Well, yeah. I mean, I guess they do. ‘Cause if they didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to take them seriously. 

Isn’t that right, Radiohead, Prince and Trent Reznor?

Well that’s what an agent from an unnamed music management company told me tonight. He said that I would never be taken seriously as long as I gave my music away at shows. That until I start selling something directly to fans, I’ll never be able to gain any real traction as a professional musician, that people don’t value something unless they have to pay for it. 

Now, maybe that’s true… and, after all, this was an agent at a *seemingly* legit company, although as far as I can tell, they only have five clients, and I’ve never heard of any of them. But for my money, it seems like thinking like that never really got anybody anywhere.

If the rapid evolution of technology has taught us anything, it’s that companies need to find new, fresh ways to make money, because more and more and more… content is free.

It’s free. Simple as that. Not subscription-based free, or pay-as-you-go free… it’s FREE free. As in, no cost to you, the consumer. BUT, if I can use that content to, say, peddle advertising… well now I’m getting paid, right? But not by you. No, you, as the end user, you get my content for absolutely nothing… but after listening to my FREE music, on my FREE website, maybe you suddenly have the urge to go buy a pair of pumas, or a carvin bass guitar, or you remembered suddenly that you need to go to Sam Ash. Now, how did that happen? And, oh yeah, maybe you wanna buy a ticket to one of my live shows…

Free content is the way of the future. If you’re writing, singing, playing an instrument, or whatever, selling those recordings to people is getting harder and harder. But there are more ways than one to skin a cat. Or, a record.

Look, the point is, as much as this guy was peddling himself as being from a ‘cutting edge’ company who’re ‘lightyears ahead’ of everyone else, he was just talking the same old trash. Or, at least, I heard the same old song and dance… and I wasn’t about to pay for it. When someone approaches me with a truly creative and unique way to make music make money, I hope I’ll have the presence of mind to pay attention. In this case, I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear anything ‘cutting edge,’ but hell… if it were free, I think I’d have considered it.

-Dapp