Stop Selling Music...Really?

This video is in response to Damian Keyes vid, Stop Selling Music, in which he proposes that bands should stop trying to sell CDs. Having been in the music industry for a number of years and gone through the traditional routes of making money by selling CDs and touring, we wanted to throw our opinion into the fray.

Kat's also been studying an MA in music business and industry for the last year and has a good understanding of where everything is right now. This whole discussion also directly links into why we're currently on YouTube.

As DIY musicians making money and getting somewhere in this industry is really tough, so let's talk it out together! What do you think of all this? Do you agree?

BTx

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[DamianKeyes]

I love this, thanks guys. The more musicians and artists debate this the more we can experiment and rebuild for the future. As musicians we provide so much value and now we just need to find out the way to put the physical value back in! Love you guys! x

[GayleSkidmore]

I have lived off of album sales/ colouring book sales for years. Works for me! Even sold out of tapes.

[kristyhagerman]

I mean I think being a clothing company as a band is a huge way to make money. I also think that packaging albums with other things (clothes, bags, umbrellas, toothbrushes, anything fun and interesting you can brand and make into a talking point) works really well to up the value.

[KazraineMaars]

I totally agree! I think people get so deluded with the "traditional" model that they forget that there is nothing traditional about CD's, cassette tapes or records or any of that in the first place. Music existed long before the musical industry and will be around as long as creative people are.


It does suck that creative people obviously do need to fund our art in some way for the most part and the option of finding support to be creative feels like it is being pulled ever further from most of us at every turn, but let's face it, creative people will create regardless. And hopefully new ways of supporting creative people will continue to pop up and guide us into new places that traditional routes wouldn't even allow!


My biggest hope is that more and more people will understand when taking up music creation (and any art really) that they should be getting into it because it is seemingly inescapably in their DNA and that nothing is going to stop them getting their ideas out there, rather than "hey, wouldn't it be cool to make music so we can make loads of money and be famous". That's a totally fine thing to want too of course, but those people will have to change their expectations to suit that specific goal, and maybe it'll be ok for a kid in the future to say "when I grow up I want to make music because I love music" without any indication that writing songs, being in bands, or music itself is just some stepping stone toward money/fame/success. Music & any art can always be it's own reward, and we should all talk about that passion based aspect more often I think!