I decided to collect into one post all the articles and all of the Robert’s posts about the (hot) subject of music for free, that seems to widen up all over the web.
The whole debate started with an interview when promoting 4:13 Dream, in which Robert talked about the Radiohead’s “pay what you want” experiment with their latest album In Rainbows.
I must say that I find cool and inspiring to read Robert’s perpectives on the subject (or more precisely, any subject). I just love the way Robert doesn’t hold back and spit it all out of his system.
Especially, I love the fact that he doesn’t spare any word and you may feel that he’s very emotional about the whole thing. After all, the subject is about music, right? And what is a person like Robert made of, other than music?
So, here are the posts, in chronological order, that Robert posted on the official website.
Get ready to scroll down…
FREE MUSIC FOR ALL
Posted by CURE:ROBERT on 2/28/2009
i posted this on the forum yesterday – please see http://www.thecure.com/forum/default.aspx?cid=621&tid=321181 for the initial responses… on reflection i thought i would go more public – widen the debate!
rs
(gulp… i found the caps lock off button? oh nooooo!)
SO
IT SEEMS A FEW PROFESSIONAL APOLOGISTS (YOU HAVE TO LOVE THEM!) OUT THERE DISAGREE WITH MY “EVERY ARTIST SHOULD VALUE THEIR ART” MUSING
AND THINK ITS OK FOR ART – MUSIC IN PARTICULAR – TO BE MADE AVAILABLE FREE FOR ALL…
NO I AM NOT CONFUSING ‘ARTISTIC VALUE’ WITH ‘COMMERCIAL VALUE’
MERELY QUESTIONING THE DUMB ACCEPTANCE OF THE ‘FREEART IS THE ‘NEW’ PARADIGM – THATS JUST THE WAY IT IS’ MANTRA
IN THE WAY OF OUR BRIGHT AND BRAVE NEW WIRED WORLD
THESE IDIOT CRITICS HAVE TRIED VERY HARD TO TURN MYGENERAL POINT – A POINT I MADE USING RADIOHEAD’S ‘IN RAINBOWS: PAY WHAT YOUWANT’ MARKETING RUSE AS IT IS THE MOST WIDELY KNOWN EXAMPLE – INTO A MOCK SHOCKHORROR “HOW DARE ANYONE QUESTION THE FAMOUSLY INDEPENDENT ANDANTI-CAPITALIST RADIOHEAD, THEY SELL MORE ‘PRODUCT’ THAN THE CURE SO THEIR STRATEGY OBVIOUSLY ‘WORKED’ (HUH?!!)… AND ANYWAY, ROBERT SMITH IS WAY TOO OLD TO COMMENT ON CONTEMPORARY CULTURE” MOMENT…
MY POINT IS NEITHER PARTICULARLY NEW NOR ORIGINAL
NOR EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT RADIOHEADS ‘IN RAINBOWS’
BUT IT IS I FEEL STILL COMPELLING
ANY FAMOUS ARTIST WITH A HUGE AND DEVOTED FAN BASE (OFTEN ARRIVED AT WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A WEALTHY AND POWERFUL ‘PATRON’ OR TWO?) CAN AFFORD TO DO WHAT HE, SHE OR IT WANTS…
INCLUDING GIVING THEIR ART AWAY AS SOME KIND OF ‘LOSSLEADER’ TO HELP ‘BUILD THE BRAND’
ALL WELL AND GOOD (WELL… NOT REALLY! ‘LOSS LEADER’?’ BUILD THE BRAND’? AAGH! BUT THIS IS THE LINGUA FRANCA… )
HOWEVER
IF THIS ‘ART FOR FREE’ IDEA BECOMES THE CULTURAL NORM
THEN HOW DO ARTISTS EARN THEIR LIVING?
HEY
HANG ON
WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT A WEALTHY AND POWERFUL ‘PATRON’
LIKE… A BIG RECORD LABEL?
EXCELLENT!
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SIGN UP AND AGREE TO ITS TERMSAND CONDITIONS
AND IT WILL MARKET YOU DECISIVELY
AND IF YOU PLAY IT RIGHT ITS EVEN WEALTHIER AND MOREPOWERFUL PARENT COMPANY WILL AIR YOUR WORDS AND PICTURES AND VIDEOS AND MUSICAND ADS ON ITS MANY AND VARIOUS WEB/TV/RADIO CHANNELS
AND CHARGE ADVERTISERS HUGE AMOUNTS TO ADVERTISE TOTHE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CONSUMING ALL YOUR FREE ART…
AND YOU THE ARTIST WILL OF COURSE GET A ‘FAIR’ REWARDFOR YOUR EFFORTS… ?
BAH
SOME ‘NEW’ PARADIGM!
