Let's talk trends, 2008/09 style.
A lot of traditional vinyl and/or CD distributors (Neuton in Germany; Creative Vibes in Australia) are going belly-up, while labels are increasingly bemoaning their loss of income in a scene saturated with fresh competition, a majority of these newcomers being the netlabels that're breeding like proverbial rabbits via online carriers like Beatport, Addictech, Juno Download, Audiojelly, DJ Download, and Input-Output-Inc.
The complaints, however, belie the current positives.
With our own label, IF?, we took the move into digital download (hereafter referred to as d/download to make things a wee bit easier) early on last year in order to release some of our (mostly deleted) back catalogue dating back to 1995, plus it's given us the chance to push through a wad of new releases from innovative artists that I simply couldn't afford to have done via traditional means like vinyl or CD.
After 14 years on the job, I also got kind'a tired of leftover CDs, tapes and 12-inches tucked under my bed, collecting dust--particularly since I moved to Japan, and space has become so damned precious.
What's surprised me has been the antipathy and resistance I've encountered since our own shift to d/download, both from artists, labels and punters who don't consider d/download technology "the real deal", to a small bunch of fractious types at Discogs who're trying to stop d/download releases being listed at the site by their peers.
We also got an anonymous posting directed at us at the Australian ITM forum, saying "You've sold you're [sic] soul to the devil!!!"
Hilarity aside, it does beggar the question--have we?
"Easy one, this," Si Begg told me recently when I mentioned the yarn. "Don't talk such shite--is it about the music, or the product? For me, it's about the music first... I don't care if it's on wax cylinder, taped off the radio, a gatefold-vinyl, or FLAC download. A tune is a tune, is a tune. Of course, packaging and design do have a role to play, but it's about the music first."
At last count, Si had at least 50 available digital download releases on Beatport alone, plus a wad over on this blog's favourite digital downloader, Addictech.
"It has massively democratized parts of the music business, especially in the dance and electronica fields," he assessed. "We're getting closer to a more level playing field, where major labels don't call the shots so much--in theory, a small label on Beatport has just as much chance as a major to get noticed and shift units."
He was on a roll with this theme. "You can release multiple versions of the same track for barely any extra cost, which leaves far more room for experimentation--why not stick up that weird track you thought was too 'out there' for the vinyl release? Even if it only sells 10 copies, it doesn't matter. It's easier to get stuff worldwide, with no high costs for the punters buying imports, and also far easier to get hold of the releases you want, rather than having to deal with anal or elitist record shops, and so on."
On a final note, he echoed the sentiments a lot of more enlightened, like-minded peers are floating right now.
"I find that most people who are anti-download fall into two camps: Greedy people who think it makes the music easier to share, therefore will cut back on their profits--do you want people to hear your music? Or make money?--and the elitist types who liked the fact that they were one of only 800 people who had that rare Juan Atkins release on Metroplex, and enjoyed being part of a select 'club' of other anal types, and hate the idea that now just about anyone can download those rare tracks for a quid or so."
Dave Tarrida agreed when I bounced the same subject off him.
"It's just the way the industry has gone. I'm all for it, really. From a label point of view, production is just so much easier--there are no extra costs for white labels, postage and packaging. Something in the industry had to change, and digital was the only solution. I've been DJing with Serato for around 4 years now, so it suits me just fine. I also like the idea that anyone can access the music now from a computer, whereas before it all depended if you had a good record store somewhere near you. This kind of globalization makes it better for everyone. This is the way it's going to go; we're entering the age of digital DJing. This doesn't make it any less viable than, say, using vinyl only. I can see many pros to this new medium, and it's definitely easier to access a bigger catalogue of music now."
Tarrida acknowledges some resistance, however. "Some people just don't like change very much. Nostalgia might have something to do with it, too. Since I've been involved in the scene, we've gone through tape, CD, now digital. I like the fact that the way we consume music doesn't stay static. I'm sure well see even more changes in the years to come."
Japanese DJ/producer, Shin Nishimura, put the matter another way: "Both vinyl and digital have their own advantages--for example, you can only buy vinyl at limited places, but you can buy digital tracks, and people can get information about the music, anywhere so long as you have an Internet connection. Download sites have created more possibilities for you to spread your music worldwide."
Germany's Cem Oral, of Jammin' Unit, Air Liquide and Pharma Records fame, readily admits to the negatives of the d/download era. "Today I wouldn't start a label again. There are so many, that it just doesn't make sense to start another one. Besides that, we loved our colored vinyl, and it doesn't pay back nowadays. It's no fun to have a 'digital only' release--when one of our records came out, it was always like Christmas!"
Then he steers course into the positives, with a necessary disclaimer or two. "The new generation of music lover mostly doesn't care about vinyl, and listening behaviour has changed. Maybe soon there'll be no labels in the former way, and the artist will be the artist, his own producer, mixer, mastering engineer, label, promoter, distributor, and buyer all on his own. Maybe music will remain just a non-commercial hobby in the future. Fact is that the days with time-consuming and expensive productions are over. This means a liberation for many artists, but also decreases the average quality. A band like Pink Floyd would have problems starting a career today, i guess."
Personally, I may be reading far too much into things, but I'm beginning to get a sense of déjà vu, as d/download carriers follow the patterns set by their predecessors, the labels and distributors: Some go off in bland, mainstream motion as they pander to the big money, and others head in far worthier, cutting edge directions.
Beatport has a tendency to act like an overweight, online glutton that squashes together way too many labels and artists, often in genres they shouldn't be in at all, even when it's shedding hapless smaller labels like a crash dieter--and the carrier fails to support its remaining clients unless they're big players.
Heaven help you if you ever have to deal with the editorial posse at Beatportal.
On a completely different level, niche carrier Input-Output-Inc. supports the work of UK imprint Rag & Bone and Aussie labels Elektrax and Hypnotic Room, while Addictech keeps it relatively simple, and is the best place to look for some artists' entire catalogues. Si Begg and Tipper are heavily represented there, as is our own IF? label roster.
Also, look out this year for smaller online "boutique" shops, run by the labels and artists themselves--the brand new Elektrax Store, on I Think Music, is a prime example.
Alternatively, for cheapskates like me and Cem Oral, there's always Limewire or freebie d/download labels like Dead Channel over in the UK.
"I'm one of those assholes who downloads with Limewire for free, but also pays at Beatport or other portals," Cem tells me, and I have to smile at the same personal folly.
"Availability is the key for me," he concludes. "When i sit with my friends in the studio and a certain track or band comes to our mind, I know where to search on the Internet. And then it doesn't matter if it costs $2.00, or nothing."
So is digital download the devil in disguise, or manna from heaven? Maybe it's a little bit of both--which is the way it should be, since that makes things way more interesting.
