Matt Bostick of Tiger Bear Wolf:

“I definitely think that downloading free music may have a negative effect on the music BUSINESS as far as major labels go. Im sure that all the promotion, recording expenses and hype that gets put into a giant release is hard to recoup if everyone is downloading the record for free. However, I think that all artists great and small make more cash from live shows. Therefore, shit like youtube and myspace and downloading sites actually do a great job at promoting music. Additionally, i think that Ive checked out quite a few bands on youtube before I saw them live, and their performance as recorded by someone’s cell cam or whatever made the difference between checking out the show and staying home.
As far as tiger bear wolf is concerned, we still owe thousands of dollars from our last release to hello sir records. However, I would still rather have some kid in Alaska or Sri lanka listen to our album then not, even if we dont see the cash. If they are really stoked on our music, then thats great and our mission is accomplished, whether or not they can help us pay for that album. Of course, the sooner we pay that album back, the sooner we can record another, or even do something crazy like make a couple bucks off of it. We all work forty hour jobs like every other indie artist. Maybe that wouldnt have been the case if everyone under the sun bought our album, but that is also an unlikely scenario.
i applaud radiohead for bypassing all the bullshit and releasing their album for free. I guarantee that all of their shows will be sold out. Maybe that will change things on a larger scale.
I know that internet promotion has helped us in the past. its free and an easy way for users to send our music to other users that might love our stuff. Besides, ever since the vinyl LP dissapeared as the music standard, we’ve been copying music. I remember copying my older brother’s punk tapes and swapping them around. It was awesome to hear so much music, and it was way more than i could afford to hear if i had bought it all. there is no doubt that many of those “free” albums have influenced my musical projects for the better.
I kind of wonder if this is going to change the whole industry for the better. for instance, if the only way for acts to make enough cash to do music full time is to play live, it will probably result in better live shows. I think that no recording can ever truly represent just how amazing some bands are live, and that will never change.
If your ambitions in music are to make cash, then right now may be rock and roll suicide. If your ambitions are to spread your music to as many people as possible, with the potential to play a sold out show in the middle of nowhere just because a bunch of kids you never met traded your music online, then there’s never been a better time.”

Tiger Bear Wolf – Wrong Lens Wrong Film.mp3 (via here)

Myspace

Tiger Bear Wolf website

Alex Tween of The Forms:

“- Do you think music being downloaded illegally helps or hurts the music business?
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if we’re talking about “business” i think it hurts. obviously the record companies are falling apart, and bands just don’t make much money off of their records anymore. on the other hand, it helps a band get their music out there and get exposure, which can help them make more money on tour. overall, i think artists make less, but they have more independence because their sales come more from their live show, which they tend to get a bigger cut of as opposed to label sales.
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What do you think of the way Radiohead recently released their album?
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it’s easy for radiohead to do that because they are multimillionaires. i think it was an interesting experiment, and one that kind of failed because 70% of people paid $0 for the album, which is really lame and I don’t think anyone expected that least of all radiohead.
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What are the benefits of using the internet for music distribution and promotion?
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the internet makes music accessible to anyone in the world. that was not possible in the past. you had to go to the store to get a tape or CD, or you had to go to the show. now everything in the world is at your fingertips in your own bedroom.”

 The Forms – Knowledge In Hand.mp3 (via here)

 Myspace

 The Forms website

Australian artist Ned Collette:

“Do you think music being downloaded illegally helps or hurts the music business?

I think it probably hurts the music business, but that doesn’t really bother me, because I have no doubt it helps music and musicians. To be able to be heard is the most important thing, as it facilitates being able to go and play to people, and no download can replicate that experience. I would like to think that people care about the quality of what they are downloading – ie. sound quality – but you know, you gotta let people do their thing.

What do you think of the way Radiohead recently released their album?

I think it was a very important (and ultimately successful) statement. It worked. They made a lot of money and they engendered progress. Sure they are already very well known, but it shows that there are independent ways forward for musicians if they are willing to put some faith in the audience. It’s about trust between artists and the public, and hopefully it will make people question the validity of major labels, who generally play a very insidious, profit driven game.

