Direto do Spiral
Essa reflexão do TR é tão importante, tão vital, que eu tinha que postar e comentar.
“What I WANT to do is crawl inside my own head and just make music. I’ve begun work on a new NIN project and the door to the cave I will soon crawl in is open and beckoning, but these last few weeks I’ve had to be a businessman. On occasion I don’t mind wearing that hat and becoming immersed in numbers and strategies and whatnot, but all I really want to do is make music.
Why have I been in business-mode lately? Glad you asked. See, the music business has imploded and nobody knows what to do. As an artist finally free from any obligations to a record company, I can do pretty much anything I want to - but what should that be?
How do you (in this order):
A. Be sure to place and keep yourself in a nurturing, creative space that inspires your art
B. Then determine how to present that to your audience in an appropriate fashion that’s respectful to both you the artist AND them.
C. Ideally do that in a way where it makes financial sense.
I highly doubt whether the strategy Saul and I chose to release his new record will be a viable business model for the road ahead. We didn’t do this as a “get rich quick” scheme. We did it because it felt (and feels) like the best way to get the most people to have the opportunity to hear what we consider to be an important record. It feels like the best approach as of October 2007 with the current set of circumstances in the “marketplace” (I hate that fucking word.) We did it because it kept the art PURE and it involved NO compromises regarding the content or the way it was presented to you. No iPod commercials, no ringtone giveaways, no billboards, no Best Buy exclusive content… and one could argue no exposure.
That’s the problem. How do you get the word out to as many people as possible and maintain your integrity in the process?
We assumed that by releasing the record this way it would generate some press interest, and it has. We hope that people will be curious enough to download and listen to the record, and yes - we hope people will choose to pay for it.
I have to say I’ve been amazed at some lengthy conversations I’ve seen on fan BBs regarding the decision to pay or not. People who are interested enough to register and frequent boards dedicated to an artist’s work really having to weigh out whether or not it’s worth $5 for an hour of new music. Has music really and truly been devalued that much? $80 is a decision, $5 is not.
All of that aside, our secret weapon is the record itself. It is what it is and that’s what people will be talking about long after the story of the business around it fades away.
Speaking of business… I’m done speaking (or thinking) about it for the day. I’m going to make some noise.
Good day,
TR”
Postei uma resposta para ele, espero que alguém da equipe dele (ou ele mesmo) leia e que seja útil. O post dele foi muito útil para as minhas próprias reflexões sobre meu trabalho.
Eis minha resposta:
“I downloaded the 9inchnails.com remixes. It´s awesome, I really loved it. I would pay to you 5 dollars for that, since you are the original owner, if I had the option. You know, the whole music and video business is lost at this new internet era. All cultural products lost value due how easy is to reproduce everything, arts, photos, music, movies. People don´t have the same quality standards they are used to, it makes no difference anymore if is a 256 mp3 or a compressed video or a high quality audio and image. It´s a new tendency, because the internet and because the whole world economy is unbalanced. In my country the main problem is people have no money to buy official CDs or DVDs cause is ridiculous expensive.
The artists who are making their living from their art here are dealing directly with the public, they are selling CDs/DVDs directly and are focused in live performances. Those performances also are much more multimedia than it used to be. I believe NIN is one of the most bold and vangardists musical projects.
This business is not anymore about sell Cds and or DVDs. It must be about live experiences, it must be about multimedia projects. I would like to suggest that you check the latest Peter Greenaway´s projects, this man is creating something really innovative and new, it deserves a careful attention. That´s my thoughts, I been working with movies and multimedia for the latest 12 years, it´s what I think can lead to a new business format.”
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