Music Matters…when it suits the record labels, anyway.

09Apr10

So, I’ve been meaning to post for a while since the unveiling of the ‘Music Matters’ campaign.  This is essentially an attempt to shift attitudes about the value of music in the download age.  The concept is that rather than preaching at and punishing illegal downloaders, the industry needs to re-educate people.  There is an entire generation who have grown up with the world’s music available free on tap so it seems almost obvious that they not only will make use of what is freely available to them but also feel no guilt about what this means for artists and the industry.

The website itself is made up of great, thought-provoking videos about the plights of various musicians to develop their craft, such as this one, focussing on Sigur Ros:

While I think the concept is a great one, like many others, I’m not entirely convinced that a few quirky YouTube videos and a trademark are enough to shift a generation back to valuing music.  This will be a long haul and one which needs as close to every musician behind it as it can get.  Less than 50% of the British population paid for music in 2008, a figure which truly disturbs me as there is no way I believe that less than 50% of British people listened to music in the same year.  While I’ve always been open-minded on the downloading issues, services such as Spotify make it practically impossible to argue for torrents. While I accept that there are some artists who aren’t available on the service, the more successful it becomes, the harder it is going to be for artists to justify ignoring it, particularly in terms of their marketing. With demand for the service on some days already being greater than the entire internet demand in all of Sweden put together, it’s surprising that anyone can fail to see the huge impact it is having on the industry.  I, for one, have never been more varied in my listening habits than I am now, with the help of Spotify.

But, there is still a problem with all of this.  Music DOES matter, of course but what people seem to be forgetting is that it matters more than in the digital realm. I know people are claiming that that the CD is dead but there are plenty of studies to suggest this simply is not the case.  Plenty of people continue to want to buy a product when they hand over their money and I’ll fully confess, I’m one of them. But  when I recieved two greatly anticipated new releases through the post from Amazon today, I was dismayed to find them in the most flimsy of cardboard sleeves, with no inlay booklet and limited artwork.  Call me a traditionalist but I feel totally unsatisfied with what I just spent my £7.99 on.  While it might be the slightly greener option, what we are supposed to be concerned about is value. And quite frankly, I struggle to see what is being done to ensure the product of recorded music retains any value in the commercial world when in its physical form.  The overall value of music and buying music goes beyond simply the experience of listening…why do you think vinyls keep going through such fierce revivals?  People want an experience of purchasing that you simply don’t get with a digital download, which is also a reason that the idea of digital inlays fell flat on its face.

If the record labels want us to truly believe that music matters then they need to avoid cutting costs in the places where value attitudes show the most.  Value is complex and it doesn’t always follow logical patterns.  It may well be cheaper for labels to limit their releases to digital formats only but we have to decide where priorities lie.  It’s all well and good launching a campaign that is based almost entirely on ethics and value but if you don’t follow that through in all of your business, the campaign is almost certain to fail.  Times might be hard but if even hardcore CD collectors like myself start being put off what the value is in purchasing the product, then what hope is there left?

http://www.whymusicmatters.org/

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Tags: cd, music industry, music matters, spotify, value