RE: CD prices and my whole point

[Kim Flint <kflint@chromatic.com>]

At 05:17 PM 7/30/98 EDT, Crossedout@aol.com wrote:
>God, I didn't know what kind of nickel I was dropping in the jukebox....
>
>My entire point with all this is based in the fact that I am coming from 
>(I
>would assume from the other posts to this list) a somewhat different
>background, a more extreme-music and punk-rock background. 

It seems to me though, that the punk/DIY message was never about 
considering
your own creative effort as worth $0. It's about cutting all the middlemen
out and becoming self-sufficient. And it's about making sure you get a good
return for the work you've done, rather than all them money going to 
someone
else who did nothing to create the music. (which _is_ a 
socialistic/worker's
rights position, BTW.) To me, punk is a powerful statement about supporting
yourself on your own music, on a small scale. It's not about starving to
death or working in a shoe store so that you can play for free while other
people make money on your efforts. (whether they be major labels or just 
the
CD manufacturer or the bar owner...).


>I think the Fugazi argument is the perfect example - here's a man (Ian
>MacKaye) making good music, supporting a scene he has roots in, helping 
>other
>bands and labels get their start, and charging $8 or $9 for a disc, 
>postpaid.
>And he makes enough to spit in the eye of major labels that come offering 
>him
>blank checks for the privelage of releasing (and profiting off of) Fugazi
>records. 

to me, Fugazi (and numerous others like them) is a perfect example of a
group that *does* value their artistic effort, and clearly adds something 
in
their pricing so that they can survive (or thrive) entirely off their 
music.
What they did is cut all the other people's profit margins out of the
equation, so that a fan's money mostly goes to the band. They clearly 
didn't
cut their *own* profit margin out, which is what some people seem to be
arguing for. 

To me (and I imagine I'm not alone here...) the ideal would be to spend all
of my time and energy on music and other things I really enjoy doing, and
have those things provide me enough income to live on. That's infinitely
better than prostituting myself at an unfulfilling job that pays well so
that I can support my passions on the side, assuming I can even find any
time or energy left to do music at all. (that's my life now...bleh....)
Combine the passions and the income source, that's a goal for me.

It happens I live in an area with a lot of artists. (burned out industrial
area, live/work spaces, etc...)  A lot of them are successfully making a
living doing the art they love. They always seem to radiate with a sort of
happiness and fulfillment and energy about their life that's pretty
inspiring. If you talk to them, you find that reaching that point was
difficult. There's the obvious thing that being a successful artist is just
hard anyway. But they always say that one of the most difficult struggles 
is
within, in convincing yourself that what you do creatively does have value,
that money is a fair exchange for art, and that it's ok to ask people to 
pay
for it. It seems to me there are people struggling with that idea here. 

>I stand by my arguments - I think that M. Peters has a valid reason for
>selling his stuff at a premium, as he has almost $10 US invested in each 
>disc.
>For him, I'd suggest investigating other sources, if at all possible, for
>obtaining your discs. But for someone like me, who has acess to ADAT's, 
>DATs
>and a disc burner.... I'd feel bad about charging more than a few dollars 
>for
>someone to hear my music. If I can release something so people can hear 
>it,
>and make enough to cover my costs, then I'll be happy. 

Yeah, but to me as a consumer, if I like your music, I want *you* to have 
my
money in exchange. I don't want to just know that I covered your costs. 
Then
I'm just paying the company that manufactured the CD, who I don't care
about. I want you to keep making music that I like, or maybe I just want to
pay you for the entertainment or pleasure you gave me in creating something
I liked. I don't think I'm alone in placing value on these things. If it 
was
worth something to me I'm happy to pay for it. In fact, many people will
probably feel mildly guilty about taking it for nothing. (although I might
be alone in that if a musician I like tries to charge me $5 for a cd of
their music I'd pay them $10 or more and refuse the change. I also give
money to street musicians in exchange for the entertainment they give
me....I'm crazy like that....)  Don't feel bad about charging for it! Give
yourself some credit. If you put a lot of creative energy into your music
and people like it, they'll be happy to support you. Give them a chance to
do so. If you are worried about excluding people who don't have much cash,
charge a sliding scale. You'll probably be surprised how many people pay 
the
top of the range.

kim


________________________________________________________
Kim Flint, MTS                 408-752-9284
Chromatic Research             kflint@chromatic.com
http://www.chromatic.com