iTunes Manifesto
Why we are not on iTunes
Many of you write us asking, "I love your music. When are you going to be on iTunes?"
Well, LLL is not on iTunes (or Emusic, Napster, etc. etc.) by choice. Here's why...
Lonely London Lad is a true indie (that is, independent) band. We are one of the few bands to have a fully-functioning company of its own (Lonely London Lad Records, Inc.), which accepts all forms of payment and ships product directly to fans (with free, same-day shipping worldwide).
When we sell directly, we are able to give you a better value than you can get on iTunes for our music; in other words, you pay less to have our physical CD sent to your home than to download the double-album from iTunes. With the physical product, you also get beautiful artwork; complete lyrics; and a tangible 'backup' copy of the music that will last forever, and will outlive hard discs and iPods. Plus the anticipation of receiving something you want (after a while, instant gratification isn't very gratifying, you know what I mean?). All that, and a personalized note of thanks from yours truly, the front man of Lonely London Lad.
Wo Ist Der Beef?
We are also adherents to the belief in the concept of the album, not merely as an artistic statement, but as an economically sustainable vehicle for the artist. Our albums are substantial things, not 42-minute 'products' stuffed with filler. Between our first two releases, we serve up 38 original songs, totaling nearly 3 1/2 hours of music. We can be as creative and generous as we want, because nobody is looking over our shoulders with a calculator.
I myself don't buy full albums from artists who only have one song I love. To me, it just means I don't love the artist enough, or that the album isn't "meaty" enough. If you don't love at least two or three of the songs you have heard from us, don't buy our music. Did I just say don't buy our music? Yes. It's brutal, but that's survival of the fittest, and that's the only way to play. If enough people don't buy our albums, it's only a matter of time before we stop making them. That's just the economic reality, since it costs me tens of thousands of dollars to produce each album; and, like a boomerang, when you throw it out, it needs to come back, or you run out of boomerangs to throw. Again, that is the reality not just for us, but for any band. Even the manufactured boy bands and girl bands need to turn a profit or they, too, disappear.
That said, for me, I see it as a challenge to succeed in such a Darwinian environment, and I relish the challenge, especially when I'm doing it completely on my own. If I hadn't bought an island 8 years ago that I could later sell to The Nature Conservancy to finance my band (which I feel was particularly good karma), I wouldn't even be here writing this. There would be no "Buffalo Jump", no "Dick And Jane", no 12-minute-plus "Another Planet", etc. I do get a kick out of hearing that someone doesn't have enough money to buy an album, given that I have sacrificed an island to be able to make the music, but it once again goes back to an individual not loving the music enough to pay for it, and that's all it means (unless the person is truly bankrupt, in which case there are better uses of time than listening to anyone's music). Not many people would sell their house or their private island to be able to make music for others, so I cannot judge others by the same rules I live by myself.
Music and Healthcare
My (Robert) personal belief is that iTunes (and services like it) are doing to the music business what the American insurance industry is doing to healthcare -- taking it out of our hands and making it into a profit-driven, commodity-based business, like pork bellies. Insurance companies have no business in medicine, and computer manufacturers have no business in music. Ironically, the phrase "has no business in" is incorrect here, as the only reason they are in it is strictly for the business (the money), and there's no soul.
Sweatshops
For every $0.99 song bought on iTunes, the artists get mere pennies. Indeed, I read that the average artist on iTunes nets about $100 a year through iTunes sales. For a hobbyist, that may be sufficient, but for any professional recording artist attempting to create quality music with high production values, and make a living from it, it is not sustainable. When you consider that iTunes and those like it takes more than 50% of that $100, you realize it is a musical sweatshop.People, people, people
So rather than dealing with a computer manufacturer (Apple), or earth's largest store, or the latest startup trying to cash in on musicians' toil, we prefer to deal directly with you, the ultimate recipient of our music. You are our audience. And rather than enrich an immense corporation with our labors of love, we prefer to re-invest the money we receive from you directly into new music. Now, that is sustainable.
Gentlemen Farmers
This is a win-win situation: Buying directly from us gets you more in return, not merely in terms of the physical product you receive, but in human terms. It's a lot like buying from a local farmer that you know, rather than from a factory farm thousands of miles away.
My philosophy about music has a lot in common with the "fair trade" and "slow food" movements, as well. If the consolidated corporations had their way, we would only be able to listen to the Jonas Brothers and eat at McDonalds, because consolidation results in economies of scale and higher profit margins. I'm probably the only musician out there who also went to Yale Business School and worked for McKinsey & Company, the leading management consultancy in the world, so I have some background in this stuff. It's only by grassroots support that artists such as us can exist, since we can never trade on favors or pay to be featured in mainstream media. That's why we "farm" friends one by one... and fortunately some of those seeds come to fruit.
To me, anybody who pays for what we offer is a patron of the arts, someone who materially supports the creation of art which, with any luck, will last.
Stop Da Chop
To me, the cure for the woes of the recorded music 'industry' that is bent on chopping up albums into bite-size digital hors d'oeuvres, and chopping up musicians into sweatshop laborers churning out pap, is for us as individuals to make commitments to the artists we love by paying 'fair trade' prices for their work, buying direct or through a non-profit cooperative. Otherwise, if we leave it in the hands of the monopolists, the risk is that we get what we pay for - low quality, disposable music, which is merely product, and not art at all.
