If you were managing a record label, how would you address the issue of piracy?

Question

With 15 Latin Grammy awards under his belt, Alejandro Sanz is Spain's most popular recording artist. Give him your thoughts on how to solve the music industry issue of piracy...

For more information on Alejandro Sanz and about music piracy visit the blog... http://au.blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-txN._0woRKfpYuTJw9rObY.WmgiUW5xm?p=1065

Answer 1

It is time to come up with new models for monetizing music.

I would take advantage of new technology and allow free downloads of the music with a relevant ad attached to it. I would allow listener's to specify the areas they are interested and which geographical location they are in so that a relevant (very very short) advertisment could be chosen to tag on the song.

A user can then be sent more music that matches their taste, so the user feels like they are getting a good offering. Give them unique content from their favourite artist if they download it from you. It is about connecting with their fans.

That way fans can listen to the music, but the artists and label can receive money from advertisements.

I have been a fan of yours for many years and have legitimately bought all your CDs.

Answer 2

This week we are featuring a question from well known Spanish pop star Alejandro Sanz. As a singer and musician Alejandro has had many international hits and won more than a dozen Latin Grammy awards and a Grammy award. He has collaborated with singer Shakira and Irish band The Corrs and has released ten albums since 1991.
Whether you are familiar with him or not, the issue Alejandro is asking a question about is one that should be of interest to every person who listens to music all over the world.
"If you were managing a record label how would you address the issue of piracy?"
Copying professionally produced music for commercial gain or transmitting it via the web without permission is against the law because it deprives the music industry as a whole of revenue. Not everyone who sings for a living is a millionaire – and there are plenty of behind the scenes producers who are putting in long hours and getting very little in return. These are the people who lose income as a result of music piracy as their jobs are first to go when profits drop.
If the whole world turned to piracy the music and movie industries would cease to exist! So if you have any thoughts on how to stop the problem post an answer to Alejandro Sanz’s question. And if you’re confused about piracy laws

people have been stealing music off the web since 1995 that has been going on for 11 years now i dont think people will ever be caught

Answer 3

Here's an idea for you. As the person posted earlier, why not bring back the single? And instead of thinking of it's negative impact on full length CD sales, instead use it as a marketing tool. Maybe there could be some sort of coupon or voucher enclosed with the single that would give the buyer a discount if and when they decided to purchase the full length version. This way the customer could purchase the song(s) that he already knows he likes, and with any luck be convinced that he's got to have the entire cd. Worst case scenario in this situation would be that he's not impressed enough to buy the full length...and you only sold a single. That's still better than giving it away on the net, right?
Also, I am a DJ. I work in the night club industry and really miss those singles. They gave me the oppurtunity to have the music the crowd wanted, without having all the filler songs. Not being able to purchase decent singles leaves me with two options as a DJ. I can either go broke spending every penny I make purchasing full length cd's that I will never use more than a couple tracks off of, or I can download exactly what I want (and only what I want) off of the internet absolutely free!! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what someone with my limited finances is going to do in this situation. I do however recognize the need for the artist to be compensated, and that's why I do continue to buy the full length cd's of those artists that I support. I guess I don't feel guilty about "pirating" anything else because in effect it's doing the artist just as much (if not more) good than it is me because they (the artist) are getting hours of airplay when i'm in the booth that they wouldn't have gotten had I had to purchase a $20 cd to gain access to one particular song.
I know that my situation regarding music is a little different than most people's, and i'm sorry if I was ranting. I just hope you get the jist of what i'm trying to say.

Thanks for your time!
[e-mail]

Answer 4

I have read the answers and I would have to agree with some people. I feel that the price of music is a bit expensive. OK, for example. I wanted to buy the Shakira cd with the single La Tortura with you featured but the cd was $17.99 here in Atlanta!! I said, ' why should I pay for the whole cd when all I really want are a few songs'. That's the problem that the consumer faces. You guys feel that we should pay crazy prices for cds that may only have a few good songs! Also, not everyone is pirating music. Keep in mind that there are websites like Sonic Stage Connect who charges people for the songs that they download. Also, these websites DO NOT allow P2P which cuts down on piracy. I can download songs onto my MP3 from this website , however I cannot transfer these songs to another computer that is not on my account. If you feel that people who are pirating your music are taking money out of your well filled pockets, you should promote more websites like S S Connect. They charge people for $.99 for each song on the cd or $10 for the cd. Both parties benefit because the consumer has the option of just buying the tracks that they want and the musician still gets paid. Win/Win. Thank you very much Mr. Sanz for giving us all the opportunity to have our voices heard. Good day.

