bc-music-bootleg - a1314
(ndy) (ATTN: News, Entertainment editors)

Bootlegging Forces Changes in Albums' Release Dates
By Rafer Guzman
(c) 2003, Newsday


Who's winning the war on music piracy? Not the record industry.

Just ask 50 Cent. Rampant bootlegging forced the rapper to release his new album, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin"' (Shady Records), last Thursday, instead of Tuesday as scheduled. A message on 50 Cent's Web site puts a positive spin on the early release: "The streets couldn't wait!!"

In fact, the rapper has joined a growing list of artists whose plans have been thwarted by piracy. Eminem, Usher, Nas and R. Kelly have pushed up release dates, postponed albums or gone back into the studio to record new tracks after bootleggers stole their thunder. The moves indicate that the music industry's efforts to fight piracy -- such as filing lawsuits against Internet servers and looking for ways to digitally protect CDs -- aren't working as well as hoped.

Pirated music costs the industry about $4.2 billion per year worldwide, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. That figure doesn't include losses associated with Internet activity, but the association claims that as downloads increase, record sales decline: About 40 % of those who downloaded MP3s last year say they are buying fewer CDs. Overall, record sales dropped 7 % in the first six months of 2002.

Moving a release date is a low-tech response to a high-tech problem, said Eric Garland, chief executive of Big Champagne, which tracks MP3 trading on the Internet. "It's a market-based solution to a market-based problem," he said. The labels are simply trying to sell records to fans before the fans can find them for free. "That transaction between the fan and the desired music is going to take place with or without the labels."

Yet fears that downloading eats away at legitimate sales may be unfounded. Eminem's latest, "The Eminem Show," was rushed to stores about a week earlier than originally scheduled, but downloads of the album didn't stop -- they increased. "The Eminem Show" accounted for 15 % of all MP3 downloading the week after the release, up from 12 % the week before, Garland said. "It did not make an observable impact in the demand or the supply." And despite the downloading, the album shot to No. 1 and has since sold more than 7 million copies.

Usher took a different strategy when nearly half the tracks of an upcoming album appeared on the Internet. Instead of releasing the album ahead of schedule, Usher and Arista label chief Antonio "L.A." Reid went back in the studio and recorded new tracks to replace the most heavily pirated ones. It was a costly process, said Chris Chambers, vice president of public relations at Arista, and the album, "8701," was delayed by nearly a year.

The result: Labels are growing almost paranoid about piracy. Matchbox Twenty finished its latest, "More Than You Think You Are," a mere four weeks before the release date, partly so bootleggers would have less time to get hold of the tracks. Other labels say promotional copies that were once generously given to employees and the media are now closely guarded. "You can never figure out how the album leaks out," Chambers said. "There are just too many ways for it to get out there."


Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service


AP-NY-02-10-03 1618EST

I just think it's gonna get worse for artist myself.

Bootleggers are a vicious bunch and the rest are just kids behind a computer in there bedroom that just don't know that copying files off the internet is wrong because no one tells them otherwise.

There are some kids out there that think music always was free because they have never been without a computer and the internet, so why go out and buy a C.D. by one artist when you can share your big brother or sisters music with other folks on the internet get music from others on the net in return.
[This message was edited Mon Feb 10 13:59:51 PST 2003 by righteous1]

You know it's odd that I have yet to see an article on how the music industry is losing the battle on REAL ARTISTS.
All this jibberish about losing sales to bootleggers and downloading on the 'net...yet they have "downsized" real talent so much that the general public couldn't give a shit about who's actually making music.

Every morning I listen to the various morning radio shows and all they talk about is 'Who's Britney dating?', 'What's Christina wearing?', 'Who's JLo doing?'. Blah blah blah.
Who gives a fuck?

I buy about 20+ CD's a year, and most people my age buy about 10 CD's a year--but why aren't they marketing to people like that? They must think we're idiots, that we might just go out and buy the new phony Mariah Carey album because it's overplayed to death on the radio.

When radio and the music industry solve that problem, they will have solved their own.

righteous1 said:

You're right. The retail sales of new music has really fallen off. It seems like a lot of new CDs are topping at 2 million copies sold in the U.S. A few artists, like Emiminen and Nelly, sell more than that, but 2 million seems to be the top amount for a lot of artists.

Artists used to have big mega million selling albums. For sure there will never be another album that sells like MJ's Thriller album.

And would Purple Rain have sold 15 million copies if Internet downloading had been around then?

Here's something for the RIAA geniuses...


Notice that the music industry has been slumping the last few years? Notice it all happened AFTER the leading file-sharing program was shut down? Notice when it was that most record companies stopped putting out any CD singles?

I know the singles market has been a money-losing prospect for labels for many years. However, I think there's a correlation between file-sharing, piracy, and the lack of a true singles market.

