User:Dan kozuch/Major Assignment 5

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Dan Kozuch 12/11/07 Com 375 How Digital Music Will Save the Underground

The digital age has given the public new ways to read and see the news, communicate with people, buy just about anything needed for every day life, and listen to, download, share, and purchase music. The digital age of music has been full of controversy, such as peer to peer file sharing and the waning popularity of the compact disc. Services such as iTunes are providing the opportunity for Internet users to download whole CD’s or single tracks from their favorite artists for a fee. Other services, beginning with Napster and evolving to LimeWire, Kazaa, and SoulSeek, offer free downloads via peer to peer sharing. Users of the program can put music stored on their computer available for download to other users of the program. There is currently no fee for services of this kind. While this has stirred up controversy due to copyright issues, mostly among the major record labels, many independent record labels and artists have embraced file sharing as well as other digital music enterprises. Independent labels, such as Dischord Records, who have had the opportunity to put their music on a huge retailer such as iTunes, expand their distribution possibilities through the service, as well as having pages on MySpace where the labels can provide a link to where their music can be sold. The Internet provides a much larger market for music, because websites such as MySpace allow people from all over the world to access the music that bands have put on the site. This opportunity for a larger audience and easier networking will be the reason independent record labels and independent music will keep a share of the music market.

Dischord Records, a Washington D.C. label founded in 1980 by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, has made their songs available on iTunes, just as many other independent labels have. While browsing the Dischord website and looking at Dischord bands on the iTunes store, one will notice that Dischord has remained steadfast on their prices, as you can get the music for the same price on iTunes as you can at the Dischord store. Digital music has allowed Dischord Records to widely expand their audience. Instead of being able just to sell CD’s and records to people on their website via mailorder, Dischord has made their considerably cheap albums available in digital format. This is a huge step in the right direction, because as of June 2007, iTunes has become the third largest seller of music in the United States (Dalrymple np). Having Dischord’s releases available on such a wide retailer coupled with their inexpensive prices can only propel the label forward.

But why should the average listener care about these independent artists and labels? Independent music has had a long history of catering to artists and listeners, rather than simply revenue. Dischord Records simply put out releases for their friends and bands they liked, and they did it cheap. For the first two years of the label’s existence, bands made no money off their releases, as the profits were put right back into the label so they could do more releases. Dischord still continues on today building the label with the same ideas that it was founded on. Dischord has put out notable compilation albums and have donated all money from these compilations to groups such as the ACLU (Goshert 89-90). As the history of the label projects, profit was not even thought about when Dischord first started. The originators of the label were simply looking to nurture the music scene of the DC area and to give back to the community that has supported them.

An example of a cause that Dischord has fought for is one of the aforementioned compilations. A specific one, called State of the Union D.C. Benefit Compilation gave all the money from the compilations to groups such as the ACLU, SANE, and homeless foundations of the D.C. area. Dischord and the other organizations that helped them produce the compilation had a very firm stance on where the money was going. Inside the insert of the compilation says “This, we believe, is the solution to the present ‘state of the union.’ We encourage people to consume less…to support local small scale alternatives to giant corporations, to ultimately reject greed in all its forms. And always, if you don’t like your alternatives, then do it yourself” (Goshert 89-90). This is a firm stance and it is told in exact detail where the money from the compilation is going. Corporate rock benefits, on the other hand, tend to be somewhat different. A March 1998 benefit held for the anti-death penalty cause had a website that provided information about Tim Robbins, who was organizing the concert, the performers, and various merchandise available to buy, but never said where any of the money was exactly going to, or even how much of that money reached the charity (90). The examples provided show how willing independent record labels are to be firm on their stances and give back money to causes that influence them in their communities. Dischord is not just standing around putting out records to make money or just because they can, they are giving back to their community in many different ways.

