Or is it just because people don’t like your new stuff?

Friday, May 20th, 2011

A quote from John Butler on the Music Industry Piracy Investigations site:

“We sell about 40 per cent less albums than we did three or four years ago because of [illegal] downloading” – John Butler

Of course, it’s got nothing to do with the quality of the stuff they’re putting out now. No. It’s all because of the computers. Because computers weren’t around three or four years ago.

I found this site because they’d just sent a takedown notice to Cameron Adams over his brilliant Definitive Daft Punk mashup, which has got to do more to promote sales of Daft Punk than any threat of legal action will ever accomplish.

  • Dave

    Regardless of whether their new stuff is more or less popular, the reality is that traditional album sales are declining fast across the board. The sad thing is that so many great artists seem to lack any insight into how they can generate a great income from other sources such as live shows and merchandising.

    The thing that really surprises me is when you see this sort of attitude from up and coming artists. I really can't understand why a mostly unknown artist wouldn't want as many people as possible to hear their music and potentially become a fan.

  • http://jordanbrock.com jordanbrock

    There's no denying that “Traditional” album sales have declined. I just take umbrage at the blanket “PIRACY DID IT!” argument.

    No matter what they try and do, there is no way that the industry is returning to the “glory days” of the late 1970's to early 1990's where they made astonishing amounts of money from CD sales.

  • Grant Bissett

    Dreadlocks and capitalism just don't mix.