New topic
Printable| Author | Message |
The Cure's Robert Smith speaks out against Radiohead and free music in general Hmmm...this is interesting. Not sure what to make of all this, but it's fun to hear him rant.
from Pitchforkmedia: Robert Smith says mean things about Radiohead.
When we last left Cure frontman Robert Smith he was bitching about iTunes UK overcharging for his band's 2008 EP, Hypnagogic States. And now he's bitching about Radiohead not charging enough for their 2007 album In Rainbows. Maybe all that hair product is taking its toll somehow. In a recent interview with Music Radar, the pancake makeup aficionado said he "disagreed violently" with Radiohead's pay-what-you-want scheme: "You can't allow other people to put a price on what you do, otherwise you don't consider what you do to have any value at all and that's nonsense. If I put a value on my music and no one's prepared to pay that, then more fool me, but the idea that the value is created by the consumer is an idiot plan, it can't work." While Smith's point is hardly ridiculous, it's tough not to imagine hefty dollops of bitterness and jealously going along with those harsh words-- especially since a relative few noticed the release of the Cure's 4:13 Dream last year. The barb reminds me of Coachella 2004, when Radiohead and the Cure headlined on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. When Radiohead hit the stage, everyone stayed and crammed. When the Cure hit the stage the next day, many stayed...but many took the chance to leave early, too. (A similar situation could play out this year when the Cure close Coachella after My Bloody Valentine and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Sunday.) http://www.pitchforkmedia...-radiohead And his official response to all the press... MUSIC FOR FREE?
SO IT SEEMS A FEW PROFESSIONAL APOLOGISTS (YOU HAVE TO LOVE THEM!) OUT THERE DISAGREE WITH MY "EVERY ARTIST SHOULD VALUE THEIR ART" MUSING AND THINK ITS OK FOR ART - MUSIC IN PARTICULAR - TO BE MADE AVAILABLE FREE FOR ALL... NO I AM NOT CONFUSING 'ARTISTIC VALUE' WITH 'COMMERCIAL VALUE' MERELY QUESTIONING THE DUMB ACCEPTANCE OF THE 'FREE ART IS THE 'NEW' PARADIGM - THATS JUST THE WAY IT IS' MANTRA IN THE WAY OF OUR BRIGHT AND BRAVE NEW WIRED WORLD THESE IDIOT CRITICS HAVE TRIED VERY HARD TO TURN MY GENERAL POINT - A POINT I MADE USING RADIOHEAD'S 'IN RAINBOWS: PAY WHAT YOU WANT' MARKETING RUSE AS IT IS THE MOST WIDELY KNOWN EXAMPLE - INTO A MOCK SHOCK HORROR "HOW DARE ANYONE QUESTION THE FAMOUSLY INDEPENDENT AND ANTI-CAPITALIST RADIOHEAD, THEY SELL MORE 'PRODUCT' THAN THE CURE SO THEIR STRATEGY OBVIOUSLY 'WORKED' (HUH?!!)... AND ANYWAY, ROBERT SMITH IS WAY TOO OLD TO COMMENT ON CONTEMPORARY CULTURE" MOMENT... MY POINT IS NEITHER PARTICULARLY NEW NOR ORIGINAL NOR EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT RADIOHEADS 'IN RAINBOWS' BUT IT IS I FEEL STILL COMPELLING ANY FAMOUS ARTIST WITH A HUGE AND DEVOTED FAN BASE (OFTEN ARRIVED AT WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A WEALTHY AND POWERFUL 'PATRON' OR TWO?) CAN AFFORD TO DO WHAT HE, SHE OR IT WANTS... INCLUDING GIVING THEIR ART AWAY AS SOME KIND OF 'LOSS LEADER' TO HELP 'BUILD THE BRAND' ALL WELL AND GOOD (WELL... NOT REALLY! 'LOSS LEADER'? 'BUILD THE BRAND'? AAGH! BUT THIS IS THE LINGUA FRANCA... ) HOWEVER IF THIS 'ART FOR FREE' IDEA BECOMES THE CULTURAL NORM THEN HOW DO ARTISTS EARN THEIR LIVING? HEY HANG ON WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT A WEALTHY AND POWERFUL 'PATRON' LIKE... A BIG RECORD LABEL? EXCELLENT! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SIGN UP AND AGREE TO ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND IT WILL MARKET YOU DECISIVELY AND IF YOU PLAY IT RIGHT ITS EVEN WEALTHIER AND MORE POWERFUL PARENT COMPANY WILL AIR YOUR WORDS AND PICTURES AND VIDEOS AND MUSIC AND ADS ON ITS MANY AND VARIOUS WEB/TV/RADIO CHANNELS AND CHARGE ADVERTISERS HUGE AMOUNTS TO ADVERTISE TO THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CONSUMING ALL YOUR FREE ART... AND YOU THE ARTIST WILL OF COURSE GET A 'FAIR' REWARD FOR YOUR EFFORTS... ? BAH SOME 'NEW' PARADIGM! SO I STAND BY MY POINT: AN ARTIST HAS TO VALUE THE ART THEY CREATE OTHERWISE I DONT BELIEVE THEY CAN BELIEVE IT TO BE ART I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO PAY AN ARTIST FOR HIS OR HER OR ITS ART AS IT OBVIOUSLY HELPS ENABLE THAT ARTIST TO KEEP CREATING AND QUITE HONESTLY AS ANYONE THAT DISAGREES WITH THIS POINT IS UNLIKELY TO BE AN ARTIST I DONT REALLY CARE TOO MUCH WHAT THEY THINK... !!! I JUST WROTE ALL THIS BECAUSE I GOT PARTICULARLY FED UP TONIGHT WITH THE SQUEALING HIGH DRAMA OF THE 101 STORIES A DAY AND NONE OF THEM PARTICULARLY TRUE BRIGHT AND BRAVE NEW WIRED WORLD MEDIA THAT WHINES ON AND ON WITHOUT RESPITE OR REFUTATION… CRETINS! OR MAYBE ITS JUST MY POST BIG GIG HANGOVER TALKING?!! ONWARDS... RSX PS I WONDER HOW MANY OF THE PROFESSIONAL APOLOGISTS OUT THERE WRITE THEIR SHIT FOR FREE? HA! | |