SO
I STAND BY MY POINT:
AN ARTIST HAS TO VALUE THE ART THEY CREATE
OTHERWISE I DONT BELIEVE THEY CAN BELIEVE IT TO BE ART
I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO PAY AN ARTIST FOR HIS OR HER OR ITS ART
AS IT OBVIOUSLY HELPS ENABLE THAT ARTIST TO KEEPCREATING
AND QUITE HONESTLY
AS ANYONE THAT DISAGREES WITH THIS POINT
IS UNLIKELY TO BE AN ARTIST
I DONT REALLY CARE TOO MUCH WHAT THEY THINK… !!!
I JUST WROTE ALL THIS BECAUSE I GOT PARTICULARLY FEDUP TONIGHT WITH THE SQUEALING HIGH DRAMA OF THE 101 STORIES A DAY AND NONE OFTHEM PARTICULARLY TRUE BRIGHT AND BRAVE NEW WIRED WORLD MEDIA THAT WHINES ONAND ON WITHOUT RESPITE OR REFUTATION…
CRETINS!
OR MAYBE ITS JUST MY POST BIG GIG HANGOVER TALKING?!!
ONWARDS…
RSX
PS
I WONDER HOW MANY OF THE PROFESSIONAL APOLOGISTS OUTTHERE WRITE THEIR SHIT FOR FREE?
HA!
That was quiet a long post, wasn’t it? Well, the next one is not shorter.
Posted by CURE:ROBERT on 4/7/2009
MORE FREE MUSIC
I CANT BELIEVE HOW HARD IT IS FOR SOME PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND MY POSITION IN THIS DEBATE ABOUT ‘FREE’ RECORDED MUSIC…
OF COURSE I APPRECIATE THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMERCIAL VALUE AND ARTISTIC VALUE
BUT THAT DOESNT CHANGE MY ARGUMENT
AS IT ISNT THE POINT(AND FOR FUCKS SAKE…
THIS DEBATE ISNT ABOUT ME/THE CURE!
IMAGINE IF YOU CAN SOMEONE JUST STARTING OUT…I AM NOT DEFENDING ‘OLD BUSINESS MODELS’
I HAVE ARGUED AGAINST ‘BIG MUSIC BUSINESS’ AND THEIR MODELS FOR AS LONG AS I HAVE BEEN MAKING MUSIC…
BUT PRE BROADBAND WEB (AND IT IS SOMETIMES EASY TO FORGET THAT IT IS STILL PRE BROADBAND WEB IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD!), PLACING MYSELF/THE CURE WITH AN INDEPENDENT LABEL DISTRIBUTED THROUGH A MAJOR LABEL HAS BEEN, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE A COMPROMISE OF DEGREE, THE BEST POSITION FOR US TO BE IN – ONE I HAVE GENERALLY BEEN ABLE TO USE TO MY/OUR ADVANTAGE – AND AS A CONSEQUENCE OF ‘PRECEDENCE’ – ONE THAT HAS VERY OFTEN BENEFITTED ARTISTS THAT HAVE FOLLOWED ON BEHIND US…
OF COURSE MY/OUR INDIE/MAJOR POSITION CAN ALWAYS EVOLVE AND CHANGE…
BUT ONCE AGAIN
THIS DOESNT CHANGE MY ARGUMENT EITHER
AS IT STILL ISNT THE POINT… )WHAT I AM ESSENTIALLY SAYING IS THIS:
WHATEVER ‘BRIGHT NEW WORLD’ I AM EXPECTED TO ENJOY
ONE IN WHICH SONGWRITERS/MUSICIANS ARE OBLIGED TO MAKE THEIR MUSIC AVAILABLE FOR FREE
IS ONE THAT IS TOTALLY UNFAIR
AND THAT WELL ESTABLISHED AND SUCCESSFUL (IE WELL OFF!) ARTISTS
WHO DO THIS BECAUSE THEY CAN AFFORD TO DO IT
ARE HELPING TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN A CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF EXPECTATION:THE EXPECTATION THAT ALL MUSIC SHOULD BE ‘FREE’
IT IS A DISMAL POSITION
AND I WILL (ONCE AGAIN?) TRY TO EXPLAIN WHY…ASSUMING THIS
(http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285)
“The results of the 2008 ASHE show that median weekly pay for full-time employees in the UK grew by 4.6 per cent in the year to April 2008 to reach £479″
TO BE STILL REASONABLY ACCURATE IN THE UK…THEN IMAGINE YOU ARE A HUGELY PROLIFIC AND HUGELY TALENTED SONG WRITER – WRITING 25 SONGS IN THE COURSE OF A YEAR (TWO A MONTH AND ONE ON CHRISTMAS DAY?), SONGS YOU FEEL ARE ‘GOOD’ ENOUGH FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO HEAR… (AND REALLY – WHERE IS THIS PERSON?!!)
