Since artists only get ~$1.00 per $15.00cd purchase, I would assume that since the “monthly fee” is less than the $15.00 fee of a new CD that the artist probably makes about ninety cents per month…

You can buy a used cd for less than a dollar to $5.00 and not only is the sound quality is far superior to mp3 sound quality, but with 5-20 songs per cd, you can own better copies than you will ever “rip” or “download” for between 5 cents and one dollar per track…far cheaper than itunes or this new sandisk “keep paying forever” business model…
And, if your Ipod or PC hard drive ever dies, you won’t need to re-purchase them!

Here is a good link from an artist telling you to steal her music!
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html

I’ll ask again with CAPS since I seem to be getting ignored…

HOW MUCH DOES THE ARTIST GET PER PLAY / DOWNLOAD USING YOUR $12 / MONTH MODEL???

Do you know?

I don’t post too often to comments, it just depends on what was said and whether it looks like something I should comment on. A lot of time I write something and then look at it and say, “nah.. not worth it to hit the submit button.” and I just close the window.

People trying to ridicule someone continualy, call them names and such even after they have apologized for whatever indescretion just gets to be bothersome for me to read. I’m no saint, and I’ve got my own opinions on stuff, but life is too short to deal with the crud.

So Ian, if you are still reading this, stick it out if you wish to. You’ve done your apology once, even done it twice and a third. Forget about apologizing any more. Ignore the crud. If you are not one of the paid shills that are only looking for hits, then you choose if you want to deal with however many idiots there are on the infinite World Wasted Web.

I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. We can all be idiots when we misunderstand someone. Communication through a keyboard is tenuous at the best of times, Being in a hurry, having a zillion things on your mind or personal issues on the boil can lead to brain damaging thoughs where you say ” what was I thinking?” after you read your writings a day or several later.

Meh. Too much pontificating already. I had only wanted to raise another issue on where the money goes that I’ve seen seldom mentioned anywhere. I don’t yet own an iPod or any mp3 player. If/when I get one, it will likely be at a cross-over point where new units are introduced and I get an older one at a better price. Better way to find out IMHO. And I do have a whack of CD’s I can put on whatever player I get. Might even get me back to listening to music, cause I don’t listen to a lot of it now.

And BTW Ian. Thanks for the info. Any further info as to amounts? There isn’t a lot to go around for the artists. And does the artist get the full amount or is it their 10 percent with the rest going to the label/media co/rep/whomever?

Sansa Connect: 3.58 x 2.05 x 0.63 in @ 2.72 oz
4GB – $249

iPod nano: 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.26 in @ 1.41 oz
4GB – $199, 8GB – $249

For comparison, here are the specs for the HDD iPods:

iPod 30GB: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 @4.8 oz
iPod 80GB: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55 @ 5.5 oz

Jeez, the Sansa Connect is 14% thicker than the 80GB iPod!!! The Yahoo Unlimited service had better be pretty amazing because the Sansa Connect looks gimmicky and clunky to me.

I know it must depend on the label and licence deal, but please for the info;

If we are an indie band and get listened to, how much are we talking about?

Can you place an approx. $ amount on the payback to the artist?

All: with both the Perl comment and the weak Ice Cube reference, tongue was firmly in cheek. Sorry for the humor not coming through.

I think if you read what I originally wrote, and my numerous apologies and explanations, you’ll see I never intended to call anyone a thief for ripping CDs. Again, I’m sorry for the insinuation. I just bought a great CD from Not Lame (Infinite Monopoly) and ripped it to my Mac using iTunes and didn’t feel at all like a thief.

The whole point of the blog and checking in on a conversation like this is to be a human being, not a faceless corporation using PR speak. I apologize to anyone I might have offended by having an opinion, trying to have a sense of humor, and speaking my mind. I do find it very “usenet circa 1991″ to call me an idiot over and over when I’m clearly right here reading every word, but I’ll get over it.

For what it’s worth, I’m an Apple fan, was a NeXT fan/owner/programmer in the early 90s, and am typing on a Mac right now. Thought maybe I’d find some like-minded or at least understanding folks at The Apple Blog. Clearly I’m unwelcome. Blog deleted from NewsFire. Sorry to have caused a stir. Ta.

ian

In my circle of musician friends many are crying the blues for the industry that has made a mockery out of the value of music. The $0.99 cent mentality soon to be $12 for unlimited downloads will only exacerbate the financial ruin of musicians trying to eek out a living.

The labels only wish to foster bands that are one hit wonders and condone throw away hits that have no ‘album’ support. With this model, the music is a toss away and merchandise becomes the money maker. We trade our albums in so we can wear t-shirts.

When you consider that the average band get 10% to 12% for the music that is licensed by the record labels, the prospect of making a decent profit to support your career is only going to suffer, unless you adopt a better model such as creative commons.

I’d sure like to know how musicians are going to make money on the continual devaluation of their music. Eventually people will start to tire of the trite crap that is sold in today’s pop world. Look at who’s #1 – Justin Timberlake? This music is total crap. Rubbish. The Beatles and EMI have it right. Screw the downloads and start buying the bloody album for which it was intended to be sold as.

Better start going to places like cdman.com and start making CDs so you can at least sell off the stage and make a decent profit.

B.

@ian: I, as well as many people I know, don’t consider myself an idiot, but I also don’t consider myself someone who knows Perl — Another time you should have watched your tongue fingers. Oh, and I believe that you (You as in mankind, or more specifically members of the music industry, not you as in you as in Ian C. Rogers) can strike a balance between consumer and record label. I also think that Jobs is doing just fine as far as that goes — I don’t expect him to be a god though, he is just a human and humans tend to have imperfections.

@all: All in all I think this device actually looks promising… Granted, I’m not big on subscription services, but I could see having a low-end subscription for a device like this. I couldn’t have this as my sole device though, I’m too in love with my current iPod/iTunes setup.