What are the benefits of using the internet for music distribution and promotion?

It’s cheap, it’s everywhere, people use it, it’s constantly updatable and if you are an artist who is not using it you are very very strange indeed. Luddites beware.”

Ned Collette – Boulder (video)

Ned Collette – The Country With A Smile.mp3 (via here)

Myspace

Ned Collette website

London producer Bullion:

“Do you think music being downloaded illegally helps or hurts the music business? – i think that some people who download music illegally wouldnt have bought it on cd anyway, so thats not really gonna effect things. the people who have stopped buying cds coz of illegal downloading, and have no intention of ever payin for music again – yeah thats gonna hurt the business, let alone the artist.

What do you think of the way Radiohead recently released their album? – hard to say. one side of me thinks its a gimmick and they knew theyd sell loadsa over-priced boxsets to fanboys to balance out the people downloading the (low-quality) mp3s cheaply. the other side thinks, fuckit why not.

What are the benefits of using the internet for music distribution and promotion? – its at ground level and no one’s superior (in theory).”

Bullion – I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.mp3 (via here)

Myspace

Matt Wilbur from Woodale:

“Do you think music being downloaded illegally helps or hurts the music business?

There is no doubt about it. The majority of the people who illegally download music will not end up buying that music, even if they like it. Record sales have dropped 25% since 2000. It means lower record sales for bands, which makes it hard for their record labels to keep them. It means less money for record companies which makes it hard for then to keep people employed and give new bands good deals. Also, it disillusions the person downloading music to think that music isn’t “Art” the way that a painting or sculpture is “Art”. People appreciate things that they pay for. Artists pour sweat, tears, and money into their albums. Every record sold goes toward paying off the expenses of recording an album. If record sales continue to drop, many artists will no longer be able to play music full time for a living and there will be a severe drop in quality in the music world.

What do you think of the way Radiohead recently released their album?

I think that it was an interesting social experiment, but I think it sends a bad message out to new bands. It’s easy for Radiohead to take a chance on their record because they are already filthy rich. They are saying “We don’t need major labels!” but they needed them 15 years ago when they put out their first record. By turning their backs on the companies that helped make them stars, they are forcing the labels to not be able to give decent record deals to new bands. They no longer have tons of money coming in from Radiohead, or Madonna (who also recently left their record label) so they can’t take chances on new bands. People don’t get to choose how much Milk and Eggs cost as the store, why do they get to choose how much music is worth? Music is something to be valued and they are sending a mixed message to small bands and fand about music’s worth.

What are the benefits of using the internet for music distribution and promotion?

I think internet distribution is amazing. You don’t have to pay to make copies of records, but people are still paying $1 per song. It’s a great and easy way to sell your music. Online promotion is also great. Myspace is a great way for your fans to stay in touch with EVERYTHING you are doing. It is as good a tool as you make it. The only downside is that it let’s some really terrible bands get their name out there who wouldn’t be able to get a record company in a million years. MySpace fills the internet with a lot of crappy music, but I’ll take the bad with the good if i have to.”

Myspace

Woodale website

Kevin Ray from Ballroom Dancing:

“Music downloading is a double edged sword. On one hand, you have the obvious decline in cd sales, but on the other, without online distribution some bands would never be heard. I’ve downloaded an artist only to buy the cd later.

This thing Radiohead is doing is a step in the right direction. Offering the music for free and selling a special featured set is cool, not that I will buy it though…”

Ryan from Royal Bangs:

“Do you think music being downloaded illegally helps or hurts the music business?

It totally helps, if you’re a tiny band like us. Exposure is so much more valuable at this point. I think people understand that smaller bands need their help, and will do what they can, but not everybody is going to have the cash to buy every single record that they want to find out about. Given the choice, I’d rather have someone download the music, get into it (or not), and at least know who we are, than opt not to buy the album and never hear us at all.

