Really? Free Music, Lars? Really?!
Written on May 13, 2008, by Jeff Nordstedt. Category: Free Music News, Opinions.
Admittedly, we are jumping on the free music band wagon. I read the Long Tail, watched the Radiohead experiment with fascinated eyes, listened excitedly to stories of Jill Sobule using her direct connection to fans to fund her next record, and I jumped on the band wagon. I pitched the band on my grand plan to give away our American Anthems vol. 1 and leverage the goodwill that we build through that kind act to increase our touring draw and help fund the completion of Volume 2.
At no point did I pretend to be reinventing the wheel here. As one of my favorite people in the music biz, Kenyata Sullivan, was quick to point out the other day, he was giving away his band’s music two years ago. Hell, he’s been giving away his music all of his life. So, yes, my name is Jeff and I am a bandwagon jumper.
This does put me in something of a glass house given the stones I am about to start throwing. But what the fuck. Its my blog and I’ll throw stones if I feel like it.
It made me a little sick to read about Metallica considering a foray into the free music arena. I may be a bandwagon jumper, but that is down right silly given all of the hullabaloo they cause over Napster and free music sharing.
My favorite Lars quote on the subject is this:
“Back in the day there was a much bigger question about ‘On whose terms?’ ”
“We said, ‘Wait a minute, it should be about the artist.’ Then all hell broke loose and we sat on the sidelines for a while.”
First of all, I think that Radiohead did was not “about the artist.” I am not so naive as to think it is entirely about the fan either. It is about a band being smart enough to see the value of making a more direct connection to their fan. They got a lot of press, expanded their distribution and probably increased gate receipts on tour. Fans got a free album and, maybe more importantly, they got to feel like their favorite band did something cool just for them (which they did!).
Basically, Lars & Co. were not forward thinking enough during the Napster tempest to see the value of it. And now, because it is popular, they are going to jump in to it. Problem is that they still don’t get it. Its not “about the artist.” It is about the symbiotic relationship between artist and fan.
I think that is what the music industry lost starting with Frampton and moving through Spears on in to the future. In their effort to constantly crank out mega-hits, they polluted the artist-fan ocean. Lars has clearly been swimming in polluted seas for too long. Its a shame too because didn’t they get their start as with a cult following of metal kids trading tapes?
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