Paper about Netlabels

Originally posted by : Syndaesia

Hi guys, I'm writing a paper for college about netlabels, their evolution & position in our modern society. I was hoping that some of you could answer me a few questions that I could include in my paper as a short interview. Your artist names+references will be included at the back of this project. By the way, Electrobel is hinted at in the paper as well... Your answers can be short, I have no problem with that, as long as they are formal & honest :D Just post them here in this thread. Right? Here we go:

1. In which way have netlabels aided you in promoting your music (as in getting more gigs, releases, etc.)?

2. What is your opinion about Sabbam & their relationship towards artists, festival-organisers, etc.

3)What do you think netlabels will provide in the near future? Will they have an impact, will they leave their mark on cultural history? And if so, in which way?

4)Do you find the structure of today's netlabels satisfying, or do you think some things could be improved? And if so, how?

I have to hand in my paper the 5th of january, so people who still find a bit of spare time and want to help me out, post your answers! I'm already happy if 3 or 4 people reply:P

Thx a lot! Syndaesia

I don't know if it helps since I'm not a musician. Well, not an active one in electronic music, only 12-string guitar ^^ Just put 'Je m'en fish coördinator' or something

1. I leave that choice open to my musicians, obviously, but I think it's a great way of getting starting artists 'into the picture'.

2. A lot of people have a crusade against Sabam; I personally work with the system, fill in their documents, and I need to say...organisations like Sabam are probably needed for larger artists, but Sabam in particular is a hassle to work with, using outdated documents and very, VERY unclear paperwork. You can fill in their authorisation for concert-paper 2 times for the same location and get wildly fluctuating prices, also.

3. Netlabels could be very influential, but I thibk the options are limited: sooner or later a track on a netlabel will become popular, and the general option now is that that artist takes a step further and goes to Sabam or similar. This is quite logical: Netlabels and creative commons licenses are hardly ever under contract, the guidelines are incredibly unclear (while a copyright infrigement under sabam is strictly defined), and, worst part, most netlabels do not officially exist as an organisation. As such, their website can be closed down in minutes, your work could go offline, and if it resurfaces under another artist, you have no paperwork to defend yourself.

So for the time being, the platform is limited.

4. Netlabels, such as everything, will have good cases, and black sheep. It's up to everyone to find out which one is which, but it's really different from a person looking at his music as a hobby and putting it on a netlabel, or a person who looks at it as a way of art and maybe even wants to live moderately out of his work one day. Because for the last case, it's extremely risky atm to go posting your work everywhere online.