Garth Brooks

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by sweetcell:
  wait, are you a GB fanboy too?  i caught a whiff of defensiveness there...   :p  

Not at all, although there are people out there whose music I hate much, much more than his.
 
 As for his business practices, I don't think they're as totally evil/self-serving as people make them out to be.  He's giving people a product they want - way below market-value - while still managing to make a buttload of money.  Yeah - The Walmart thing sucks, but like it or not - most people love Walmart.

[TheDirector217]

Originally posted by sweetcell:
     

Originally posted by Bombay Chutney:
 So will you be posting a similar thread regarding the lack of Beatles digital sales?   Or is this just about how much you hate Garth?

if someone ever posted "the beatles don't sell online in order to save consumers money", yes i'll complain just like i did above.  but this fanboy didn't post that claim about the beatles, he attributed it to GB.  blame him, not me.
 
 
 wait, are you a GB fanboy too?  i caught a whiff of defensiveness there...     :p    [/b]

Fanboy.  That shit makes me chuckle.
 
 Let me put you all up on some game right quick.  Please don't get this twisted like Garth is doing this for his fans.  This is nothing more than a not-so-thinly veiled ploy to have Garth pad the #1 spot for highest selling U.S. artist of all time & some bangin' ass marketing skills.  It's no secret that Garth has wanted that spot for quite some time.  (I believe he has it already & has for some time.)  Doesn't anyone else find it convenient that his past couple of albums have all come in multi-disc packages???  And that he took a lot of his back catalog off the market a while ago??  Only to re-release them in a "limited edition" 6 CD box set?  Garth sees no loss in profit, as his CDs still get sold to said retailer @ the list price $18.98 a pop (maybe less for these "bargain" box sets but you get the picture), & I'm sure he gets a crazy points deal for an artist of his stature.  20 points per CD at least, I'm sure - if not 25.  Big box stores like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc. sell CDs/DVDs at a loss with the premise that they reel you in with cheaper prices & get you to buy other shit while you're in there.  You ever notice you walk by a LOT of shit to get to the CD section in a store??.  Not a coinki-dink I assure you.  
 
 Furthermore, while said Garth boxed set (re-released for the umpteeth time at that) gets SoundScanned at one copy, the RIAA certifies & hands out platinum plaques by units shipped.  i.e. 2 CD boxed sets counts as 2 copies, same for 6 CD boxed sets & so on.  For the slower boardies, Garth selling/Soundscanning 1.5 million actual copies gets certified by the RIAA for triple platinum @ 3 million copies.  Thus padding his status as highest-selling artist ever.  Which comes in quite handy when renegotiating points on his record deal.  Garth is one of those "special" 10% percent artists.  As in he's in that 10% of artists whose record sales help keep the other 90% artists that don't sell on the record label afloat & profitable.  As far as him charging lower for his ticket prices, that's all well & good.  What one sees as "sympathy for his fans" is nothing more than shrewd business skills.  Which I can't begrudge that man for.  Get your hustle on, fam.  I surely can't knock it.  He's in touch with his demographic, as I'm willing to wager that more than a decent percentage of Garth's fanbase wallow in the corporate mud that is Wal-Mart's rollback prices.  When he comes out
 of "retirement" for a tour in a few years, just don't get all shocked when said retailer becomes the sponsor for his comeback tour picking up production costs, therefore increasing Garth's bottom line.  So he really can charge moderate prices for his shows, but still ride back to the ranch with bananas profits & more whiskey for his men & beer for his horses than he knows what to do with.  
 
 And to the boardie who asked earlier, artists AND record companies see smaller returns from online digital sales as opposed to physical CDs.  The online mess, if you will, has completely fucked up the corporate model known as the record business but digital sales was a quick fix to a monster the labels still have no idea what do with.  It's all relative.  Ever notice how said new song you love from an artist/album you do not love & don't plan on buying usually isn't available until SoundScan numbers for the first week are returned.  Or how iTunes doesn't let you purchase said great song a la carte forcing you to purchase an album you otherwise had NO plans on buying?  It's all relative.  The truth is out there, baby.  Call me Fox Mulder.
 
 A lil' Director-ology 101.  I'm more than just eye candy.  I kick some knowledge from time to time.  You're all welcome.    :cool:

[jd930]

Oh SNAP!

[sweetcell]

Originally posted by TheDirector217:
  artists AND record companies see smaller returns from online digital sales as opposed to physical CDs.
 (...)
 It's all relative.  The truth is out there, baby.  Call me Fox Mulder.

you say it with authority, now back it up.  15 minutes of poking around online and i haven't found a definitive answer to this - i came across sources that said digital downloads are better for the artist (what i've seen most), others said physical CD sales are better.  please don't reply with "trust me" - unless you're an artist with major label releases or a record exec, i trust your opinion as much as mine (i.e. not that much       )
 
 fox mulder... he wanted to believe.  one shouldn't consider him an objective source of information.