IN ORDER TO EARN £25,000 P/A (ROUGHLY THE MEDIAN UK PAY – A PRETTY REASONABLE AMBITION I THINK?), YOU WOULD NEED TO…
AND HERE THE PERMUTATIONS ARE VIRTUALLY ENDLESS:
FROM PRICING A SONG AT £1,000 AND HOPING TO SELL ONE OF EACH…
TO PRICING A SONG AT 1 PENNY AND HOPING TO SELL 2,500,000?!!…BOTH PRETTY UNREALISTIC?!!
SO MAYBE YOU START BY PRICING A SONG AT £1, AND SEE IF YOUR (POTENTIAL)
AUDIENCE AGREES WITH YOUR VALUATION…
IF THEY DO, THEN YOU HAVE TO SET ABOUT GETTING 25,000 OF THEM IN PLACE
IF THEY DON’T, THEN…
WELL
AS I SAID
THE PERMUTATIONS ARE VIRTUALLY ENDLESS
AND THIS IS NEITHER THE TIME NOR PLACE FOR REAL NUMBER CRUNCHING SPECIFICS…BUT PRICING A SONG AT NOTHING?
HOW DOES THAT WORK?OH I GET IT…
SONGWRITING/MUSICIANSHIP CANT PAY FOR ITSELF
THATS THE ‘OLD BUSINESS MODEL’!NO NO NO…
SONGWRITING/MUSICIANSHIP HAS TO BE SUBSIDIZED BY OTHER MEANS…
LIKE MERCHANDISING
(SHAME I LOOK AWFUL)
OR LIVE REVENUE
(SHAME I CANT PERFORM)
OR PATRONAGE…PATRONAGE?
SHIT!
I HAD BETTER SIGN A DEAL WITH A MORE POWERFUL ‘SOMEONE’…
WHO CAN USE MY SONGS TO MAKE MONEY IN SOME OTHER WAY<
LIKE ADVERTISING OTHER PEOPLES PRODUCTS?BUT WHY MUST I BELIEVE EARNING (INEVITABLY PERCENTAGE/SMALLER) AMOUNTS BY ALLOWING MY SONGS TO BE USED TO ADVERTISE OTHER PEOPLES PRODUCTS AN ACCEPTABLE (‘NEW/MODERN’?) ALTERNATIVE TO EARNING FROM THE DIRECT SALE OF MY SONGS BASED SOLELY ON THEIR ARTISTIC MERIT?
I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS – IT IS AN IDIOT CONCEIT
OR AM I ONCE AGAIN TO BE TOLD I AM CLINGING TO AN ‘OLD BUSINESS MODEL’?(AND THAT ENOUGH COOL NEW ARTISTS HAVE ADVERTISED ENOUGH SHIT FOR IT TO BE OK NOW…
WHO IS REALLY FOOLING WHO HERE DO YOU THINK?!!)
SO…
DESPITE THE FACT THAT I KNOW MY SONGS ARE ‘GOOD’
AND THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE HAPPY TO PAY FOR THEM IF ONLY IT WAS CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE
(LIKE IN ‘THE BAD OLD DAYS’ WHEN RECORDED MUSIC HAD ACTUAL VALUE?!!)
IT SEEMS I HAD BETTER FIND A ‘REAL’ JOB
OTHERWISE I WONT BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO LIVE…
SERIOUSLY
HOW CAN THERE BE ANY OTHER CONCLUSION TO THE MISERABLE ARGUMENT THAT RECORDED MUSIC SHOULD BE ‘FREE’ FOR ALL?JUST BECAUSE ITS NEW
DOESNT MEAN ITS BETTER
ONWARDS…
RSX
And the next, last one (for the moment) in the series…
AN OPEN WORD TO MARK BEAUMONT
Posted by CURE:ROBERT on 4/30/2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/apr/30/musicians-making-most-noise
“Over the past few months I’ve gritted my teeth as Robert Smith complained about the detrimental effects of downloading and the economic downturn on his income”
REALLY?
COULD YOU SHOW ME ONE SINGLE INSTANCE WHEN I “COMPLAINED ABOUT THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN ON MY INCOME”?
NO?
I THOUGHT NOT…
BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER COMPLAINED ABOUT ANYTHING OF THE FUCKING SORT!
IT IS A NONSENSE
WHAT A SURPRISE!IF YOU WOULD BOTHER READING WHAT I ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT FREE MUSIC
http://www.thecure.com/blog/default.aspx?nid=21082THEN MAYBE YOU WOULDNT WRITE THIS KIND OF SHIT ABOUT ME…
BUT I WONT HOLD MY BREATH
OR GRIT MY TEETH WAITINGONWARDS
AS EVER
ROBERT SMITH
Related articles on the web:
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