- E-mail - orgNote -  Report post to moderator |
He IS bitter.  | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
|
In a way, I kinda agree "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
bboy87 said: In a way, I kinda agree
Yeah he says that and then next year, it's announced the Cure would release their music for free, then he'd be a hypocrite. You know how some people say one thing and then does another? Not saying he will but don't be surprised if he does. Especially with the record stores closing in some major cities, he should be suing stores who don't put his albums for sale that unless you're into him, you would buy copies of it in FYE or something, lol. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
he thinks he's kayne west with his all caps radiohead dissing blog. maybe he should start making some music that people want to hear and then they might buy it
i once wrote a song after listening to the cure, it's called "i hate myself and want 2 die". one of his fans was similarly inspired by the cure and hung themselves in the toilets at one of his concerts | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
unique said: he thinks he's kayne west with his all caps radiohead dissing blog. maybe he should start making some music that people want to hear and then they might buy it
i once wrote a song after listening to the cure, it's called "i hate myself and want 2 die". one of his fans was similarly inspired by the cure and hung themselves in the toilets at one of his concerts 
But yeah, he do act like he Kanye and shit.
I bet Kanye will get news talking shit about Robert saying "THE FUCK HE TRYING TO TYPE IN CAPS! I TYPE IN CAPS! HE NEEDS TO HAVE MY FUCKING PERMISSION!!!!!" | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
|
Timmy84 said: bboy87 said: In a way, I kinda agree
Yeah he says that and then next year, it's announced the Cure would release their music for free, then he'd be a hypocrite. You know how some people say one thing and then does another? Not saying he will but don't be surprised if he does. Especially with the record stores closing in some major cities, he should be suing stores who don't put his albums for sale that unless you're into him, you would buy copies of it in FYE or something, lol. Although I feel "yeah, times are changing, artists are changing", and I disagree with how the RIAA approached everything, I think day by day, music is being devalued and something should be done "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
unique said: he thinks he's kayne west with his all caps radiohead dissing blog. maybe he should start making some music that people want to hear and then they might buy it
i once wrote a song after listening to the cure, it's called "i hate myself and want 2 die". one of his fans was similarly inspired by the cure and hung themselves in the toilets at one of his concerts Are you Kurt Cobain? | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
bboy87 said: Timmy84 said: Yeah he says that and then next year, it's announced the Cure would release their music for free, then he'd be a hypocrite. You know how some people say one thing and then does another? Not saying he will but don't be surprised if he does. Especially with the record stores closing in some major cities, he should be suing stores who don't put his albums for sale that unless you're into him, you would buy copies of it in FYE or something, lol. Although I feel "yeah, times are changing, artists are changing", and I disagree with how the RIAA approached everything, I think day by day, music is being devalued and something should be done The RIAA need to go fucking bankrupt and Soundscan should go with it. That's what's fucking the industry up but these bozos don't see that. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
|
Timmy84 said: bboy87 said: Although I feel "yeah, times are changing, artists are changing", and I disagree with how the RIAA approached everything, I think day by day, music is being devalued and something should be done The RIAA need to go fucking bankrupt and Soundscan should go with it. That's what's fucking the industry up but these bozos don't see that. I hate Soundscan but I see the deal with RIAA. The problem is their approach is fucked up and has been for some time "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
bboy87 said: Timmy84 said: The RIAA need to go fucking bankrupt and Soundscan should go with it. That's what's fucking the industry up but these bozos don't see that. I hate Soundscan but I see the deal with RIAA. The problem is their approach is fucked up and has been for some time Sometime? How about all the time? Well least the years I've been on this earth. After "Thriller", they got stupid, lol.
