Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote:
I am now, in a very modest way, a patron of the arts.
You have been since you bought your first 78 (? OK - 7" single.), The recording industry, for all it's evils made each of us a patron of the artists we admired and actively promoted that patronage. If only they hadn't been so intent on taking such a large slice of the pie themselves, and hadn't sidelined the serious artists creating more serious music for smaller audiences, we might not have the situation we have today where the perceived value of the art is so low that it has lost all value for the newer generations of listeners. That's the heart of the piracy "problem" right there.
Right. I realised that after further reflection. Further reflection is often a good thing.
This particular purchase feels different because the process is different and all the marketing and record company bumpf has been bypassed. This disc comes in a plain, clear, jewel box with the title and artist's names (and "not for duplication or broadcast") silk-screened. But, as you rightly say, you support the artist of your choice when you buy a CD put out by a big label. Obviously in cases like this one the artist is getting a bigger cut of the cake. So the interaction and the transaction is a little different - I'm dealing more directly with the artists, and they had way more control of the project.
And they also took a bigger risk. As part of the package I got a copy of the program which has the names of everybody who bought a package BEFORE the performance. By rough arithmetic there's in the region of 25 000 USD there already - plus two other people "without whose generosity" etc etc. This for the show, rehearsals, transport, accomodation, hall hire (they used a big hall at a university), printing programs and scores. I know that some of the people involved took no fee. The recording cost them little extra because it comes straight off of the desk. The occasion being what it was and the artists being who they are you can bet there were no lasers and no dancers. They're still selling subscriptions, and last I heard they were still a few thousand short of breaking even. These things cost more than we think - or maybe we don't give sufficient thought to how much things cost.
When I say "this music means something in my life" should that involve a number?
In an ideal world no. But we do not live in a perfect world. Quite simply if you want the artist to be able to compose music for your enjoyment he needs to eat.
However, I do think a true artist or composer creates their art regardless of recompense. Some work in a more financially rewarding field of music (Like Bach or Zappa) to finance what they really love composing (but might never hear performed), some choose to do a different line of work entirely (Ives - an insurance executive who ended up as patron to many other composers).
Yes. The artist does it, or tries to, for the art. But they operate somewhere on a hierarchy of needs and have got basic needs to fulfill before they can get on with their art. Which is where we and, yes, the record companies come in.
Richard Thompson was once asked who he hung out and played with when he's not touring. He could have name-dropped people like Henry Kaiser and David Lindley (and perhaps that's what the interviewer expected), but what he said was something like "some of the best musicians I know, and some of the people I most love to play with, you will never have heard of because they can't make a living out of playing their music and have no commercial profile. So they work in banks or program computers and play when they can. I'm lucky because I actually make a living out of this."
Which goes to another of my (slightly beered) ponderings.
PS: 7 singles. I can only recall purchasing two such discs. Both "white label" efforts by South African bands that couldn't get a record deal at the time - Wild Youth and Bright Blue. There was, of course, a happy ending for Bright Blue because their self-financed single "Weeping" beat the odds and got into a high position on Radio 5's charts and then the record companies came running to them.
