Broken Records – Until the Earth Begins to Part
I go on and on about the merits of DIY and lo-fi and all that, and then these buggers go and produce what really is a gorgeous video, and basically offer the perfect counter-argument. I love quality animation, and this is really, really nice. Their album is out in a month and a bit, and I am really looking forward to it.
I think this video is amazing, fair play to all involved! I also like how you called that guy a cunt, ho ho!
I called who a cunt?
well me, but that was on Twitter
this is lovely
That tit on youtube
i like that the band don’t feature in the video. nothing worse.
Ah yes, Dav, I enjoyed that one.
not that they are ugly. i just hate bands being in videos. for the record.
The album arrived today. It’s EPIC. Excellent.
Well the first review’s in.
Anyone ever noticed that they sound a bit like the Arcade Fire?
Who? The American Del Amitri?
ouch!
DC, you cheeky wee scamp.
DC, I am not having Jamie kick my head in for comments you made – behave!
Actually, they sound a bit like Meur… no, hang on, I’m quite fond of my testicles.
This is indeed lovely. A bit of Tim Burton vibe.
And I think the inclusion of an owl in the video was a good decision.
this is lovely.
and i love twitter ….
I got my promo of the album yesterday, it is brilliant… : )
Shame they are playing in edinburgh the same night as Aberfeldy and Ex Lion Tamer. Ah well…
Did you know some fucker’s leaked the album already!?
Not worth worrying about. Someone’s always going to leak it. Take it as a sign of success – it took months for anyone to leak the Meursault album.
Mind you, I do always wonder about how it happens – is it someone honestly passing it on to a friend because they think they should hear it, or someone who just thinks that they have the right to give away whatever they want?
I think, & this is purely on the basis of seeing a HUGE amount of leaked albums recently, months & months before official release & most times before the promo copies get sent, there’s a problem within the record companies/chain of communication themselves.
Whether that’s the ’staff’ directly linked to the recording of the work, or some chancer swiping copies from computers or in-house listening promos, or just some ‘clever’ fucker who receives the adavnced promos for review & then surrepticiusly slips them onto YSI or Rapidshare & whispers the location to complicit bloggers, I can’t say. But I do think 4AD has a real issue – I’ve seen pretty much every new release on their upcoming schedule leaked in the last few months or so (Anni Rossi’s was leaked two months before I think they even settled on the artwork).
That’s not to say all the labels don’t have this problem. I just don’t know what a solution might be – stop all advance promos? Stop digital distribution until after release date? I dont know.
But, saying it’s not much to worry about, from the point of view of not actually being in a band who’s put a shitload of effort into the whole process of writing/recording etc. only to see their baby spat out free before they even get a chance to start making money off it, I do think is dodgy ground.
I don’t think it’s really a ’sign of success’ that someone leaks your record – there are just as many shit albums/totally obscure artists as there are good ones/names leaked; one obviously fuels the other, but i think it’s incorrect to level (what is essentially) theft against the vanity of recognition.
One problem, I think, is it’s possibly a matter of kudos within the strange world of the net pirate – the more albums people leak the more respect they get for their depth & speed of delivery. I’ve actually seen punters on some blogs I’m aware of actually ordering the blogger to post specific leaks – it’s most defintely a supply & demand environment, where the blogger gets a virual pat on the back within the ‘club’ for being the first to get what the ‘public’ wants.
If anything, that says to me that there’s either a pooled source for this stuff that we plebs no nothing about, or the bloggers themselves are ‘industry’.
This is an interesting read: http://is.gd/v9Jd I’m not a particular fan of the music, but I do feel for the guy.
Oh I don’t mean nothing to worry about from the label’s point of view – they should indeed be trying to find out where it’s come from and stamp it out, particularly if they have what appears to be a massive in-house problem.
What I meant was that from the band’s perspective I don’t think they should let it get to them. If people are interested enough to bother take it as a compliment and get on with the serious business of touring and playing every show and session and stuff like that.
The bigger the band get, the more they have to actually lose from this kind of thing, so Broken Records are now in a situation where it’s becoming serious, not least because the cost of policing it comes directly out of the budget of the label who pays them.
But you’re right about bloggers – a hell of a lot of them are industry insiders to one level or another. You just have to be an admin assistant at a recording studio to have access to tons of this stuff. Or even just mates with someone who is. And label staff share things amongst themselves all the time, and if you’re keen enough to work in the industry you’re often keen enough to write a blog. One of the Sony chaps we met last week has a blog of his own – albeit an embryonic and entirely legit one.
Yes, the whole album leak thing is very annoying, but we’d resigned ourselves to it because it’s almost inevitable these days. Unless you “do a Radiohead” and release the album digitally yourselves before the final mastered versions are barely dry then I don’t see a way of this not happening. Most bands (and certainly not bands making their debut album) are not in a position to release an album on the fly like that and be sure that enough people will be aware of it. Album recording and manufacture is a costly process, so it’s in the band’s interest to have the maximum chance of making the record a success which means co-ordinated press and reviews coming out around the time of the launch. Without it there’s still a chance it’ll do well as a slow-burner if it’s any good, but could also sink like a stone regardless of quality.
Unless there’s a way of changing this model drastically (and i’m not sure if there is) then there will always be leaks. Monthly music magazines require at least 6 weeks-2months turnaround before a review makes it to print so plenty of time for promo copies to go astray. Although I’m not in any way suggesting it’s the reviewers in the mainstream music press who are responsible for leaking the albums. Likewise, the physical manufacture of CD’s/vinyl + artwork + distribution seems to take about 2 months also. Hence, In Rainbows released digitally early October and physical release around Christmas. I’m sure it can be done quicker if required but there seems to be a nice orderly queue system happening so that’s the way it is, and again plenty time for things to go missing.
Although I don’t know about leaks for other 4AD artists, I’m pretty sure the problem isn’t at their end. There have been copies floating around the industry since the mastering was completed in mid-february, but we’ve been keeping an eye on it and the first leaks only appeared this week, and that’s since the press/media/blogs etc batch went out….
It could be argued that these leaks and illegal downloads are in some way beneficial with the supposed switch in revenue streams from album sales to live fees being the primary or larger source of income. Someone takes a punt on a band they don’t know much about, downloads an album illegally but then makes up for it by buying a ticket for a gig. Nevertheless, it’s still theft and very frustrating for bands to see their music stolen and given away for free.
With physical record sales plummeting (although not completely due to illegal downloading) it’s not only bands losing out, but also the labels, which makes it increasingly difficult for them to finance the recording of albums in the first place. For the majority of bands, live fees may pay the bills, but probably not sufficiently to get a lump sum together for recording.
Anyway, it’s wrong, but it looks like album leaking is here to stay for the forseeable future. Just keep sending cease and desist letters and hope for the best!
One thing that I think is true, however, is that in monetary terms it always costs the bands a hell of a lot less than people think. How many of those people were actually all that likely to go out and buy the thing on CD or download anyway? Probably a very small number. Not to say that the band or label isn’t losing money of course, but I doubt it’s anything like as bad as it actually looks.
If anything, I think it’s more intrusive than anything. Sort of like having your house burgled, even if they don’t take anything much of value.
You’re right though, at the moment it really is all but inevitable. The only cast iron way around it is to be on a small label and do it all yourselves, but unless you’re either very small or very big, that’s not much of an option.
Hi Jamie.
Hi DC!