Music industry sue broadband provider.

[Eóin]

This is funny really, the outcome will be interesting either way.

Big four record labels sue Eircom

11.03.2008 -  In a court case that will be watched with interest by telecom firms and internet service providers all over the world, Ireland’s largest broadband provider Eircom is being sued by the big four labels, EMI, Universal, Warner Music and Sony BMG, for failing to prevent illegal music downloads on its network.

Unfortunately the Irish legal system is a mess so this could succeed.

[f0dder]

I hate the record industry. Hate++, actually. Their greed knows no limits. I really like what Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails is doing with the release of ghosts - I hope they'll keep doing it that way, and that it will inspire other artists too.

[Renegade]

I hate the record industry. Hate++, actually. Their greed knows no limits. I really like what Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails is doing with the release of ghosts - I hope they'll keep doing it that way, and that it will inspire other artists too.

+1,000,000 for f0dder

I would add in that, "Their idiocy and laziness knows no limits." There are many ways to monetize things, but they're too stupid or lazy to do some real work and make things happen.

And good on him for Trent doing some work and putting himself out there. He's a brilliant musician, and showing that he can take that to the business level as well.

[tinjaw]

I'm going to take the "half full" approach on this and giggle silly as mega$ lawyers from the Mega Internet Service Providers are going to get up there and fight for freedom for the tubes. I am sure we can harvest some of that expensive chewy goodness to use against them the next time they turn against The People's Medium. 

[f0dder]

Btw, the ultra-limited 2500-piece $300 edition of NIN:Ghosts was sold out within... a few days? Do the maths yourself - since there's no record label involved and shipping+handling is an additional fee, I guess that a very good percentage of the $300 goes to Trent Reznor himself. Obviously only die-hard fans will go for $300, but appearantly there's at least 2500 die-hard fans. And the $75 deluxe edition and $10 normal 2-CD DigiPak are very decently priced.

The distribution model obviously works. Whether a brand-new band is able to do it that way (initial investment...) is questionable, but there's certainly other alternatives to the big record labels.

[Eóin]

The band Black Lab have sold the last 3 of their four albums themselves online starting in 2003. I think that the band has survived 5 years shown the business model could be very viable.

[Lashiec]

Yeah, some groups have been experimenting with new models of business as lately. Marillion financed the marketing campaign for their 2004 album "Marbles" thanks to the pre-orders placed by fans. They do not have any major label supporting them, as they decided the only way to true artistic freedom was to cut off any chain with music corporations.

Some other artists are also navigating the seas of the indie labels, or even self-publishing, including some major ones, like Madonna, Paul McCartney or John Fogerty. It's also said U2 will say goodbye to Universal, though in this case, I hope they opt for wide musical distribution that does not involve partnering with certain company located in Cupertino (the same goes for Tori Amos, etc.)