Rockwriter wrote:Just to share a little tidbit from this interview for those who might not have heard it, we asked Todd about illegal downloading and how it plays into the band's business decisions. He stated that his DVD 'Methods and Mechanics' has been downloaded illegally 200,000 times . . . that he knows of.
At a list price of $29.95, if you do a little math, that comes to $5,990,000.00.
That's right. So-called "fans" have ripped Todd off to the tune of just under SIX MILLION DOLLARS on that one project alone. And then people get on here and kinda wonder why their favorite bands don't rush right out and record a new album of songs.
Here's the answer: it's because the band will have to take a break from performing (which is the only thing left that can't be stolen). They will lose money there. They will have to spend valuable time writing, woodshedding, pre-production, recording. They will have to figure out a way to get the product in front of fans, whether it's the Internet, some distributor, selling at shows or some combination thereof.
Then the day after the product emerges, it will be available all over the world for free download, and despite the innocent protestations of fans everwhere that they don't do that, the numbers clearly state otherwise. Most fans - the vast overwhelming majority in fact - will download the thing free somewhere instead of paying, and they will justify it to themsleves with some sort of self-serving nonsense about "That's what you get when you charge too much" or some other silly-ass argument. (Hey, here's an idea: if you think something is priced too high, DON'T BUY IT! That doesn't mean you can steal it! If you think dog food is too high at Wal Mart, can you just TAKE it?)
And those who DO actually buy a new album will probably come here and bitch about it and pull it apart track-by-track. Gee . . . I wonder why the guys don't want to do that?
Sterling
Since your comments seem to be in response to what I brought up---
Yeah, I did listen to the interview. Twice. I love Todd. He's a great mouthpiece for the band and one of the best drummers I've heard in years. I'm one of his 'so called' fans.
First of all- Just because 200,000 people downloaded Todd's DVD, does NOT mean that 200,000 would've purchased it. Educational Drum DVDs (guitar dvds, basket weaving dvds, etc.) are not usually going to sell in the 100,000 range. I have a hard time believing that 200,000 drummers are sitting at their keyboards downloading the huge files. SOMEBODY is, I guess, unless those numbers can be interpreted differently. But again, that doesn't translate directly into sales.
If DVDs are rented on Netflix, people can pretty much copy them if they know what they're doing. Just like you could tape albums. I guess that entertainers need to quit letting NetFlix and other services stop doing what they're doing. Netflix and other service rentals open the door for copying things. Just like going to a library and checking out a CD and then recording that CD at your home. I did that with my first Crowded House CD. From then on, I purchased all of em and have seen a few of their shows. Renting or checking things out is a way to get into new things and for the entertainer to broaden their audience, but it's also a way for the artist to lose money. What's more important?
When Journey's arrival ended up out there online, I downloaded it. It wasn't going to come out until months later in the US than in Japan and I'm a rabid fan, so I downloaded it.
I still PURCHASED the album (and had always planned to) when it finally came out as I have purchased all of them. With Styx, I have never NOT purchased an album of theirs that I own. In fact, I have them on vinyl AND CD. I purchased their stuff twice (some collectible stuff even more times). So Styx has gotten a lot of money off me. Not counting concerts, tshirts, etc. Also, I recorded their albums on cassettes and drove around with them in my car for years before CDs. Craiko Rules! I guess that makes me one of the people that Styx feels ripped them off.
Also, you and everyone else out there (Including Styx, including Journey) give MELODICROCK.COM'S message boards WAYYY too much credit. MR.com is NOT the general public. It's a microcosm of the population. So what if fans pick the album apart?? Fans have ALWAYS done that. Crappy mags like Rolling Stone have always done that. By the way- I VEHEMENTLY championed "Cyclorama" and spread good reviews of it everywhere I could find because it was an EXCELLENT record. I spread those reviews ONLINE. If the label that Styx was on, or their management, didn't have enough clout to break that album, I don't think that Styx should blame it on "so called fans".
Regarding "If something's too much, don't buy it"- Exactly! Like a $30.00 EP.
I guess the band should just give up and every other musician, author, movie producer, etc. out there should do the same.
The record companies obviously can't figure out what to do. The fact of the matter is, things like iPods, Zune, Phones, etc. have ALL encouraged and promoted the "digitizing" of music. It's another way of selling an artist's product. If band's don't like it, then they shouldn't participate.
How do bands like U2 have these HUGE mega bazillion dollar tours? How are they selling so many records? I GUARAN-FRIGGIN-TEE you that U2 is being downloaded on a way larger scale than Styx music or Todd's DVD could ever hope to be. Yet, when U2 release CDs, they sell a ton. Most of them are top ten. Are they giving up or whining at their fanbase and accusing their fans of ripping them off? No. Leave that to Metalica.
So HOW are bands like U2 making it work? THAT is what the band should be asking themselves. Other entities out there are making it work and are creating NEW art for their fans.
Also- At the Styx shows- MOST of the fans that go to the shows want to hear the OLD stuff. If it was truly "Release new music, it's online the next day and 8 billion people have downloaded it" then I would think more people at Styx (or any other artist's) shows would be up on their new catalog and demanding to hear the new stuff they just downloaded rather than old stuff their parents had.
I'm not justifying the pirating of music. Absolutely not. Any music I've downloaded has been stuff that was out of print and couldn't be purchased for the most part. I've bought iTunes stuff (I bought CYO on iTunes, Walrus, and other things there) and I've bought hard copies of things a few times- by the way- I hate to admit it... the first CD I ever purchased was "Kilroy Was Here". The Beatles stuff hadn't been released on CD yet.
By the way Sterling, your Grand Delusion book is out on Google books and I can read 106 pages of it for free...
I mean no disrespect to Todd, Styx, and definitely not you Sterling. But I find Styx's argument for not doing new things really has a few holes in it and as a fan, I take exception to some of the comments that I heard in the interview and in your post above.
One more thing- I'm ONE guy. ONE guy is not the "majority of fans". But I am ONE guy that will buy anything NEW Styx puts out and have probably since before young Todd heard the band as a kid. I'm older than him.
