Today, I got an email from a band whose EP I reviewed favorably, asking if I wanted to listen to their new LP. I said yes, and it got me thinking: I wrote 2 reviews of this EP for 2 publications, and one was reprinted by a sister paper. The question is, who benefits from the exchange of money and freebies that goes on behind the scenes in the indie rock world?
Here is a rough re-creation of the events:
- I searched a concert calender to see which bands were playing in the markets that also have papers I write for. I discovered a band that looks interesting, and asked them to send me their record (for free), which they do.
- I liked the album, so I reviewed it for these 2 papers.
- The band, in turn, put me on the guest list for their show. (I couldn't make it.)
- I got paid by my outlets.
In the end, I was paid a total of $70, I got a free record, and I got into a concert (+1) for free. Overall I've gotten about $100 worth of money and "benefits" because I liked an album by an obscure band.
What does the band get out of it? This is the part I don't know. They pay their publicist to entice me to write about them, and their publicist is the one hooking me up with the freebies. The publicist can then show the band two new positive reviews, so she's done her job.
But did more people come to their show because they saw what I wrote in a local weekly? Did more people buy their album because of the way I described it? And how can this be quantified? In the end, the only thing I can be sure they got was a laudatory quote to display on their website. I got $100, and they got a few sentences. Is that fair?
4 comments:
hmmm...
i think i have several thoughts that relate to your question.
first, assuming that the music industry functions at least a little like the book industry, your positive reviews will, if nothing else, be useful when the band seeks a future label deal. many nonfiction books are born from a book proposal, and most successful book proposals include a marketing section that is rife with laudatory reviews.
second, i think bands are banking that if your review convinces even one person to check out their record, that one person can spread the good news of their musicality by mouth, which is perhaps the most effective manner of advertising art.
third, in my own brief time as a reviewer, i've rarely had a behind-the-scenes look at how my compliments translated into sales. however, when the great indie band synthar asked me to plug their album, i wrote an enthusiastic blurb in image update (a newsletter with a circulation of about 7,500 artsy folk) and then watched their record sales stay about the same (they donated a buck per album sale, and you could see the number of donations on the sale page).
so i conclusively have no idea.
I see your moral quandary my friend.
Looking at this from a biblical perspective:
Proverbs 10:20
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
I know you to have a fairly righteous tongue. So I can only assume that the piece your wrote has at least flecks of silver, which have to be worth close to $100.
On the other hand:
Proverbs 21:6
A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
So I guess the real question here is are you righteous or a liar?
The good book also says you should get paid for your work. Your words are worth something, and you've earned the money.
The more people talk about a band the better. What do you do when you read an article or interesting review, talk about it, look it up, listen for yourself.
Sides you get maybe a $100 worth of stuff you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. You probably wouldn't have bought that CD, or gone to that concert and you certainly wouldn't have gotten paid by the papers. Since it doesn't cost them too much to get you a CD (unless they have to pay shipping to China)...
Anyway, yah.
Oh, I'm not saying I don't deserve the money -- it's just that my benefits are material, while the band's benefits are almost completely intangible. I guess that's the disparity I found interesting.
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