XNY said:

*See my Justin Timberlake thread*

GoldNigga said:

*Ditto on my Justin Timberlake thread*

I think part of the problem is that new albums contain maybe only 2 or 3 good songs (if that). Usually, there is ONE song from an album that gets heavy rotation on the radio - that's what people want.

People do not want to buy whole albums anymore because they're consistently awful. Why buy the whole thing, when all you want is the "hit" song? I'm not saying this is right, but it's a fact of the business.

What needs to be done is to raise the level of quality of music, so that people will want to OWN the CD in their collections.

Again, make the cds retail cost at $9.99, and consumers will not think they are getting ripped off. I would take a chance on the new Common cd, Norah Jones, even Nelly if they were $9.99, but at $13-$15 a pop, it's a risk I am not going to take. I can down load it. I think for the artwork, packaging, distribution, and advertising, $9.99 is fair. Sometimes it is that price on the day of release only, but more than likely not. Every cd I downloaded this year, I would have plunked down $10 to try it out.

GoldNigga said:

Great Music or Artists on the Pulse always Sell.Back in the day Home Tape Recording was suppose to be the Evil undoing of the Business&it wasn't.Technilogy kicked the Industry in the Ass yes but the Business is all Fast-Food&Formula,Clone&Payola Driven as to allowing Acts a chance to Grow.now you only get 3-5 Songs back in the day 3-5 Albums or Bust.Image means everything now.but I still believe a Artist that truly bridges that Gap will Sell no matter what.the USA Hurt themselves with pulling back on the Single I Believe&Napster,etc... came along at the Right time IMHO.the Industry will either work with Technilogy or be Swept away.Technilogy is a 100 Years Old Man is only 10.gotta change with the times or be Left behind.

righteous1 said:

Good thread. Can't get away from that song. But again, the whole industry, and top-40 radio with it, has gone gaga for the bottom line. Boy bands sell immediate records. No artist development, more money back on their investment. $$ Cha ching!

BTW, someone on that thread made a reference to the "originators"(MJ, Prince, etc). The industry is fully aware of the Masters, but they do much better without the younger generation NOT knowing about them...this way Justin Timbershmuck sounds fresh and original.
Sad thing is, P & MJ did that over 20 yrs ago! They haven't up'd the ante one bit, nada. That sucks for the fans, esp Prince's and MJ's because we know who did it first and the younger kids today barely have a clue. Sad.

XNY said:

MJ&Prince went for the Mighty Pop Corss-Over Stakes where being on Top Meant different things then they do now.Justin Timberlake has the Pop Base&can Dabble with Being Down as well.the Kids today see MTV,&other Outlets that were Blantly Racist Cover there Tracks just enough to throw off the Scent.not much has changed but it's enough to keep Political Correctness untouched by the Powers that Be.

mistermaxxx said:

LOL MrM, but what the heck are you talking about? I try to read your gobbledy gook and can't make out a pure thought. But thanks for responding nonetheless.

XNY said:

I was saying that MJ&Prince were going for the Pop-Cross-Over Dream.different stakes&Matters in the Music Drive back then with MJ&Prince.nowadays things are Blurred together&sold as Unity but there are still Gaps with everything being Labeled.

mistermaxxx said:

oh, ok. I really do get it this time, but with lines blurred between r&b and top-40 pop music and maybe rock, how does that apply to what Justin Timberlake represents to you.
That's not to say a white artist can't do what MJ and P did, but I don't see the connection.

Personally, I actually see JT as a commercial artist manufactured to make money and nothing much more. Whereas, Prince and MJ really love the art of music and what it brings to the people who listen to their music.

Record companies stop selling singles cuz no one would buy the albums, especially sincs they probably just bought the only good song off the album. How are these albums getting downloaded before their release dates in the first place? Inside job? Anyway, record companies should get smart and lower the price of CDs to about five bucks, which is what they are worth in the first place. Better yet, offer the music on their websites(snippets) so you can see if you like anything else on the album first.You undercut the bootleggers and people don't feel like their getting ripped off. Do you guys notice there is no longer a stigma attached to buying bootlegs or having a CD that you burned yoursel anymore?

XNY said:

R&B,Rap/Hip-Hop is Todays Pop Music&a Cat like Justin Timberlake is Marketed to Appeal to all of that.that wasn't the case when Cats like MJ,Prince,Lionel Richie&a Few Others back in the day were trying to Broaden there Audeince.nowadays if a White Artist like Justin&Eminem get Black Props then they Cash in all Around the Horn.

Se7en said:

EXACLTY!!! I have a couple of friends that don't give a shit at all and down load their asses of, and when I told one friend that I like to buy the original he just looked at me and said why buy a whole album for just one or two good songs.

Well he did have a point there but that's him and I'm me.

XNY said:

*MA JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE THREAD*