[TheDirector217]

Originally posted by sweetcell:
     

Originally posted by TheDirector217:
  artists AND record companies see smaller returns from online digital sales as opposed to physical CDs.
 (...)
 It's all relative.  The truth is out there, baby.  Call me Fox Mulder.

you say it with authority, now back it up.  15 minutes of poking around online and i haven't found a definitive answer to this - i came across sources that said digital downloads are better for the artist (what i've seen most), others said physical CD sales are better.  please don't reply with "trust me" - unless you're an artist with major label releases or a record exec, i trust your opinion as much as mine (i.e. not that much            )
 
 fox mulder... he wanted to believe.  one shouldn't consider him an objective source of information. [/b]

I have several sources on that.  I know a decent number of record company types, plus I'm around "artists" with somewhat of a degree of regularity.  I hear it direct from their mouths.  If record companies could help it, copping albums online wouldn't be an option.  And of course you won't find a definitive answer.  It's the elephant in the room they don't wanna address.  Beyonce busted her ass @ a live show recently trpping on her high heels & that was off websites, YouTube, blogs, etc. in a matter of hours.  They'd much rather have you run to pick up a physical copy.  But the "monster" got waaaaay out of control.  They were forced to be REactive as opposed to being PROactive.  Why do you think there's such a huge hang-up now over DRM-free music???  EMI (oddly enough, I think that's Garth's parent label - just to wrap shit in a bow for you.  And Garth has no interest selling online unless it's in album ONLY format.  That's documented.) may have have jumped into bed with iTunes on that, but I can assure you that the other labels are in NO sort of rush to do so.  
 
 Furthermore, just do the math.  $18.98 for a CD, or the $9.99 - $12.99, you see on iTunes/Zune?

[sweetcell]

indeed, the truth might be out there... but i need to see it to believe it    :p  
 
   

Originally posted by TheDirector217:
 Furthermore, just do the math.  $18.98 for a CD, or the $9.99 - $12.99, you see on iTunes/Zune?

the math is easy to account for: CDs = </font>

• <font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">production cost</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">transportation and distribution</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">retailer's fixed costs</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">RETAILER'S PROFIT</font></li>

<font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">online sales cut out the middleman, potentially.  dunno if you've ever worked in retail, but mark-ups can easily account for that price difference.  also, CD prices change & drop, whereas downloaded albums tend to come in at one price and stay there - no gounging while the album is hot, and no dumping when they need to move leftovers (you didn't mention that CDs end up in the dollar bin, making them cheaper than online)

[Mobius]

I will always associate Garth Brooks with the episode of Beverly Hills 90210 (season 2) which featured "Friends in Low Places" and David Silver's friend killed himself while playing with his dad's gun.

[kosmo vinyl]

the director fills in the foundation nicely on gb....  I remember hearing that gb was a marketing major with the stated goal of outselling the beatles, which accounts for some of limited boxset in order to pump up sales.
 
 as far as artists making more money on digital... there was a story awhile back where cheap trick was suing their label because it was charging the band for the packing charges normally associated with cd production and marketing against download revenues.  in other words still sticking it to the artist

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Mobius:
  I will always associate Garth Brooks with the episode of Beverly Hills 90210 (season 2) which featured "Friends in Low Places" and David Silver's friend killed himself while playing with his dad's gun.

Great episode.  Scott was that kids name.  I think "Knocking on heaven's door" was also in that episode, but I'm not 100% positive.  I'll go with 75% positive.
 
 That was also where Brandon started dating Emily which really pissed off Andrea, exposing her love for Brandon.  Emily was hot.  It's all coming back to me now.

[martinrob]

Wow, and all this time I was lead to believe that people did not care so much for GB.  As for ripping off the fans, well they all do it in the end.  Thank bands like the Stars for releasing their new material early so that you can download it.  Then when the cd is released, there will be some scheme to make you buy another.  I am as big a fan of the mighty SP that you wil find but when they release multiple copies if the cd, with one bonus track as a ploy to make you buy another, that just sucks.
 Next, what about the Police selling out to Best Buy.  You need to be a member in order to purchase advanced tickets.  If you did not sign on by such and such date then you can become a member of their fanclub for an additional $150 then purchase tickets.
 You mention itunes, yes I can get my music digitally.  What is the scheme there?  Purchase the cd and maybe they will send you a password to purchase the tickets to a show earlier than the general public sale.  In my experience, itunes is less than 50% with this strategy.
 
 In the end, it is about the money but how much do they want it and how much do you want to spend?

[sweetcell]

Originally posted by martinrob:
  Wow, and all this time I was lead to believe that people did not care so much for GB.  As for ripping off the fans, well they all do it in the end.  Thank bands like the Stars for releasing their new material early so that you can download it.  Then when the cd is released, there will be some scheme to make you buy another.  I am as big a fan of the mighty SP that you wil find but when they release multiple copies if the cd, with one bonus track as a ploy to make you buy another, that just sucks.
 Next, what about the Police selling out to Best Buy.  You need to be a member in order to purchase advanced tickets.  If you did not sign on by such and such date then you can become a member of their fanclub for an additional $150 then purchase tickets.
 You mention itunes, yes I can get my music digitally.  What is the scheme there?  Purchase the cd and maybe they will send you a password to purchase the tickets to a show earlier than the general public sale.  In my experience, itunes is less than 50% with this strategy.
 
 In the end, it is about the money but how much do they want it and how much do you want to spend?

i have absolutely no idea what your point is.