Here's my thinking about the decision on the part of an artist to release their entire catalog to the public for free: if digital distribution has rendered direct sales to the customer significantly less worthwhile than it once was, they need some alternate source of promotion and revenue. A move like this would likely increase the artists' visibility in the public's eye without significantly harming their total revenues.
Notice that they give out copies of their songs, but don't release their copyright: want to download their music to listen to it on your iPod? Awesome, enjoy. Want to remix it or use it in a commercial setting? The music isn't licensed for that, you're going to have to talk to their agents.
This move is genius: it increases artists' exposure, ultimately leading to increased sales, licensing, and presumably also concert revenues. There's basically no downside to this.
"The same things that made 3 Feet High and other De La albums so influential — its creative, if not fully licensed, use of a myriad of samples — has also prevented the group's work from appearing on many digital platforms. "It's been a trying journey," admits Posdnuos. "We've been blessed to be in the Library of Congress, but we can't even have our music on iTunes. We've been working very hard to get that solved." The rapper points to frequent personnel changes at record labels and hazy language in early contracts that have led to long delays in properly clearing the group's catalog." - TFA
They can't give out any kind of licenses for these songs, because the rights for the samples they're built from are a tangled mess.
I think this move is about recognizing that they're not going to make any more money on the old catalog, so they're using it as a way to connect directly with their fans - via collected email addresses. Next, I would expect they'll release new material and target it directly at these people. They can charge a minimal amount of money and make more than if they went through any label or, say iTunes.
TL;DR They're doing this to build their email list to create a direct channel for marketing future material.
>>> This move is genius: it increases artists' exposure.
Only if people actually find out who De La Soul is. Considering they started in 1987 and their last album was out in 2009, I'm not sure most kids this side of 1997 really know who they are or care about their music.
It would be cool if they did get the exposure. I feel without a concentrated PR campaign, besides a few articles over the next few days, not sure their sales are going to get a big bounce from doing this.
Actually, I think there's a major upside in revenue as the artist profits way more from live shows than from album sales, which are a low margin business as record companies take its lion's share.
Getting their music out there increases their visibility and, therefore, desirability, meaning more people will be willing to pay to see them live.
One trouble is that booking artists for live shows is (or used to be) very driven by album sales, so perhaps we'll start seeing other interesting metrics - like Youtube/FB followers, # downloads, etc - achieving the status a "more official" indicator.
>Here's my thinking about the decision on the part of an artist to release their entire catalog to the public for free: if digital distribution has rendered direct sales to the customer significantly less worthwhile than it once was, they need some alternate source of promotion and revenue. A move like this would likely increase the artists' visibility in the public's eye without significantly harming their total revenues.
Well, if their primary source of revenue were the releases,
then the switch to digital (and the ease of just getting it from a pirate say even for people who would have ordinarily bought the LP/CD), then their total revenue is significantly harmed to begin with.
So, with sales hampered, mostly gimmicks like merchandise remain (for bands that catter to immature people buying branded t-shirts and the like, e.g not gonna really work for jazz or classical or tons of other genres).
And, of course, concerts. But those mostly apply to genres and bands with big enough fanbases to be able to have concerts and make a buck. For the rest, concerts are mostly lossing money (and were historically loss leaders for records sales for most bands).
You might be right about the overall move toward giving away music, but in this case, it's because they simply cannot get their music released digitally due to rights/sampling issues. Giving it away sidesteps the issue, gives them much more exposure, generates a lot of goodwill toward them and will get more people to come out and see them when they put on a concert in your area.
One thing I don't see anyone in these comments taking into account- this is music that, for various sampling law / licensing reasons, they have never been able to sell or stream online. They seem to be giving it away because they've run out of options for getting it in the hands of their fans otherwise.
This should get more upvotes as it is pretty important to understanding why they did this.
The earliest De La Soul albums were jam packed with samples that wound up getting them hit with a few lawsuits/out-of court settlements that severely hampered their ability to release this music in various new media/formats. They're definitely an artifact of the more wild-west times of hip-hop sampling.
Yeah, the story isn't quite as compelling when you put it that way. That first album would cost millions of dollars to release if they put it out today. The list of expensive samples (Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, etc.) on that album is totally out of control...
The context here, which I haven't seen mentioned, is that De La Soul cannot release much of their catalog digitally given the way their contracts are structured. As a result, all material before Grind Date (2004) is not available on digital stores/platforms like iTunes, et al.
De La negotiated their contracts well before Internet distribution and revenue was germane. Oddly, this is sometimes described as distribution "throughout the universe". This is actually not an uncommon problem for artists from this era who relied heavily on samples (i.e., hip-hop).
Would they have cleared samples used on their albums "in perpetuity", giving De La the widest distribution license available (read: for use forever), we would not be talking about De La Soul releasing music for free online. We'd be buying it on iTunes and they'd be compensated for it. End of story.
