A self-destructive shambles

[H. Blackrose]

I believe this to be a new addition to the FAQ answer as to why no new studio album:

Because, at the moment, the record industry is a complete self-destructive shambles anyway.

So perhaps Von believes it impossible to be "exploited competently" in this day and age. Although the answer to that from a certain section of what claims to be the fanbase will be that it doesn't matter, that Von owes them a new album, even if he has to pay for the privilege himself...

[eastmidswhizzkid]

DNFTT?
what is this -give HL'ers a kicking day?

"outside-cummunavagoifyathinkyerardenuff".

[EvilBastard]

Although the answer to that from a certain section of what claims to be the fanbase will be that it doesn't matter, that Von owes them a new album, even if he has to pay for the privilege himself...

Damn right he owes us another album And yes, if he needs to put his hand in his pocket to deliver it, then so be it. The cats will have to go on a diet (by the looks of things neither of them is about to keel over from malnutrition ), and we're FANS, dammit! We're the people who got him where he is today - were it not for us he'd be another short-arsed pale weedy-looking bloke working in Accounts Payable for some mindless faceless corporate entity, living with his mum.
So yes he owes us an album - and were it not for our deeper concerns over the substantiality of Taz and GoodGuy we'd be more militant about it. Maybe the solution is to show up to the gig with a year's worth of Whiskas...

Of course, given that some of us would rather have one great album rather than 4 mediocre ones, we're prepared to wait.

[Ocean Moves]

Although the answer to that from a certain section of what claims to be the fanbase will be that it doesn't matter, that Von owes them a new album, even if he has to pay for the privilege himself...

Damn right he owes us another album And yes, if he needs to put his hand in his pocket to deliver it, then so be it. The cats will have to go on a diet (by the looks of things neither of them is about to keel over from malnutrition ), and we're FANS, dammit! We're the people who got him where he is today - were it not for us he'd be another short-arsed pale weedy-looking bloke working in Accounts Payable for some mindless faceless corporate entity, living with his mum.
So yes he owes us an album - and were it not for our deeper concerns over the substantiality of Taz and GoodGuy we'd be more militant about it. Maybe the solution is to show up to the gig with a year's worth of Whiskas...

Of course, given that some of us would rather have one great album rather than 4 mediocre ones, we're prepared to wait.

I wouldn't want the Sisters to make an album out
of a sense of fan obligation,
I would want them to make it because they want to.

I would far rather have nothing at all, than some
watered down product that was sold specifically to target an
existing audience. (any successful band has a corporation
breathing down its neck, begging them to do exactly that;
often with poor consequences)

You paid your money, you got an album on cd.
You paid your money, you got to experience a Sisters gig.

I don't feel like I am owed anything as a consequence of that.

[markreed]

The Sisters have 'made' a new album - there's no doubt more than enough new songs clogging up hard drives in Leeds and Deutschland. But there's a difference between recording songs in a finished form and releasing them via a record company that's able to do a competent job of marketing and selling the material in the current market.

The industry is f**ked anyway. The Sisters have always done it their own way. We'd all like a new album. But I doubt Von is going to fire up Merciful Release again. Shame. He could do very well by hiring someone to runa record company, do a few interviews, some live shows, and a video and a single.

[eotunun]

The Sisters have 'made' a new album - there's no doubt more than enough new songs clogging up hard drives in Leeds and Deutschland. But there's a difference between recording songs in a finished form and releasing them via a record company that's able to do a competent job of marketing and selling the material in the current market.

The industry is f**ked anyway. The Sisters have always done it their own way. We'd all like a new album. But I doubt Von is going to fire up Merciful Release again. Shame. He could do very well by hiring someone to runa record company, do a few interviews, some live shows, and a video and a single.

The impression I get is that The Sisters are a number of freelancers anyway.
If they could find competent freelancers for Merciful Release, that would probably be fine for the whole of the band. I`d guess that there are enough small companies around the world that could produce, say 10000 copies of an album a year each (they`d make it in a month, too). The chinese do that anyway, even if not permitted to. So there would be the power to make a million copies. Organizing it would be the more difficult question. But a group of competent people would surely be able to do it.
Such a decentralized organisation would be a positive version of globalized buisiness, creating work where the product gets sold, short distances of distribution etc... And an independant global player. And if there is nothing to produce, well, the whole machine can sleep. Or run on standby power.
Are my thoughts naive? I direct that question espcially at Depprocksfarfar, who seems to know the buisiness, as it appears..
Only if I don`t disturb you on a US-trip, of course.

[Big Si]

I wouldn't want the Sisters to make an album out
of a sense of fan obligation,
I would want them to make it because they want to.

I would far rather have nothing at all, than some
watered down product that was sold specifically to target an
existing audience. (any successful band has a corporation
breathing down its neck, begging them to do exactly that;
often with poor consequences)

You paid your money, you got an album on cd.
You paid your money, you got to experience a Sisters gig.

I don't feel like I am owed anything as a consequence of that.

Yer damn right!

My thoughts exactly.

