Category: Editorial
Deep in the way-too flash-heavy website of Amon Tobin, the long time ninja tune producer, (whose stuff I love) blogs with gentle sadness about the state of his new record release in the wake of a it's widespread illegal download. This is a sad tale when told from the individual artist's perspective. My suggestions would be that he offer a donate button for his fans (he's got enough it would seem) and move to an on-demand service for mail order of the shiny-plastic bits. There is no reason why someone shouldn't be able to get a nice cd package if they still want, at least (and this does seem a bit backward) if they are prepared to order it online.
Poor sweet Amon.
on leaked copies of foley room:
well the debate about illegal downloads has obviously been raging for some time. some blame it for the crisis the music industry is currently facing, others herald this as a new utopian era for the consumer. contrary to the oversimplified views sighted by both ends of the spectrum I believe this to be a fairly complex issue with radically different implications for different artists and labels.
with this in mind I see no point in entering into debate on the general issue here. nor would I consider it my place to tell people what they should or shouldn't do. all I can comment on with any certainty is how all this has affected me personally and in light of my nearing release this might be of interest to those of you who've expressed an interest in my music.
over the last few months I've received a surprising amount of mail from people who'd downloaded 'foley room'. the comments are very positive and many encourage me to "keep on doing what you're doing" for which I am thankful.
today, the release date for my album, it's unlikely that you will see it in most high street shops and after the initial run it's unlikely that you will be able to order a copy even from online stores. this is because in-spite of more people having access to and apparently listening to my music than ever before, the predicted sales of the record were so low that it didn't justify the manufacture or distribution to any significant level. strange? not when you consider how hard it might be to convince any retail outlet, physical or digital, that they should try and sell something everybody could already get for free months beforehand.
so what does this mean in the wider context? who the fuck knows. like I say I won't speculate on the wider picture and you can draw your own conclusions as to what this means with regards to my own future output. again I stress that I'm not talking about what should happen here. I'm not saying I should be able to 'keep on doing what I'm doing' or even that my record deserves to be bought. all I'm saying, mainly for the benefit of those who might otherwise have been unaware, is that if you personally like what I do and wish to continue hearing more then the only way that will happen is if you support it.
delicious | 
digg