File Sharing Helped Canadian Music

Very good article at the Toronto Star; New paradigm opened market to new music, on how file sharing has helped music in Canada, not the music industry mind you, music, which is exactly what’s great about it. It’s also not just Canada, obviously, but everywhere. A new space where money isn’t everything lets people from everywhere have a go at finding an audience.

The Canadian Recording Industry Association says the industry’s in a slump. That may be true, but music as an art form is being enjoyed more fervently than it has since, well, probably ever…

I believe Napster re-engaged us with music, and reminded us how rewarding the discovery of music can be. It exposed us to sounds we wouldn’t have heard through traditional channels, and challenged us to expand our repertoire of listening material. For audiences, it provided an opportunity to sample music from genres that we previously had no access to…

“Historically speaking . . . music wasn’t always something that you could be charged money for,” he says. “Music was something free. (We didn’t start charging for music) until recorded music came into place . . . and we were able to say `Hey, if you listen to this music you have to pay me.’ That’s a relatively new concept in our civilization.’’

One issue I have with the article is in this next quote:

For new bands that don’t have the backing of major labels, the business model has changed. Instead of recording an album, sitting back, waiting for royalties to come in, whining about how the record label has mishandled your publicity, you hope that young MP3 fans will do your viral marketing for you. So that when you pull into Nowhere USA, there’s a venue packed with screaming fans.

You don’t hope, you engage fans directly, participate in the discussion and if you’re good and well liked and a real person to fans, they’ll be happy to spread the word.

Side note: The Star lets you bookmark direct to del.icio.us ?? Sweet.