And the fucked-up thing is it will take layoffs and shit like this to realize they're going at it wrong. They BETTER think smart or they're gonna be asking Obama's ass for a bailout! I agree that Soundscan is the evil that needs to go. Why don't THEY go bankrupt? Ain't they got layoffs? I mean, they are co-opting together ain't they? | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
|
Timmy84 said: bboy87 said: I hate Soundscan but I see the deal with RIAA. The problem is their approach is fucked up and has been for some time Sometime? How about all the time? Well least the years I've been on this earth. After "Thriller", they got stupid, lol.
And the fucked-up thing is it will take layoffs and shit like this to realize they're going at it wrong. They BETTER think smart or they're gonna be asking Obama's ass for a bailout! I agree that Soundscan is the evil that needs to go. Why don't THEY go bankrupt? Ain't they got layoffs? I mean, they are co-opting together ain't they?RIAA's approach with the certifications needed be changed and they need to take a different direction with illegal downloading. Muthafuckas really need to start seriously thinking of a new format and Soundscan needs to go now "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
bboy87 said: Timmy84 said: Sometime? How about all the time? Well least the years I've been on this earth. After "Thriller", they got stupid, lol.
And the fucked-up thing is it will take layoffs and shit like this to realize they're going at it wrong. They BETTER think smart or they're gonna be asking Obama's ass for a bailout! I agree that Soundscan is the evil that needs to go. Why don't THEY go bankrupt? Ain't they got layoffs? I mean, they are co-opting together ain't they?RIAA's approach with the certifications needed be changed and they need to take a different direction with illegal downloading. Muthafuckas really need to start seriously thinking of a new format and Soundscan needs to go now That's exactly my point! 
But one thing's for sure, I won't be crying if either goes. Bon voyage, bitches. [Edited 2/28/09 23:34pm] | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Timmy84 said: unique said: he thinks he's kayne west with his all caps radiohead dissing blog. maybe he should start making some music that people want to hear and then they might buy it
i once wrote a song after listening to the cure, it's called "i hate myself and want 2 die". one of his fans was similarly inspired by the cure and hung themselves in the toilets at one of his concerts
But yeah, he do act like he Kanye and shit.
I bet Kanye will get news talking shit about Robert saying "THE FUCK HE TRYING TO TYPE IN CAPS! I TYPE IN CAPS! HE NEEDS TO HAVE MY FUCKING PERMISSION!!!!!" kayne will be waffling on about how he inspired the cure and in turn inspired gothics, and then he'll loop lovecats, talk a load of shit on top of it and have a number one single and appear on the mtv vma's dressed as a cat with robert smith | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Yeah, Bob sounds a little bitter. At the very least, it's a shame 4:13 Dream didn't get as much recognition as it deserves. It's a great record. "Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind." ~ Clive Davis | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Anyone who doesn't completely agree with him is a twat. All of this talk of fucking over the labels etc. completely ignores the fact that illegal downloading hurts the artist/writer/producer the most.
It is unfortunately too late for anything to be done. There is no business model that can compete with "free" (i.e. P2P). The industry is somewhat to blame for letting things go this far; all labels could have quite easily put any differences/rivalries aside and created a one-stop digital download purchase site over 10 years ago. Labels are best off catering for the older demographic who still buy music and in physical format. No point catering to the younger generation whose normalised means of acquiring music doesn't involve paying for it. A sad state of affairs and many musicians/singers will simply not be able to continue to do what they do as a means of earning a living. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
^ quit your bitching. this argument is old. Smith is just an attention whore who doesnt know how to market and distribute a digital album in today's environment and is only concerned primarily with wealth not value. The fact is the industry has moved on, dragged and kicked by artists seeking newer opportunities over the horizon. There are now a greater array of discourse and policy thinking about how music plays into consumer thinking and buying habits. The old days are gone, no use crying over spilt milk or how piracy is affecting your ass. Get with the times or risk a collapse. You only need to look to countries like Japan and Brazil to see where mobile business models and merchandising flourish. Todays game has no doubt changed - sure the challenge has always been about how to generate commercial value - but the one thing the internet has been good at is democratising the music industry. There are a million of shit on the market today that are bundled with music these days which are unpiratable, on the surface - games i.e. guitar hero, ipods, phones, concert tickets, virtual downloads, shirts, etc.
Go educate yourself. http://freeculture.org/ | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
What argument is old? That people are paid for creating creative content? Are you aware of the "opportunities" created for writers etc. to earn from their content being used on the likes of YouTube and Spotify? YouTube royalties are pitiful...not uncommon to see 30p for a ridiculous amount of plays.
And you link to a very retarded website...so "intellectual property" should be free? Those who create and who are proponents of such an idiotic argument are usually financially secure owing to their parents propping them up. You are ignoring musicians/singers who may not play live, owing to not being able to afford to pay musicians...you are ignoring writers who are reliant on the royalty system that will probably go by the wayside sooner rather than later (it's going this way with media music)...the live acts selling merchandise etc. are the ones already established to a considerable extent...in essence, your pathetic words disregard the artists who are barely sustaining a standard of living above minimum wage. Educate YOURSELF, fool. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |