Q&A with Buzzo on the phoenix.com

[(((O)))]

If they're gonna forget about making traditional "studio" albums because of cost i think they should just release downloadable LIVE releases from their own website. One small payment and you get a live show for each gig they do or tour or such. They could perfom new stuff and that recording would then be the record. They're better live anyway so why not play to that strength. They could still record the occasional studio song and make that available or a boxset or some other limited edition tour merch type stuff. To me that sounds like the perfect way of working for any band that has a similar or bigger following. A living subsidised by ticket prices, merch sales and downloadable live gigs without ANY studio or production overhead costs.

[jonE5]

Excellent interview! Thank you

[FartLips]

Buzz is wrong on this account: the music industry is most to blame for flooding the market for so long with so much crap that people felt they had to sample the merchandise and then started jacking up the prices to twenty bucks a pop. Don't you guys remember that? Prices came back down but by then the damage was done and the downloading infrastructure was firmly entrenched. Add to that the public's disdain for the industry for all the wallet abuse, and you get current environment. Pandora's BOX!
.

[Bigval]

Buzz is wrong on this account: the music industry is most to blame for flooding the market for so long with so much crap that people felt they had to sample the merchandise and then started jacking up the prices to twenty bucks a pop. Don't you guys remember that? Prices came back down but by then the damage was done and the downloading infrastructure was firmly entrenched. Add to that the public's disdain for the industry for all the wallet abuse, and you get current environment. Pandora's BOX!
.

Too true, it was all the greedy labels that wrecked it. People just gave the industry the middle finger. Unfortunately the bands are stuck in the middle of that but if you've got your wits about you they can still make a good living from being a full-time musician as the Melvins no doubt do.

[(((O)))]

Don't you guys remember that? Prices came back down but by then the damage was done and the downloading infrastructure was firmly entrenched.

Perhaps but realistically it didnt matter if the prices came down to next to nothing. Like Buzz has said before "people's sense of entitlement is astounding". Everyone wants something for free. The public are usually all too easily won over by supposedly "new" technological developments and opportunities. In light of this, downloading was never going to be prevented or a solution put into practice.

[EGO the Living Planet]

Vinyl sells less than it ever has, I don

[oldernie]

some good ideas mentioned here, kickstarter is definately the way forward in my opinion,
i have backed a few projects on there already, and i think the way it works is great.
the more you pay the more you get. if melvins put a record on kickstarter with various price points with bonus things chucked in, even test pressings at a set price etc, it will raise lots of funds before they even need to spend a penny. and then the people who really want this stuff would get a fair shot at it rather than having to pay evilbay for it.

also the way the residents used to do things is worth copying i would have thought. the whole idea of being in a fan club and securing all limited editions released in that year.  how many melvins fans would happily pay $30 a year just to reserve a numbered edition of all upcoming limited editions. i know i would.
and the residents always sell lots of dog tags with download codes. which is done by many bands but i havent seen melvins get in on this yet but i think they would do well out of it, for example, i dont download, i like hard copies of everything, but if they had a dog tag for $10 on the merch stand i would be buying it anyway as it would be something i would want to own. like buzz says, the music is free, and that is a way of putting the free music onto a tangible object.