Brinkman wrote:If I inherit my grandfather's unplayable copy of a Skip James 78, does that mean I deserve a mp3 of all those tracks from a remastered digital transfer for free? Not really. Honestly though, it's music I have no problem paying for.

I'd imagine that inheriting doesn't count. Each person is meant to pay for it. If you pay for the original and a remastered edition is released, well the fact that the label released the album again would indicate there is a significant difference in their eyes, so you should pay for the new version.

Shipping Vinyl with a CD would be an arguable move because of CD production costs (however small they are), so the question would fall on Vinyl with mp3 tickets. The only good argument I can think of is that the buyer has to make a choice between quality and convenience (Vinyl and digital respectfully) and whether that argument is used comes down to the people selling the music. I guess it's a question of whether they want to force the buyer to pay for both. I'd view this as being a greedy move.

Brinkman wrote:What I wonder about is is listening to mp3s of albums I no longer own. Is that unethical?

If you lost/broke your copy then it seems decent to listen to the mp3s. If you sell the album on (which is an unethical act in itself, right?), you forfit the right to listen to those mp3s.

I couldn't agree more with this whole idea, and in fact, the label my band is one has been sold on this idea, no thanks to yours truly. In fact, I will be building this very foundation into their website before the end of the year and all future releases will be primarily Vinyl and MP3 based.

CD is still necessary, since most PR companies and radio stations don't have record players nor do they have a viable way to receive MP3's. This of course will change and when the PR and Radio business gets up to speed as an industry, CD production will fall sharply, then hopefully die altogether.

And for the record, my label, Highwheel Records, will be giving away free high-quality mp3's (256mbps VBR) as singles AND you will be able to download the entire album if you buy it on vinyl.

Personally, I've ripped all my CD's, shelved them and have been rampantly buying shit on vinyl. I don't believe that Vinyl sales will increase sharply, since MP3's are far more accessible, but I bet we'll see somewhat of an increase in vinyl sales if we are right about all of this. It makes perfect sense, especially to audiophiles.

Just wait until broadband becomes standard.

fantastic idea

although i wonder if people who don't have record players would be pissed that they're paying $8 at itunes for some mp3s, while other dudes are paying $12 and getting the same mp3s + a sweet vinyl record

but yes, vinyl & mp3s are the way to go. one is pretty, the other one is convenient, and you don't have crappy plastic CDs litering your house

caix wrote:
CD is still necessary, since most PR companies and radio stations don't have record players nor do they have a viable way to receive MP3's. This of course will change and when the PR and Radio business gets up to speed as an industry, CD production will fall sharply, then hopefully die altogether.

i hope CD production dies out as well. however regarding PR/radio - perhaps in the meantime short-run CDR production can facilitate this purpose, keeping things really cheap for everyone until radio/pr starts getting their shit together with receiving mp3s.

davesec wrote:

caix wrote:
CD is still necessary, since most PR companies and radio stations don't have record players nor do they have a viable way to receive MP3's. This of course will change and when the PR and Radio business gets up to speed as an industry, CD production will fall sharply, then hopefully die altogether.

i hope CD production dies out as well. however regarding PR/radio - perhaps in the meantime short-run CDR production can facilitate this purpose, keeping things really cheap for everyone until radio/pr starts getting their shit together with receiving mp3s.

Our business plan, as flimsy as it may seem right now, is to print twice as many CD's as we need for promo. The idea there is to sell off the other half of CD's and at least break even on the cost. So for now, we simply cannot write off the CD altogether. On average, we have to send out about 500 CDs to press and radio. Those get pretty expensive for a short run, most of you would know.

I predict, the next 3 years we will see an improvement within the infrastructure of the press/radio industry. The technology is already there, it just needs to become a standard way of sending/receiving press kits.

There's been a lag in CD sales, but a boom in MP3s. This market shift should help move this along.

If anyone's interested, sign up for SxSW's Daily Discord. They'll send you a daily email with links to the music industry. Lots of news wires about this shit. http://2007.sxsw.com/music/daily_chord/

My band just released a split 12 inch LP. We also included the CD inside. I am not so sure about the MP3 thing. I would rather do the encoding to MP3 myself.

busbus wrote:My band just released a split 12 inch LP. We also included the CD inside. I am not so sure about the MP3 thing. I would rather do the encoding to MP3 myself.

I would tend to agree with this statement, however, as a label I would try to maintain excellence by providing high-quality mp3's ripped from good rippers. I wouldn't trust anything at 128, only because my comfort zone rests at higher bit rates.

The label I work for already does this wonderful vinyl+mp3 business, and we're currently thinking of eliminating the coupon for people who buy directly from us. The idea would be this:

You order, we confirm order, we email you a code to download the mp3s while you wait for the vinyl to arrive in the mail.

The advantages, we think, would be in that sense of instant gratification, the lack of which still keeps me from buying alot of things online. Plus, we could offer mp3s for older albums that weren't pressed with the coupon inside the sleeve.

What do you guys think? Worth the hassle?

Its a great idea, but was already done by a band call MQN, who also owns the biggest Brazilian independent label, Monstro Records. A label who, for a long time, invest in 7” singles, just like the old Sub Pop. In November of 2006, they put in their site the “Fuck the CD Manifesto”, where they explain why they are quitting the CD format and will be working with 2 types of release: free MP3s and vinyl singles.

Fuck the CD Manifesto.

For more than 50 years, Rock n Roll says fuck you to everything that sucks. Now its time to say fuck you to compact discs. Now MQN is quiting CDs and everything they represents. Now its time to celebrate the most Rock n Roll formats: MP3 and vinyl.

All the MQN’s songs, old or new, can be downloaded in our site for free. Do whatever you want, because now the music is truly independent.

For the fans and record collectors, will be released 7” singles with graphic material created especially for each release. With this, we hope that more people will become aware of our music and enjoy the lost art of album cover.

FUCK CD”

If somebody is interest, here is the link to Monstro Records’s vinyl department:
http://www.monstrodiscos.com.br/loja/index.php?cPath=7&osCsid=7d7108b88803d542b82af5357aae373d