YouTube

[miranda3]

I have read some articles lately where some singers complained that YouTube was cutting into songwriters' profits. I personally think it is a great way to preview music BEFORE PURCHASING. What do you think? 

DISCUSS

[Deleted]

How songwriter's make money

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Link:

www.tunecore.com/blog/2013/12/13-ways-to-make-money-from-your-songs.html

#9. Interactive “Streaming” Public Performance Royalties

When someone streams your song on an interactive streaming service like YouTube, Spotify or Rdio, it also counts as a “Public Performance,” which means you’re owed additional songwriter royalties. There’s no set government rate in or outside the U.S.—it’s determined individually by the PRO and the other entity, once again usually based on a % of the entity’s gross revenue. A few formulas and calculations from the PRO later, and you’ve got a royalty.

[Deleted]

Link:

www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/10/music-streaming-songwriters-youtube-pandora

This is from 2012 and The Guardian (which I'm pretty sure is a British paper)

[Deleted]

Link:

www.thewrap.com/sony/atv-ceo-slams-cheap-songwriting-royalties-paid-by-pandora-spotify-totally-unacceptable/

This article covers Spotify and Pandora more but at least it's US music.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Spotify or Pandora and don't subscribe to either. I still buy music individually rather than paying a monthly rate for it.

I don't honestly know if there's political will among the younger generation, who grew up on streaming music services, to give up flat rate music that goes hand in hand low/lower reimbursement rates for songwriters.

But then again, there are big money artists who are also songwriters who have a political will and influence to have it change in their favor.

I'd hate to see youtube go away as it is because I do use it to decide what music to buy. That said, I know I have no influence over whatever happens so I guess I'll just wait and see.

[miranda3]

Part of the reason I started this was be because I read awhile back where Garth Brooks had come out against YouTube and also iTunes. He tried to start up his own iTunes-type site for downloading his music, and then i am near certain he declaared he was against YouTube. Awhile back I could not find ANY songs from him on there. I personally think Garth Brooks is just being greedy considering the fortune he has amassed. He was so big when people were buying more albums than ever. ENTIRE albums, not one song at a time like now. I just think Garth Brooks needs to get over himself. People nowadays will not blindly buy an album now that they have a choice – which they did not have 20 years ago when Garth was on top. Whatever. I'm a fan of YouTube. LOL 

[Deleted]

I missed all that Miranda ...just googled to find out how that was going for Garth...a couple of links:

www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2014/11/13/garth-brooks-returns-with-a-new-album-and-his-own-digital-music-store/

www.ghosttunes.com/

...just to bring me up to speed.

That said, we've all seen the pictures of Garth's house and it's likely he wouldn't have sold as many albums as he has if he hadn't set it up so you couldn't get the new music without rebuying the latest box set. I can't tell you how many times I've purchased the same albums of Garth's. To tell you the truth, when this one came along, I decided to skip it because of the overhead. Then one day, about a month after the new CD came out, I was shopping at the used book store (Half Price Books) and there was a copy of Garth's new CD. So I bought it because it was handy and there wasn't all that logistical overhead.

Then, when I did get around to listening to it, I was disappointed. There was $5 that I didn't enjoy very much.

For a long time, Garth, Trisha, Don Henley, Springsteen...a bunch of the really big names have been part of a group that has tried to take down terrestrial radio and give more power to the artists. The thing is, their plans give the big names more power, the new artists an even harder time and quite honestly, radio would be even worse than it is now with a few high powered artists controlling what gets played. It's one of those one thing isn't great but the alternative is much worse.

There are those who believe that the whole Dixie Chicks controversy was part of that plan...and there was certainly that component. The Chicks were very involved in it in their day and when their artists group...with their manager and Springsteen and the others in the group went after Clear Channel, it was a both a crock and one of their long term goals ...to take on Clear Channel. Remember the Senate hearings that Clear Channel had to go through about it?

The irony is that Clear Channel didn't stop playing the Chicks. It wasn't in their interest to do so. Their concert arm had already sold something like $65 million in concert tickets for the Chicks upcoming tour. It was also Clear Channel that sent letters, from their attorneys, threatening legal actions if other radio stations didn't play the Chicks...and they did, for the most part, because they'd signed contracts to promote the tour and they could have lost their stations if they hadn't honored their contracts.

So, if Garth thinks he wants to play this poor me game with his usual friends, he can do that but I won't be buying any music from Ghost Tunes.

