Guest Blogger:Teresa Malango, Magnatune, [email protected]
Magnatune's A&R Director, Shannon Coulter, attended the Future of Music Policy Summit http://www.futureofmusic.org/events/summit06 in Montreal last week and found David Byrne's keynote speech very relevant to what we are doing at Magnatune. She sent us this report:
“In his
keynote address at the 2007 Future of Music Summit in Montreal, David Byrne of
the Talking Heads talked about the problems, as he sees them, with DRM
restrictions on music sold through Apple's iTunes, and conducted an extensive
profit analysis of where record labels' and distributors profits go, noting
that despite the fact that overhead costs have dramatically dropped in the last
few years for labels and distributors--most artists are still receiving the
same exact cut of the profits-- about 20 percent. (Same as it ever was?)
Byrne's
address was titled Record Labels: Who Needs Them? He answered the
question by saying, repeatedly, that he believes artists still do need labels
for their industry expertise, promotional know-how, and in some cases even
their contributions to the creative development of an artist, but that labels
and distributors must start structuring deals in a manner that is better for
the artist.
Byrne also
compared major labels' use of DRM to the days of prohibition, observing that
when enjoyable commodities are restricted, underground markets invariably
develop.
Finally, he
discussed his decision to distribute some of his music under a Creative Commons
license versus traditional copyright, saying that CC allows for better exchange
of information and ideas. "And as we've seen," he concluded,
"when information is restricted, society crumbles."
Byrne's next
album will be released on Nonesuch, a label he described as very "artist
centric."
-- Shannon
This year Byrne
and Brian Eno collaborated with Nonesuch Records & EMI to offer their seminal album My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. Originally
released in 1981, and recorded 25 years ago, the new version has been
completely remastered. In an innovative move, they are offering all
the multi-tracks of two songs on the album for anyone to sample and
remix.
In line with Creative Commons licenses
http://www.creativecommons.org, participants are free to edit, remix, sample and
mutilate the tracks and post their mixes or songs on the site for others to
hear & rate. To hear the remixes: http://www.bushofghosts.wmg.com/home.php
It’s quite encouraging to see well-known musicians jumping in and successfully using the same open principles as Magnatune.
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Posted by
Teresa Malango, Magnatune, 10/10/06
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