Instead, De La makes most of their money off CD sales and touring, which is a tough spot as CDs are entering obsolescence and touring, especially at their age, must be grueling. On the flip side, the good news here is De La Soul and early hip-hop pioneers are seeing a resurgence (IMHO well-deserved) and getting the music out there by any means necessary is a crucial step to be heard. Go see them on tour, buy their gear or even a CD (ha) if you're feeling it.
What's funny is one of the albums they've put up for download ("De La Soul is Dead") seems to itself been downloaded from a piracy website. This album lacks any ID3 data except for a link to "http://rappalata.net/". I can't read Russian, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look too legitimate. (EDIT: Correction: all tracks have that link)
This is huge. This is amazing. Not only are De La Soul incredible artists, but their work isn't available on Rdio. I had De La Soul is Dead on cassette -- I definitely know what I'll be doing at 11 am (servers willing).
Having said that, I can't help but get nitpicky about a few things (I hope you take this as constructive criticism).
Filling in the blanks: Jackhigh is from the UK, Odd Nosdam is from the midwest but lives in Berkeley, Nocow is Russian (St. Petersburg). Shlohmo is from Los Angeles, not New York. Lunice is from Montreal, not the UK. Dakim is definitely from Detroit, but moved to California a while back. Mike Slott is marked as New York, where he lives now, but he's originally from Glasgow.
Ssaliva and Cupp Cave are the same person. His occasional collaborator Dem Hunger (who is an insane genius) seems only to be releasing music under the Wanda Group moniker of late. Jeremiah Jae is included, as is his older group material with Young Black Preachers, but not the newer stuff as Black Jungle Squad. The DJ for that group, Pbdy, signed to Brainfeeder not too long ago, runs a few regular nights in LA as well as his own label (TAR), and should probably be included, as should many others.
However, the most egregious omissions from the list are Kutmah and Daddy Kev. Daddy Kev is one of the residents and founders of Low End Theory, and the man behind Alpha Pup Records, a label which has released work by many—perhaps even most—of the artists on that list. Kutmah founded Sketchbook, the art/music night which evolved into Low End Theory. When Ras G releases a song called "One 4 Kutmah"—one of many instances of a producer naming a track "One for/4 x" as a nod to Dilla's "One for Ghost" on Donuts—that pretty well establishes you as a godfather of the scene. Without the contributions of those two guys that huge circle covering Los Angeles on the map gets a lot smaller.
And that kind of gets to the heart of what's really missing from this graphic—the personal connections. You're documenting an art movement which is very much alive, not only in the sense that it's constantly evolving, but that it's filled with real people who are friends and coworkers and share ideas (and experiences and meals and even sometimes bathrooms and lease agreements) with each other.
The fact that a handful of producers from across the map all dabble in samples that might qualify their work as "world music" is sort of interesting, I guess. What I find a great deal more interesting is that Kutmah used to earn extra cash by picking up shifts at Poo-Bah Records in Pasadena, one of the best independent record stores on the planet, which just so happens to be co-owned and managed by Take (who is going by Sweatson Klank these days).
Other employees of that shop have included Ras G, Black Monk, and Detective Tully, who himself has long been the stage manager (and frequent opening act) at Low End Theory, and is a founding member of the My Hollow Drum crew along with Teebs, yuk., Co. Fee, Bahwee, and others. MHD made their name playing a residency at the The Crosby in Santa Ana, which was co-owned by Chris Alfaro a.k.a. Free the Robots, a venue which more recently has played host to frequent performances by members of the Soulection and Team Supreme collectives, who have been making huge moves lately and are completely absent from your list. (Even more recently, The Crosby was forced to shut its doors, though I'm certain something incredible will rise from its ashes.)
Similarly, Kutmah was also one of the earliest participants in dublab, one of the first touchstones of the beat scene in Los Angeles. Its founder, frosty, was once a member of Adventure Time alongside Daedelus, and another early and frequent dublab collaborator matthewdavid would go on to release his own work on Brainfeeder, and put out tapes by Ras G, Samiyam, Odd Nosdam, Ahnnu, Dakim, Dem Hunger, yuk. and many others on his Leaving Records imprint, which just last year signed a distribution deal with Stones Throw.
And that brings us back to Dilla, as so many things do. His impact is wide and deep, and he inspired a great many people to do a great many things, including inspiring you to create that graphic, which itself just barely scratches the surface.
As a long time De La fan, this was a great thing to wake up to. They fell out of my daily playlist for a while because I'm horrible at keeping my devices synced. Now I have it engrained in my mind that I can download their catalog at anytime, so they'll probably be the first "go to" music in a lot of future situations.
I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound entitled, but it's free music. Disappointed in 128k is fine, as you can't get the sound quality that would meet your requirement to be in your library. But it shouldn't annoy you.
