Do you have a question for musicthing?

Submit your question here:

1. What is musicthing?
2. How will the artists signed to musicthing make any money if their music doesn’t cost anything?
3. What do you mean by “recoup?”
4. If this is true, why has “getting signed” to a major label always been considered the holy grail for recording artists?
5. If the major record labels are making these kinds of changes, how is musicthing’s plan different from theirs?
6. But I thought it was wrong to share files. Isn’t that stealing from artists like the major record labels say?
7. But shouldn’t artists have the right to earn money from their music?
8. What do you mean by “unimaginative?”
9. Are you going to have major label music on your site?
10. How are you funded?

1. What is musicthing?

musicthing is a new kind of music company. We intend to develop a roster of artists much the same way a traditional record company does, but plan to make the music created by those artists available for free online.
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2. How will the artists signed to musicthing make any money if their music doesn’t cost anything?

This question is based on the false premise that artists make money from music that is sold on their behalf by record companies. The truth is that the vast majority of albums released by major record labels never “recoup” and as a result most artists never earn money from record sales anyway.
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3. What do you mean by “recoup?”

In a traditional record deal, an artist receives an advance against royalties. In most cases a large portion of this advance is actually the recording budget. Until the record company makes the advance amount back, plus various other expenses that go into putting out the record, the artist doesn’t get any additional money. Since most major label releases don’t recoup, most major label recording artists don’t earn money from the sale of their music.
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4. If this is true, why has “getting signed” to a major label always been considered the holy grail for recording artists?

There are a few reasons for this.

One is that the recording artists you hear the most about are the ones in the top 10% (or less!), the superstars that sell millions of albums. Even a $1 per album royalty starts to add up when sales are in the millions. This kind of financial success casts a glow over the entire industry even though it represents a very small part of the entire picture.

A second reason is that, to be fair, the major labels had a lot to offer in the past. For the better part of the entire 20th Century, it was very expensive to record, distribute and market music. Only large companies were able to afford studio time, manufacture and ship millions of albums all around the world and spend the kind of marketing money necessary to get the word out. Over time, however, the industry transformed into an effective monopoly, which allowed it to insist on contracts that artists had to accept because they were better than nothing (but just barely). Which leads to a third reason.

The third reason is that a major label provides a visible platform from which an artist can launch other ventures that earn money: namely touring, merchandising and publishing. Without the backing of a major label it is difficult if not impossible to earn very much money from any of these things. So this has been the unspoken rationale underlying the existing system the major labels have created: we make the money selling the music, you make the money playing concerts, selling t-shirts and from songwriting royalties.

The problem with this model now, of course, is that it’s very difficult to make any money selling music when the manufacturing and distribution component of the business can be carried out by anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Recording the music itself has also become far less expensive. So, of the contributions that the major labels traditionally made to the industry, only marketing is left. And now they are faced with the reality of spending millions of dollars marketing something that can be obtained for free on a massive scale. This is why the major labels are starting to insist on contracts that provide them a piece of the revenue streams they haven’t previously participated in: touring, merchandise and publishing.
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5. If the major record labels are making these kinds of changes, how is musicthing’s plan different from theirs?

Our music is going to be free: free to download, free to share with your friends, free to share on P2P networks. We promise not to sue our customers.
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6. But I thought it was wrong to share files. Isn’t that stealing from artists like the major record labels say?

Since most artists (some estimates put the number as high as 90%) signed to major labels don’t recoup and therefore don’t earn sales royalties it’s hard to see how the characterization of file sharing as “stealing from artists” is all that accurate. It would probably be more fair to say that file sharing is stealing from record labels. But they don’t frame the debate this way since it’s hard to be sympathetic with an industry that claims a 90% failure rate on sales of $130 billion in the last ten years alone. When you sell a piece of plastic that costs a few dollars to make for $20 who is really doing the stealing?
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7. But shouldn’t artists have the right to earn money from their music?

Of course they should. And they will, if indirectly, as they have been for years. Since most artists signed to major labels don’t earn money from the sale of their music, if music were free none of those artists would notice any difference. By taking the selling of music out of the equation we would simply be eliminating an industry that is by any reasonable standard of judgment corrupt, greedy and unimaginative.
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8. What do you mean by “unimaginative?”

Since the emergence of file sharing in the late 90’s the major record labels have been unable to come up with any innovative ideas on how to remain relevant in the Age of the Internet. Instead, what they seem to be looking for are ways to perpetuate the status quo, such as digital rights management copy protection software and lawsuits against technology companies and individual citizens. Without imagination, all they can do is try to stop something. At musicthing we want to start something.
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9. Are you going to have major label music on your site?

No. We respect the fact that the recordings created by the major record labels belong to them and represent a considerable investment. We believe the major labels have the right and responsibility to take care of their business the way they see fit. If they think the best way to do that is to sue their customers so be it. We don't condone the violation of copyright.

What we want to do with musicthing is start a new company with a new vision and a new business model and new artists. Once we’ve had some success we believe that established artists will see what we’re trying to do and join us.
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10. How are you funded?

We are in the early stages of seeking venture capital. As part of that process we have created this website and launched the new Origami Llamas album Dud as a proof of concept. We also accept $1 donations from people who want to be a part of what we do. You can find out more about contributing here.
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