Personally (it’s Ryan, the singer), I look at it like this: before OiNK and a couple other torrent sites were shut down recently, I used to download tons and tons of albums. The ones that I liked, I would go out and buy, and the ones I didn’t, I’d delete (probably out of considerations related more to hard drive space than moral obligation, honestly). I wouldn’t know about such a huge chunk of the bands I’m into without these kinds of communities– bands whose records I’ve bought, or whose shows I’ve gone to see (or even helped book, I guess). Besides that, I’ve gotten my friends and family into them (and the reverse), which multiplies the effect. Ok, I downloaded their albums illegally, but had I not, I would never have gotten into them, let alone spent money on their records or their shows. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t drop $18 or whatever on every single album I read about on the internet or in a magazine. It would be wrong for me to speak for other bands, but although selling records and making money is awesome, I’d personally choose for more people to know about our music every time.

Granted, it’s their copyright, and it’s not my place to choose what to do with it. There’s not much getting around the fact that legally, it’s wrong, and that record companies have a right to protect their investment. But I can say that I’m personally disappointed about all the recent shutdowns and the implications it will have on the spread of new music. The effect is the most devastating for big record labels, who don’t stand to gain anything from the spread of a band’s music if they aren’t selling records, which is why they’re so terrified.

What do you think of the way Radiohead recently released their album?
What are the benefits of using the internet for music distribution and promotion?

I think it’s awesome. I downloaded it and was happy to pay for it. The internet has totally changed the landscape for bands– we even hooked up with our label through MySpace. Your music can go so much farther now on it’s own, so to speak. Last summer, we put out our album, right before I moved away for a year, sold a few copies at one show, and then put it up on our website for free. A year later, our first show back, the place is packed, and everyone knows all the words to the songs. It spread all over the place in ways we couldn’t possibly have done ourselves with just physical copies. It’s just closing the gap between people that make music and people that listen to it.

So it just seems like this is a huge period of flux for the industry in which things are getting shuffled around– I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but it’s already clear that it’s good news for smaller bands and labels, bad news for big ones.”

Royal Bangs – Lucas Newman Vacation Log.mp3 (via here)

Myspace

Royal Bangs website

Geologist (Brian Weitz) of Animal Collective in response to the Radiohead question on their message board:

“i think if you are radiohead and trent reznor and never have to worry about money ever again, it’s a great idea. but not a lot of bands can afford to take 5+ years without doing many shows or releasing records and then when they’re done give it away for free. though most people take it for free anyway. there’s a lot of talk about this changing the industry, and maybe it will, but you have to understand they did it from a position of extreme privilege. they also have so many people interested in their music that even if most people don’t pay, or it averages at a low price, they’ll make out ok. i read that the average price people are paying for the radiohead album is only $1. but they had a million people download it, so that works out well for them anyway. we certainly couldn’t afford to do it. we could try it, but we’d have to take up day jobs and wouldn’t be able to tour as often, and it’d take us longer to make our music. plus, we still believe in the physical product, and you may have noticed that when it came to the actual cd and lp, radiohead are going through XL. as far as free culture, i can’t say i support it. i’ve discussed this on the board many times, but the argument that music and art should not be limited to those who can afford it is kind of bullshit in my opinion, at least how its made by the people who believe they have the right to download. in an ideal world of course it should be free to everyone, but its not that world right now. think about how much money you spend on your computer and your internet connection, or how much your parents spend on it and then ask youself how many people in the world can afford the tools to access the so called free culture. i could walk 5 minutes out my front door and be in a neighborhood where there probably aren’t teenagers with their own computers or high speed internet, and the public school systems certainly can’t afford to do that one computer for every kid program stuff they do in wealthier school districts. in addition, we need money to live, and it costs money to make our music. we have to buy gear, pay practice space rent, have upfront money to rent a van and print tshirts before we go on tour, etc. but on the other hand, i don’t complain about downloading in the way i used to. while it is stealing, and depriving us from money we are owed, there is no denying most kids these days find music on the internet without paying for it, or at least the kind of kids who would get into ac. that helps us tour in places we could never go to in the past, helps us get people into the clubs to see us, and most importantly, gets our music out there to people’s ears that might not have heard about it if mass access to most music was still primarily controlled by commercial radio or mtv.”