They've started now - http://www.wearedelasoul.com/
Process is: choose an album/albums, enter an email, click link in email, get message saying they'll be ready in about an hour
To me "Stakes is High (1996)" was their first album I really liked. And I can't find it online anywhere (not the warez servers, I support my artists). At the moment all I have is an empty CD case as someone has absconded with my CD.
There's some bands like
wilderness survival(http://www.wildernesssurvivalmusic.com)
that have always given away their music. Perhaps, this is how things will work going forward.
Radiohead were one of the first major artists to do a 'pay what you want' which included $0. I believe they regretted it and I think I read one of the reasons was that it devalued music for everyone. e.g. if they are giving it away why do others think they can charge?
A few years ago, Reznor tried a kind of shareware-style "first episode is free, buy the full version" model with the Ghosts 4-disc set: Ghosts I was free, but you had to pay if you wanted Ghosts I-IV. You could buy either physical version of various levels of fanciness, or DRM-free downloads (MP3 or FLAC).
[+] [-] jfasi|12 years ago|reply
Notice that they give out copies of their songs, but don't release their copyright: want to download their music to listen to it on your iPod? Awesome, enjoy. Want to remix it or use it in a commercial setting? The music isn't licensed for that, you're going to have to talk to their agents.
This move is genius: it increases artists' exposure, ultimately leading to increased sales, licensing, and presumably also concert revenues. There's basically no downside to this.
[+] [-] egypturnash|12 years ago|reply
They can't give out any kind of licenses for these songs, because the rights for the samples they're built from are a tangled mess.
[+] [-] inthewoods|12 years ago|reply
TL;DR They're doing this to build their email list to create a direct channel for marketing future material.
[+] [-] at-fates-hands|12 years ago|reply
Only if people actually find out who De La Soul is. Considering they started in 1987 and their last album was out in 2009, I'm not sure most kids this side of 1997 really know who they are or care about their music.
It would be cool if they did get the exposure. I feel without a concentrated PR campaign, besides a few articles over the next few days, not sure their sales are going to get a big bounce from doing this.
[+] [-] jmngomes|12 years ago|reply
Getting their music out there increases their visibility and, therefore, desirability, meaning more people will be willing to pay to see them live.
One trouble is that booking artists for live shows is (or used to be) very driven by album sales, so perhaps we'll start seeing other interesting metrics - like Youtube/FB followers, # downloads, etc - achieving the status a "more official" indicator.
[+] [-] tommorris|12 years ago|reply
There is a nice link to buy tickets to their concert at Shephard's Bush Empire in London in May. Now very tempted.
[+] [-] coldtea|12 years ago|reply
Well, if their primary source of revenue were the releases, then the switch to digital (and the ease of just getting it from a pirate say even for people who would have ordinarily bought the LP/CD), then their total revenue is significantly harmed to begin with.
So, with sales hampered, mostly gimmicks like merchandise remain (for bands that catter to immature people buying branded t-shirts and the like, e.g not gonna really work for jazz or classical or tons of other genres).
And, of course, concerts. But those mostly apply to genres and bands with big enough fanbases to be able to have concerts and make a buck. For the rest, concerts are mostly lossing money (and were historically loss leaders for records sales for most bands).
[+] [-] iwasakabukiman|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tashtego|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] relaxatorium|12 years ago|reply
The earliest De La Soul albums were jam packed with samples that wound up getting them hit with a few lawsuits/out-of court settlements that severely hampered their ability to release this music in various new media/formats. They're definitely an artifact of the more wild-west times of hip-hop sampling.
[+] [-] ghx|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] windsurfer|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dorfe|12 years ago|reply
De La negotiated their contracts well before Internet distribution and revenue was germane. Oddly, this is sometimes described as distribution "throughout the universe". This is actually not an uncommon problem for artists from this era who relied heavily on samples (i.e., hip-hop).
Would they have cleared samples used on their albums "in perpetuity", giving De La the widest distribution license available (read: for use forever), we would not be talking about De La Soul releasing music for free online. We'd be buying it on iTunes and they'd be compensated for it. End of story.
Instead, De La makes most of their money off CD sales and touring, which is a tough spot as CDs are entering obsolescence and touring, especially at their age, must be grueling. On the flip side, the good news here is De La Soul and early hip-hop pioneers are seeing a resurgence (IMHO well-deserved) and getting the music out there by any means necessary is a crucial step to be heard. Go see them on tour, buy their gear or even a CD (ha) if you're feeling it.
[+] [-] darklajid|12 years ago|reply
Missing AOI: Bionix now, because
Error (509) This account's public links are generating too much traffic and have been temporarily disabled!
