Chillbase

well, it's already been a while since the music industry has changed completely and we're all aware of that. different opinions, different reactions, different attitudes... i'm more amazed that he actually left such a post...

btw. lol on the 'simon says' part, hahaha!

well, who knows what's got into him to write that i don't know what's all the fos about?! i found this article on few pages already. we all know that money making comes from live ats and less from selling cds. i'm sorry to hear they are in a bed financy era though. really hope things will get better!

I also think this is a bunch of a baloney. They would already stop doing business if the things are really like that.

well, it probably is something like that - especially since it's not such a big problem to figure out how much they get paid for a live...

They should look at ways of cutting overhead, like doing more net label stuff.

Maybe they are in financial straits and the S4 album showing up on the shares already is the straw that breaks the camel's back? I know another person who canceled his pre-order of S4 he got a pretty snide e-mail back thanking him for supporting all their hard work. Really though, snide comments and angry posts in the forums only further hurts the label (image). They have my sympathy and my financial support, but these things public displays pf frustration don't seem (to me) the best way to handle a hard situation like this.

Here's what I posted in the thread @ twisted records.

This thread has become so widely discussed I felt like I needed to say something. The best things twisted records can do, because file sharing will never go away.

Cut overhead
Print less copies of albums, make the albums limited editions for the most devoted fans who are going to buy a hard copy no matter what. Before you even send the masters off for production make the album available for purchase online in lossless/lossy formats. Allow all the customers who pre-order hard copies access to the digital files before they get their hard copy. Write tracks specific for the hard copies that aren’t on the digital releases to entice everyone to buy them up quicker. If demand is still ridiculously high for more hard copies you can always look at a second printing, but at least you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket if it doesn’t.

Encourage sharing of your music
I know this sounds counter-intuitive and not conducive to a good business model, but the traditional business model from corporate america, just doesn’t work with music anymore. BBC just had an article about how people who file share spend almost twice as much yearly on hard copies over people who don’t (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8337887.stm). If you take the above advice this will guard you against most of the bleed out caused by file sharing. The encouragement comes with an addendum of this: a message to your fans to always link back to a place to buy digital copies of the album or donate every place they share your music. People who are sharing the music who think they will get in trouble, will go to every effort to hide the fact that they are sharing your music from getting back to you, this includes linking to your site. If you give them that permission as long as they link to a place to buy the album digitally or donate, they will come out into the light. Think of this like pirate jujitsu, you are using all the time and effort they are putting into spreading your music to get people back to you where they can support you financially. This leads to the next major thing.

Focus profits on other products and merchandise.
Start a netlabel and start release more EP’s/back catalogs even if it’s secondary songs that didn’t make the albums people will still buy those digital copies with only the overhead of the website you are already paying for anyway. “Buy a Schpongle t-shirt? Get a free exclusive track download!” You know people are going to share the music regardless so building the fan base and giving them a lot of cool shit to buy and come to shows for is where the money is really at.

...and that’s all I have to say about that.

hehe, great - thumbs up!

@ iTranscendence i think you gave him some totally resnobel advices which he should definitely try to apply. Did you got any reply back? I suppose no.. :s

No, I haven't gotten one back yet, but I'm lurking on the thread to see if anyone official there responds. I know it sounds crazy, but if you turn that energy music pirates use to your advantage, it could generate you revenue.

well, from what it looks like (that it's all about the money), it's the only way... so i reckon they should take both your advice and the energy to twist it around... good going indeed!