Why would I ever want to hurt the artists who are struggling to get recognition and sell enough albums to keep on making music? Because that's what the end result of their activism would be.

[miranda3]

I have exactly ONE Garth Brooks album. His original greatest hits from 20-some years ago. And that is all I'm interested in hearing from Garth Brooks: THE OLDIES.

He's cheated his fans ever since his "retirement" by forcing them to buy entire box sets of old CDs just to get a new song or two here and there. I have no respect for that. It's not right. 

[Deleted]

A lot of people now will put all their music on their Ipod's and then sell the used CD at the used book store. Used CD's get newer and newer all the time.

There are so many repeats of Garth's albums though, from people who bought the box sets again and again and again that they don't have a big resale value at all. They were cheap to start with too...as box sets. Still available cheap...as box sets.

What I'm saying is that Garth made a lot of people happy when he started with the box sets...what a bargain...the cumulative effect is that the market is saturated with his music and he's sold the same music so many times already his options for selling it again in his old age are increasingly limited.

Some of the older artists I've waited for years for their early work to be available again in a format that you can actually listen to. Mostly it gets released on anniversary dates and gives them another revenue stream, for a while anyway. Gets them some new interest again for a short while.

Garth's already done all of that.

[miranda3]

To be honest I think the interest in Garth has dropped big time. A lot of people from here went to see Garth in Lexington, Ky., awhile back, but I got the feeling it was more of a nostalgia concert than anything else. I don't really think his comeback will work out that well for him once it its all said and done. I doubt his album has sold as well as he had hoped. I'm not hearing him on the radio at the gas station up the street either. LOL

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I just googled

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garth_Brooks_World_Tour_with_Trisha_Yearwood

Garth only has two songs on his set list for this concert tour from his new album.

Look at where he's been touring too. He's an arena guy, I get that...but he's sticking to major cities with a ton of shows in a row in those cities. He started out in Rosemont (Chicago) with 11 shows in 10 days.

I'm guessing the people you know probably went to his show in Lexington since your in Kentucky...he did 4 shows in two days there. Seems to be the pattern.

Why am I not seeing concert revenues on this page. Obviously he sold well. Guess I'll need to google more.

But looking at this page....oh my gosh, mostly he played in Democrat stronghold cities. Huh.

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Link:

www.billboard.com/articles/business/6281366/inside-garth-brooks-tour-man-against-machine

This is from early in Garth's tour but he had a strategy of low ticket prices, announcing dates and cities with short notice and continuing to add shows in each market until pretty much anyone who wanted to see him had an opportunity to do so.

It seems that Garth and his management haven't been big on releasing revenue from the tour. There's some spotty info but his plan is to break the record for tour attendance set by U2...so that's the strategy he's gone with.

In this article it mentions playing in Texas so I went back to the wiki link but Garth didn't tour in Texas this time around. That's interesting since we have two of the largest cities in the US...Houston and Dallas. Houston is the 4th largest after NYC, LA and Chicago.

What ya trying to tell us Garth?

[miranda3]

I know Garth is pulling down big numbers on his tour, without a doubt. I don't think people are interested in his new music though. For all those people here who went to his concert, I havent seen a single one of fhem allude to either of the new singles or the new album. And so much has changed since he retired. The music medium itself has changed and fhe methods of promoting the music have changed. I also think so many other male country singers found superstardom in the years since Garth's retirement that it would be hard for him to ever reclaim his crown at this point.

And one more thing: Garth Brooks seems to not have the public's respect. The general consensus on facebook seems to be that people like his old music, but that he became too greedy before he ever retired. He will never be a revered figure on the same level as George Strait, for instance. That's my opinion.

[Deleted]

I'm not on Facebook so I didn't know that about Garth not having the public's respect.

George has always lived in country music culture and always will. He's bedrock. Nothing will ever change that.

Garth started out with a bunch of musical influences. He was always culturally part of the musical world rather than the country music world.

We both know there's always been a difference. George has won awards and awards and awards but it wasn't until 2009 that he won a Grammy. Thirty years into his career and they finally notice what great music he's been making all along. They haven't noticed him again since.

Garth has been nominated for 12 Grammy's. Which is fine...what I'm saying is, George is bedrock country. Garth has always been part of the musical world.

[miranda3]

Garth Brooks has sold a lot of records in the past, but I do not think he would have the same strength of staying power as George Strait even if he'd never retired.