[+] [-] Edd314159|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Jacqued|12 years ago|reply
Edit : I can confirm, they are 320 mp3s
[+] [-] darklajid|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aye|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tommorris|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] grahamel|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hiphopyo|12 years ago|reply
http://bit.ly/1dOAbq9
http://bit.ly/1dOAbq9+ (preview)
[+] [-] Ryanmf|12 years ago|reply
Having said that, I can't help but get nitpicky about a few things (I hope you take this as constructive criticism).
Filling in the blanks: Jackhigh is from the UK, Odd Nosdam is from the midwest but lives in Berkeley, Nocow is Russian (St. Petersburg). Shlohmo is from Los Angeles, not New York. Lunice is from Montreal, not the UK. Dakim is definitely from Detroit, but moved to California a while back. Mike Slott is marked as New York, where he lives now, but he's originally from Glasgow.
Ssaliva and Cupp Cave are the same person. His occasional collaborator Dem Hunger (who is an insane genius) seems only to be releasing music under the Wanda Group moniker of late. Jeremiah Jae is included, as is his older group material with Young Black Preachers, but not the newer stuff as Black Jungle Squad. The DJ for that group, Pbdy, signed to Brainfeeder not too long ago, runs a few regular nights in LA as well as his own label (TAR), and should probably be included, as should many others.
However, the most egregious omissions from the list are Kutmah and Daddy Kev. Daddy Kev is one of the residents and founders of Low End Theory, and the man behind Alpha Pup Records, a label which has released work by many—perhaps even most—of the artists on that list. Kutmah founded Sketchbook, the art/music night which evolved into Low End Theory. When Ras G releases a song called "One 4 Kutmah"—one of many instances of a producer naming a track "One for/4 x" as a nod to Dilla's "One for Ghost" on Donuts—that pretty well establishes you as a godfather of the scene. Without the contributions of those two guys that huge circle covering Los Angeles on the map gets a lot smaller.
And that kind of gets to the heart of what's really missing from this graphic—the personal connections. You're documenting an art movement which is very much alive, not only in the sense that it's constantly evolving, but that it's filled with real people who are friends and coworkers and share ideas (and experiences and meals and even sometimes bathrooms and lease agreements) with each other.
The fact that a handful of producers from across the map all dabble in samples that might qualify their work as "world music" is sort of interesting, I guess. What I find a great deal more interesting is that Kutmah used to earn extra cash by picking up shifts at Poo-Bah Records in Pasadena, one of the best independent record stores on the planet, which just so happens to be co-owned and managed by Take (who is going by Sweatson Klank these days).
Other employees of that shop have included Ras G, Black Monk, and Detective Tully, who himself has long been the stage manager (and frequent opening act) at Low End Theory, and is a founding member of the My Hollow Drum crew along with Teebs, yuk., Co. Fee, Bahwee, and others. MHD made their name playing a residency at the The Crosby in Santa Ana, which was co-owned by Chris Alfaro a.k.a. Free the Robots, a venue which more recently has played host to frequent performances by members of the Soulection and Team Supreme collectives, who have been making huge moves lately and are completely absent from your list. (Even more recently, The Crosby was forced to shut its doors, though I'm certain something incredible will rise from its ashes.)
Similarly, Kutmah was also one of the earliest participants in dublab, one of the first touchstones of the beat scene in Los Angeles. Its founder, frosty, was once a member of Adventure Time alongside Daedelus, and another early and frequent dublab collaborator matthewdavid would go on to release his own work on Brainfeeder, and put out tapes by Ras G, Samiyam, Odd Nosdam, Ahnnu, Dakim, Dem Hunger, yuk. and many others on his Leaving Records imprint, which just last year signed a distribution deal with Stones Throw.
And that brings us back to Dilla, as so many things do. His impact is wide and deep, and he inspired a great many people to do a great many things, including inspiring you to create that graphic, which itself just barely scratches the surface.
[+] [-] josteink|12 years ago|reply
Actual URL: http://home.no/dwaynie/beat_scene.png
Edit: Need to double-read what I respond to.
[+] [-] donretag|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orblivion|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wlj|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dylanz|12 years ago|reply
As a long time De La fan, this was a great thing to wake up to. They fell out of my daily playlist for a while because I'm horrible at keeping my devices synced. Now I have it engrained in my mind that I can download their catalog at anytime, so they'll probably be the first "go to" music in a lot of future situations.
[+] [-] larrik|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eponeponepon|12 years ago|reply
...and then proceed to grab the lot anyway, of course.
[+] [-] codelap|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] at-fates-hands|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] waylandsmithers|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] grahamel|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gonzo|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] n2j3|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chadwickthebold|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] reticulated|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pit|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yardie|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjtavares|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NAFV_P|12 years ago|reply
http://www.discogs.com/KMD-Black-Bastards/release/4762758
[+] [-] sizzle|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cycojesus|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thaJeztah|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jgeerts|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ItendToDisagree|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barlescabbage|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ItendToDisagree|12 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] mjn|12 years ago|reply