Geologist later went on to respond to what other people had said in the thread I started on their message board asking the digital music question:

“i’m going to officially add this to the list of questions we’ve been asked and answered too many times so from here on out i’m not going to respond. just want to say that the above comments about it hurting the big guys and not the little guys is just flat out wrong. i fully admit that illegal downloading does help out smaller bands in terms of exposure, and this can pay off in terms of touring. the fact that we’ve been able to travel to places like estonia, or a band like black dice could go to peru and play on national tv is a direct positive result of downloading, and one i’m not gonna complain about. the most important thing is that people hear the music. but for all the talk of sticking it to the big guys, do you guys realize what you’re doing to the rest of the independent music community? think about the small indie mom and pop record stores. they don’t see the benefits of us touring do they? we have tons of friends that work in small indie stores and they will tell that sales have been going consistently down in a big way. why do you think a store like other music now has a digital shop? i’ve seen countless small stores have to close due to falling record sales. indie distributors are laying off people, reducing the amount of records they carry in their catalog, etc. it’s not just the big guys.

as for the smaller bands and record labels, just look at the above responses from the people in the community. do you really think you as a fan and downloader have more of an enlightened perspective than these people? even for a label like paw tracks, we’ve had to serious discuss whether or not we can afford to do large cd and vinyl pressings. todd, the owner of ptracks and carpark, now signs some bands to exclusively digital contracts because he knows if he spends the money on manufacturing physical products he’ll never break even and will lose money to the point that the label can no longer exist. the thing that irks me the most about people who download is the self justification you guys do. you make arguments to justify a behavior that is convenient for you when you know its illegal and hurting the bands you claim to support. maybe some of you go out and buy the records, but most people don’t. people in the music industry are constantly surprised by how low our record sales are compared to the exposure and press we get. i can’t even tell how many times on tour people have come up and personally apologized to me for downloading our music and never buying the records. some people try and give me $5 bills as a gesture to make up for it.

downloading is how its gonna go for the forseeable future. everyone is doing it, even musicians who are hurt by it. i don’t have a solution, and i understand why people do it. i still don’t, but if a friend has a cd i want to hear i’ll rip it onto my computer which is the same thing, so even i’m guilty of it. but i’m willing to admit i’m stealing. as long as someone is man enough to admit that, its cool with me. but i cannot have a conversation with people who have no direct connection to the music industry that try and come up with some kind of argument that justifies the behavior. it costs money to make music costs money for the record labels to manufacture and distribute it. there is no argument in the present system that justifies music being free. for that to be the case music and art would have to be subsidized by the government through tax dollars, but i’ve talked to some people who live in countries where that is the case and they feel like that has a negative effect on the quality of music because it takes away a bit of the work ethic required for bands to challenge themselves. i can’t speak to that personally and don’t really have an opinion.

but anyway, for the last time – there are positive and negative effects, but from what i’ve seen, financially it’s predominantly negative, even for the small guys. by the way i love that comment about how much people hate big labels for releasing something as harmless as popular music. brilliant! the beatles and michael jackson were popular music. so is a lot of hiphop which has pretty sweet and adventurous production. justin timberlake has some awesome jams. is it really that bad? the majority of people in this world like it. we’re the minority here. who are we to say we’re right? it goes back to moby’s argument that he made a few years back when he sad maybe if people spent more money on adventurous and non-mainstream music then the mainstream would be forced to pay attention to it, like what happened with nirvana. you guys ever think of how much money you spend on products that have way more of a negative impact on this world? is every piece of paper you come in contact with from recycled material? if not, i suggest you start stealing it from stores so the paper industry will realize there is no point in cutting down more trees.”

Animal Collective – Fireworks (video)

Animal Collective – Kids On Holiday.mp3 (via here)

Myspace

Animal Collective website

Wikipedia

Paw-Tracks (their record label)