Answer 5

The entire recording process would be under lockdown so nothing escapes the area. As for when the record actually hits the stores, I wouldn't raise a big fuss about piracy like Metallica did. If you're making good music then the fans will buy the record, see the shows, etc.

Make it all killer and no filler.

Not just a record with 15 songs and possibly one or two singles. Make the whole record 15 singles.

Answer 6

Piracy will probably always be around. I think you need to do something creative to get people to buy their record.
I have a few suggestions.
1. Provide a deluxe package for my generation (30 something). I always loved having the vinyl album cover to touch, read, smell, etc.
2. Hire someone to provide a bonus footage DVD on the making of the record, or something like that. Not saying that cannot be pirated, but quality is better popping in a DVD, rather than a compressed video.
3. Pink Floyd made me buy their Final Cut album. When it was released, it was advertised that you need to hear this on vinyl with headphones to get something you've never heard before. I wanted to hear that sound and it was great. Don't know how they did it, but it was special.
4. Accept the fact that little perps will still pirate music and there is not a whole lot that will be done about it.

Answer 7

Reducing the price is the only answer. I think with production methods decreasing costs, CDs should be about 5 dollars by now.

The CD format came out in the 80s and in 20 years the price has just not fallen at all. That's just rediculous.

Even online offerings for legitimate music downloads are too expensive. i-tunes is 99 cents a song, so if you buy 15 songs, you already at the price of the CD and the record company didn't even have to package it for you.

Illegal downloading is a revolution waged against the greedy record companies that do not care about their consumers. If they don't care about the consumer, I don't care about them.

Alejandro Sanz should put out his own music. Skip the record company kickbacks altogether. They are profiting on your art.

Answer 8

Being an artist myself piracy is a major concern. Fans have a legitimate gripe in regard to the price of music today, but how can you really place a price on creativity. Lowering the prices won't completely end piracy, some people are simply criminal minded. I believe if the cost to manufacture, produce, and distribute music were lower, then the cost would reflect that when the public shopped for new music.

Answer 9

If I were managing a record label, I would address the issue of piracy by selling the music at, or lower than, the price that the pirates are selling my music.

It would take them out of business, as people would naturally buy the original, quality CD/DVD than the rip off version of the same thing which costs exactly the same.

Pirates would get blown out of the water and more people would buy music.

Take that, Long John Silver! Argh!

Answer 10

Have him do more concerts live and include in the ticket sales a free cd of his music. The age of selling records has pretty well disappeared until you can control the number of sites like u tube that give the music out for nothing. The problem as I see it is two fold. Musicians want to be heard and when they are heard they have their music pirated so make it pay in other ways. Concerts, live performances, television performance, radio plays where they get a royalty from the radio station whenever their music is played. You cannot have your cake and eat it too these days. If your performer is so in demand then he or she should be paid whenever they perform live. Performing or using their songs in commercial situations is also a good way to add dollars to the paycheque. There is also big money in using his or her music in movies and on television shows. It may take you as his agent to get off of your butt and get out there working the system for all that it is worth. Not only are there more artists these days but this piracy thing has made the music industry the home of pirates like the early days on the high seas, watch out for Black Beard and Long John Silver!

Answer 11

One thing I hate is buying a whole CD for one song. Sometimes when I get home, I like the rest (or most of) the songs on the CD, but then there are times that I get it home and wonder if that one song is worth $15-$20. This is why I love my subscribtion to urge.com, a site owned by the MTV/VH1/CMT etc. people. Instead of having to pay for whole cd's, I pay a really small monthly fee to listen to anything on their site. If I like a track, I can buy it for less than a dollar, if I like the whole album it is usually $9.99. I have found a lot of music that I never would have found before- in fact, at the moment I am listening to an artist I have never heard before. Sometimes hearing something on urge.com leads me to go to Target and pick up the album. I have no reason to pirate songs or albums because I get to listen for almost nothing.

I think the music industry needs to follow through on these kinds of trends. Put more into these kinds of technologies. I don't think it would be so much more money than the cost of producing so many millions of CD's and the cost of transporting them is a lot more with the cost of diesel skyrocketting. I am not sure that you can stop pirating music altogether. As soon as you create a smarter trap, a smarter mouse will come along.