The growth of MP3 players will also be a factor to the growth of digital music, and therefore the growth of independent music. According to global research firm Ipsos, as of July of 2006, “as many as one in five Americans over the age of 12 now own portable MP3 players and one in 20 own more than one” (Kleinschmit np). This means that digital music is becoming more popular in different sorts of media. The songs downloaded can be played on the computer on which their downloaded and now on MP3 players, which are becoming increasingly popular. This is especially helpful for independent labels like Dischord, because Dischord releases sell for less money than most other labels. According to the Dischord website, “we put our mail-order price on our records because we charge less than most labels and we want our customers to know they have the option to buy directly from us if they believe the savings are not being passed onto them” (Dischord website). Dischord’s records at Dischord’s prices were previously almost exclusively available through their mail-order. Now, because of their involvement with digital music sites such as iTunes, downloadpunk.com, othermusic.com, e-music, and rhapsody.com (Dischord website), these Dischord releases are available at the same Dischord prices on the Internet in the form of digital music. The expansion of digital media and MP3 players and the fall of the CD shows that the overall content is more defined by the actual music, not the disc or what ever is included in the disc. The artists and labels putting their music on these digital services are saving money with manufacturing costs, as they are selling their albums on these services for the same prices as they are selling the actual discs. The actual discs cost much more money to produce rather than just putting the songs online. With the expansion of these services and digital music itself, it could be very possible that in the future, labels will not have to produce as many discs as they are now because they will be selling more and more music digitally.

According to “An Economist’s Guide to Digital Music,” “digital music files can be argued to have a lower expected value than an original CD…” (Peitz and Waelbroeck 388). This would mean that since the value is lower and the files are being sold at the same price as the actual disc, more of a profit is being turned. For independent labels with less of a cash flow, this is a major step in going about putting artist’s music on the Internet. Dischord Records’ money is so focused, that they only release music from their hometown of Washington D.C. They claim, “we only release music from D.C. because this is the city where we live, work, and have the most understanding. To expand would be to dilute our focus” (Dischord website). Another factor to make Dischord dilute their focus would be like of money. The whole context of Dischord Records is to get bands in their community the opportunity to release music worldwide. What better way to booster the label, and therefore the Washington D.C. music community by saving as much money as possible? This is the overall function of digital music that independent labels should be seeing. Digital music even makes it possible to save money and make more money while doing less work. The manufacturing cost is much less, instead of paying many distributors to distribute the record, it can either be done by the artist or label on a website, or done by iTunes, all promotion can be done with the click of a mouse instead of hanging fliers or buying radio and ad time. The Internet is becoming powerful enough where selling and purchasing all kinds of media can be done without ever leaving the house. Not only is the Internet easy to distribute music on, it’s an ever growing medium that seems to have endless boundaries. As the Internet dilates, so do independent labels and artists. "It’s believed that the growth of the indie community during the past few years…is largely due to the growth of the Internet. A scan of the top-selling indie titles during the past 10 years would lend support to this theory as Billboard’s Independent Album Chart has drastically changed as the Internet has matured. In 1997 for instance, three of the top-ten selling titles were “Jock Jams” compilations, and the year end chart for 1999 is a celebration of gangsta rap and wrestling-related releases. Compare that with 2005 or 2006, when the year-end indie chart was a diverse crop of acts and labels, ranging from Lil Jon to Bright Eyes to Hawthorne Heights to Jason Aldean to Arctic Monkeys" (Martens 6). The Billboard Indie Charts show that as the Internet and Internet related technologies advance, so does the quality of music. Instead of novelty compilations of pro wrestling music and songs fans would hear at a large sporting event, new independent artists are emerging and taking the place of these compilations.