[Smallstone]

I don't understand this attitude that the music business being in a shambles...
Which bit? The selling records bit? Tell that to Domino Records and the Arctic Monkeys or Warp with Maximo Park or ..... James Blunt. SORRY! Ok folks are a little more careful with their money and may be buying less in the high street but online sale are rising massively. Amazon and Play.com are doing amazing business. Digital downloads are holding up a pretty knackered singles charts. Sales of 7" vinyl singles are growing - people are collecting stuff. Come on it's vibey!!!
People are maybe justa little more careful with what they buy.... and who they go and see live. But jeeping f**k they're still doing it! There's plenty of other things to spend ones money on these days as opposed to 20 years ago when the Sisters were playing the market.
Mobile phones.
Exotic pizzas.
Computers.
Online porn.
Wine.
Holidays to the Far East.
Live? The live scene in the UK is the most vibrant and exciting in about 10+ years! Talking to some mates in Leeds for example and compared to 10+ years ago when you had a choice of the Duchess or the UNI, now you can go Joseph Wells, the Cockpit, Brudenell Social Club, the Irish Centre, the Faversham. the Fenton, the PackHorse + loads more. The live pages in the music press are packed!! There are more festivals this year than EVER before and that's with no Glastonbury! That he can't sell out this tour in the US is a tad worrying no? Wonder how well the UK shows will be attended. Not very well if he doesn't do any press methinks.
Usually when people go around saying it's all f**ked what they mean is I don't like music much at the moment. Fair enough! Each to their own.
Of course it ain't all rosy and perhaps it's not sustainable to sell brand new CDs for £7, but the power is with the consumer at the moment. Not the Record labels. That's a good thing no?
If someone writes some great songs, forms a band, plays a few gigs, starts a website or a myspace account - if they are good enough and people get to hear about them then the world's their oyster.
Is Von writes some good songs, records them well, finds a distributor/label who'll stump up some cash to make the CDs for him (always the dull expensive bit). Finds a good Press person and a keen radio plugger to let the 'media' know that he has done the aforementioned and done it well, sorts his moribund website out & employs someone to do some 'marketing' for him - then there is nothing to stop him 'selling some product and making some 'money'.
That way the tours would be more exciting - the gigs more fun with more people attending. If Von did the some of the above then his career wouldn't be stagnating as much as it is.
Just a thought

[czuczu]

Von's take on the record industry seems fairly quaint, when artists started waking up and realising that they didn't own their life's work, Von was selling the bits he did own to buy a car...
The days of needing to live in expensive studios for a year are also long gone for all but the most decadent bands. People even realised that if you sign for x million pounds you've still got to recoup that..
I would have thought it should be easier to release an album today, not harder.

[Smallstone]

You're 100% correct .
It is MUCH easier.
A lot has changed in the 15 years since he last..... released..... Record labels are just banks. The more you borrow upfront - the more in debt you are. The longer it takes to pay it all back.
He should re-start Merciful Release as a PROPER indie label and just do it.
Or not.

[eotunun]

I guess the artists today have it much easier working for the shareholder value. Like economics nowadays tend to press the liquid out of every body and sell it as drink. (If you think putting it like this was tasteless..)
Not to mention the rising numbers of unemployment of asian children, as american captives are cheaper workers..

[douglasb]

I think it's Julian Cope that says he makes more money out of self-releasing material than he ever did when with a "proper" record company.

Selling 20,000 self-produced discs will earn you more than 100,000 via a record company.

All it takes is effort and desire.

D.

[eotunun]

I think it's Julian Cope that says he makes more money out of self-releasing material than he ever did when with a "proper" record company.

Selling 20,000 self-produced discs will earn you more than 100,000 via a record company.

All it takes is effort and desire.

D.

Or your own record company? Maybe my idea isn`t that bad?

[SomeKindOfStranger]

or there is always the Marillion idea - where they get fans to pre-purchase albums and use the revenue to then fund the very same album. In return, every fan that pre-purchased was name-checked on the CDs inlay. Not sure if they still do, bu they certainly did a few albums this way.
Presumably you would have to be confident that these pre-sales would cover the necessry cost, but once you have an established fan base then this seems a fantastic way of a band funding their own releases.

[aims]

Bloody hell, that's genius

Unfortunately, it's most useful when you're trying to break and that's generally the time when you have the fewest fans. Chicken and the egg...

[Obviousman]

Apparently Shriekback also did something of that kind to get to release their current album. But putting all the names on a sleeve would be quite some job, I can imagine

[eotunun]

Apparently Shriekback also did something of that kind to get to release their current album. But putting all the names on a sleeve would be quite some job, I can imagine

You`d get the CD and a toilet paper-like roll, I think.

[douglasb]

The Incredible String Band (ageing hippies) got a 100 fans to donate £65 each. This paid for a short recording session at Peter Gabriel's studio. He talks about it in the current issue of Music Mart.

Given that SoM can pre-programme a substantial amount of their material ...

Again: desire and effort.

D.

[SomeKindOfStranger]

But putting all the names on a sleeve would be quite some job, I can imagine

I think they only offered this to fan-club members and so ensured that there were a limited number of name places available.
and i guess they used a very small font in the cd-booklet!