Heartland

edmogirl: whup-SHHHH!!!

Rest of us Heartlanders: Aiiieeeee!!!

You've said it all before, Machine Regime ... ...

Machine Regime wrote:Broon's "Respect" gets my respect, actually.

I thought I might start a new thread for this, but that seemed excessive. On the subject of a potential new TSOM record, this article seems relevant: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-ch ... try-2011-2

Maybe someone with better knowledge of stats could explain it better, if I'm misunderstanding it?

Here's the chart (that I saw posted elsewhere) that grabbed my attention:


The upshot of it is that the industry really is in a shambles, at least in the US (and the focus of this article is the US record industry in particular). Part of this is of course the ease of pirating records these days. Part of it is the economic downturn of the last few years. Part of it, no doubt, is the increasingly poor quality of music pumped out by major labels.

For what it's worth, I'd love to see MR resuscitated as a label. In the 21st century, a band like the Sisters can reach their audience without need of major label backing and advertising budgets, and--if money is a concern--I'm reminded of the arguments advanced by both Fugazi and Steve Albini to the effect that once a band is of a certain size, they can actually make more money off of records by going the independent-release route. The question would then be whether TSOM would sell more records as a major label (or large indie label) act than they would without such backing, and whether or not it would make financial sense to do so. In other words: might they not make more money selling less records independently than they would selling more records through a large label with higher overhead? Could it be the case that TSOM are actually in a better position to thrive in the fragmented 21st century music market than many other bands? Of course, piracy necessarily factors into any such decision. Could it break even after production costs (after all, while it is technically feasible to record a nigh-professional sound record in one's living room today, that's not really the ideal)? How much of the projected revenue would be eaten up by file-sharing? That's a legitimate concern if the record is meant to be a revenue stream on its own. Less so if it's meant to be a potentially profitable form of advertising for the live show. But that second business model involves living in a bus for great lengths of time (otherwise, the advertising value of a new record is negligible, isn't it?), something I doubt Von is particularly interested in (can't say I blame him). Which leaves us with the current status quo: play the gigs, make some money, have some fun, go home, and let the fans swap audience recordings while they p*ss and moan about the lack of a new record.

sultan2075 wrote:I thought I might start a new thread for this, but that seemed excessive. On the subject of a potential new TSOM record, this article seems relevant: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-ch ... try-2011-2

Maybe someone with better knowledge of stats could explain it better, if I'm misunderstanding it?

Here's the chart (that I saw posted elsewhere) that grabbed my attention:


The upshot of it is that the industry really is in a shambles, at least in the US (and the focus of this article is the US record industry in particular). Part of this is of course the ease of pirating records these days. Part of it is the economic downturn of the last few years. Part of it, no doubt, is the increasingly poor quality of music pumped out by major labels.

For what it's worth, I'd love to see MR resuscitated as a label. In the 21st century, a band like the Sisters can reach their audience without need of major label backing and advertising budgets, and--if money is a concern--I'm reminded of the arguments advanced by both Fugazi and Steve Albini to the effect that once a band is of a certain size, they can actually make more money off of records by going the independent-release route. The question would then be whether TSOM would sell more records as a major label (or large indie label) act than they would without such backing, and whether or not it would make financial sense to do so. In other words: might they not make more money selling less records independently than they would selling more records through a large label with higher overhead? Could it be the case that TSOM are actually in a better position to thrive in the fragmented 21st century music market than many other bands? Of course, piracy necessarily factors into any such decision. Could it break even after production costs (after all, while it is technically feasible to record a nigh-professional sound record in one's living room today, that's not really the ideal)? How much of the projected revenue would be eaten up by file-sharing? That's a legitimate concern if the record is meant to be a revenue stream on its own. Less so if it's meant to be a potentially profitable form of advertising for the live show. But that second business model involves living in a bus for great lengths of time (otherwise, the advertising value of a new record is negligible, isn't it?), something I doubt Von is particularly interested in (can't say I blame him). Which leaves us with the current status quo: play the gigs, make some money, have some fun, go home, and let the fans swap audience recordings while they p*ss and moan about the lack of a new record.

I'm pretty sure that if Von ever feels like it, he will make a new record regardless of its revenue potential - he surely has the clout to make a highly polished studio album on his own, he probably has the time - all he needs is the inclination - which he doesn't have now and probably never will again, but he's never said never (*Eldritch reads this post and immediately issues a legal rejoinder: NEVER!)

As for the rest of the band, he says they get together for a tour whenever they all need to pay the rent... touring is the most fun, least painful way Von can see this happening for the forseeable future - he "can not take off the cheap sunglasses".

He won't unfortunately do a March Violets and let us bankroll another project, because I think the rabidity of many of us hardcore Sisnerds would then make him feel under too much pressure to please (especially, to please the FALAA crowd) - and as we all know, if ain't his way, it's the highway...

What's most important to me out of all of this is that, f**k me, the Sisters are still going after 30 years, they're as good as they ever were (better?), and every once in a blue moon, when the wind is right, and you listen with one ear pressed to the mainmast... you may actually hear the throbbing hum of a new song edging onto your horizon...

All that revenue talk reminds me of how sh** Madonna's last album sounded. Like spit out on two afternoons, because, hey it's just a vehicle to promote a tour anyway, so who cares?
One single (or two? already forgot), just one half way decent, and two ultra cheap videos. But one monster tour over two years. Thanks...
Bryan Ferry's last album, Olympia, was a good compromise I thought. A beautiful medium production on a major. And some exciting remixes with people like DJ Hell, available only digitally and in very small numbers, I think, on vinyl.