There are still problems, though, with independent labels involved with digital music services. While much ad revenue is being made on these digital music services, independent artists are still looking for a share of this ad revenue. According to the American Association of Independent Music, Richard Bengloff, the major record labels have cut a deal with Internet media. “Right now, when a video is played on Yahoo or AOL or MTV or YouTube, there is a deal with each of the four majors where they get money for it. They have a direct license. My group does not have a direct license--yet” (Garrity 30). The independent artists and labels are using the Internet to try and get equal treatment as compared to the major labels. Independent labels are even making threats to take their music off services such as YouTube if they are not shown a share of ad revenue. This could prove to be a huge factor. “If the majors have established a boilerplate licensing relationship that involves revenue sharing, and the indies go en masse [to the service] and say, ‘We want the same deal that the majors are getting or else you don’t get our content,’ that is a significant threat” (Garrity 30). Independent labels are becoming more aggressive, because they are realizing that the Internet is a medium that they can take a hold of and that will benefit them as time goes on. The Internet is giving independent labels more power and in turn, the labels are being more aggressive and looking for a share in revenue the labels would not have dreamed of getting in the past. Dischord, which is based out of Washington D.C., could soon be seeing revenue coming from different people around the world. Any Dischord band’s video that is viewed in any part of the country or any part of the world, would mean a piece of the revenue for a label that concentrates on their community and their city. This revenue sharing could mean more and more music for Dischord, as well as more and more community involvement, as that is what the label chooses to do with some of the profits they turn in.

Digital music is also a big part in nurturing up and coming independent artists who are not yet on a record label. Andrew McCarthy, drummer of Holyoke, Massachusetts’s Dangur, believes that having their music up on MySpace has gained them popularity. “Having our music up for listening on the Internet is the main reason we’ve gotten shows in farther away places such as Boston and New York. Dan Barker from Shock to the System Records out of Boston heard our material on MySpace and now wants to put out a release. It’s amazing how much the Internet has done for us” (McCarthy). McCarthy is also familiar with Dischord and believes that if Dischord were to take part in revenue sharing, it would use the extra profit to further cater to their fans and their musicians. “If Dischord [Records] were to get revenue from digital media outlets, there is no doubt in my mind that they would take advantage of this profit to better their music community. I can almost guarantee that they would put out more releases by more bands, but also sell them for even more reasonable prices [than they already do]” (McCarthy). Coming from an independent musician, this is saying a lot. Digital music is almost all they know in the present day, as it is so quick and easy to get music up on MySpace, and apparently it is also quick and easy for people to find them. Independent musicians also can see why labels such as Dischord are important and how they go out of their way to cater to fans and to their community. Finding inspiration such as Dischord is a large reason why independent music is still holding its own, and digital music is proving to be a large reason where independent musicians can find this inspiration.

Digital music proves to be an important cultural text in today’s media, as it is making a huge impact for major and independent labels alike. Dischord Records is able to make their reasonably releases available not only through mail-order and some record stores, but on digital services such as iTunes. But why should the consumer care about Dischord Records and their policies? The company is very clear about helping their community and what they stand for. They’ve come up with donations to their city and to organizations they support, such as ACLU. They’re more focused on doing this because they’re independent. They have a small staff and are able to remain focused on their community rather than just making money. What has Sony done for the homeless of Washington D.C. lately?

As the Internet matures, so do Independent labels. They’ve expanded how their music is distributed using their own websites and digital music outlets such as iTunes. While they have not yet obtained licensing agreements to gain ad revenue sharing from banner ads on iTunes or YouTube, they could easily threaten to take all their music off these outlets. Their aggressive and maturing attitude has made this a serious threat, and they could see ad revenue sharing as early as 2009. Local musicians are also heavily depending on digital music. Inspirations such as Dischord Records let new independent artists see that their music does not have to be an expensive concrete product, but rather a shared file anyone who uses the Internet can listen to for free. The relationship between independent music and the Internet seems like a match made in heaven. The more one matures, the more the other will also mature. Ad revenue sharing is the next big step for a more powerful independent music market. Once they are put on the same level as major labels in this aspect, it is no doubt independent label’s threats in other areas will be as “major” as the major labels who they compete with.

Bibliography

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Kleinschmit, Matt. “Portable MP3 Ownership Reaches a New High.” Press Release. 26 June 2006. http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3124.

Martens, Todd. “Independent Thought.” Billboard. Vol. 119 Issue 26 (2007): 6. Academic Premier. EBSCO. W.E.B. DuBois Lib., U. Massachusetts. 10 December 2007.

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