned. Yet on the second level of cognitive dissonance, our behaviour does not align with our attitudes or beliefs. We get in our cars everyday and pollute the environment, we use electricity unnecessarily all day long, with no regard for how that impacts the environment. Yet we are disgusted by environmental disasters perpetrated by big business. Is it easier to blame them than ourselves? Is it easier to feel ashamed of a faceless corporation than to feel ashamed of our family, friends and our own behaviours?
Being able to place the blame on a corporation minimises the emotional distress we feel by having opposing attitudes and behaviours. It co-opts us into a state where we no longer question ourselves, but forever question others who will never change, because we, as the consumers, will continue to consume their products regardless of their environmental impact. It is the perfect equation for a capitalist, consumer driven economy.
Before I started my Honours thesis in Psychology last year I had this idea and posed it to a leading researcher of my university. I brought up the idea that cognitive dissonance plays a significant role in how we behave towards the environment. I was met with a blank stare, and then a flat out dismissal of this idea - ‘No, I don’t think there is much relation’. What do you think?
Alex Stretton
Stunning video of Kristin Rule aka The Unconventional Cellist bicycle tour of Tasmania, beautiful imagery set to a live recording from her show at the cygnet festival. slow down and take six minutes out of your day to watch!
Just purchased this from the Room40 experimental sub label ‘A Guide to Saints” - a label dedicated to the cassette format!
Source: aguidetosaints.com
: [PF026] Caterpillars Dressed In Their Finest - An Ending
Artist: Caterpillars Dressed In Their Finest
Album: An Ending
Label: Pocket Fields
Format: Digital
Catalogue N°: PF026
Release date: May 201201. Caterpillars Dressed In Their Finest - Subterranean Tide (08:48)
02. Caterpillars Dressed In Their Finest - A Beginning (02:31)
03….
Source: pocketfields
Patrick Watson’s new record is simply fantastic. Here is the opening track, a quiet opener with a bombastic finish. Flaring trumpets, big bursts of sound that fill the room. I simply adore this album.
mmpsuf live recording of “The Rooms” taken from the recent release “Retina on Sutemos netlabel. Lovely stuff.
Source: vimeo.com
An extremely beautiful ambient and dark classical track to be released on Time Released Sound Label.
Source: SoundCloud / Time Released Sound
Listening Mirror - What’s Wrong With Miracles
Music is complex and diverse, created by both humans and animals it once served the function to communicate warnings of emerging predators, to bind communities together through the production of sound and to express emotion. Over the last 100 years however, music has undergone a significant shift in trajectory. What was once an intimate and often spiritual practice has now given to an entity that can be marketed and sold. The spread of globalization has aided in this transformation - for the better many people have access to music from far away lands - but for the worst most individuals have lost the drive to discover and experience new sounds, opting to remain stuck in an eternal musical bubble.
So, why are there artists out there creating music that is dense and difficult to listen to? There are two reasons, one, there are artists unsatisfied with being pinned down to a single formulaic structure, and two, there are indeed people out there seeking the next piece of music that touches them for the very first time.
Listening Mirror’s release on the micro label Twice Removed out of Perth, Australia is the antithesis to the pursuit of formulaic music. It is anything but. What’s Wrong With Miracles is a brutally challenging listen, even for someone who has experienced the darkest of dark ambient music. At an hour long spread over three tracks the album presents a sludgy, heavy, dense and weighty mix of often times cinematic crushes. Steam Train slowly drags itself along the ground for a tense 20 minutes as it builds to the final leg by letting out bellows of harsh, crushing, reverberated swells of noise interspersed with metallic echoes and subtle field recordings.
It’s in the Trees follows and while less ominous sounding than it’s opener it carries just as heavy a weight - it is akin to falling into a deep depression, a winding deep drone flows with piano hiding in the mist, joined by a plodding groundswell of bass that grows and grows. If the previous two tracks reminded you of deep sea exploration then the next one in my book takes you right out of this world and into space. An iridescent buzzing warbles as treated guitar is slowed down to a desolate crawl.
This record is dark and disturbing in such a beautiful way.The key to Listening Mirror’s game here is tension and release. Right through the record it is these two constructs that form the basis of this music, however messed up it may be.
The Dwindlers - Allegories
The astoundingly popular “Dreams’ release by Spoken Word slash jazz slash ambient duo The Dwindlers was a brooding trip into smokey bar jazz and intimate poetry. A tight and compact four track release that aimed to please. For their second release Dauer and Seaman have not reinvented their sound, but have significantly evolved from the aforementioned netlabel venture on Feedback Loop Label.
And why wouldn’t they take their sound to the next level, bassist Dauer has dipped his toes into dark ambient sounds before, along with a host of other musical excursions. The first thing that grabs me (once again) is the stunning production on the record - Dauer’s bass is extremely full and hearty, the kind that bellows and shakes your chest but still remaining tasteful and plaintive. While Michelle’s spoken word is as crisp as ever, smooth and perfectly delivered. Her poetry hits wonderful flow on the playful Monkey and woos in Spanish tongue during the closer ‘Dolphin’ which incorporates some delicate glitchy electronic sounds.
The record’s centrepiece ‘Pickering’s Hyla’ is an extremely beautiful ambient piece that breaks up the spoken word nicely. I want to describe it’s sound to you, but I don’t for fear of not doing it justice. I am reminded of the subtle fleeting ambience of I’ve Lost while simultaneously being enveloped in a thick haze of D_Rradio mist.
The Dwindler’s ‘Allegories’ is available from Heart and Soul Publisher as a limited edition art and poetry book.
