Switchfoot is Badder-Assed Than BRMC
Instead of mutely passing on a crippled no-rip no-iPod album to its fans, Switchfoot's Tim Foreman posted instructions for beating Sony's DRM to the band's messageboard. From his introduction:
Many PC users have posted problems that they have had importing the new songs (regular disc only, not the dual disc) into programs such as Itunes. Let me first say that as a musician AND as a music fan, I agree with the frustration that has been expressed. We were horrified when we first heard about the new copy-protection policy that is being implemented by most major labels, including Sony (ours), and immediately looked into all of our options for removing this from our new album. Unfortunately, this is the new policy for all new major releases from these record companies. It is heartbreaking to see our blood, sweat, and tears over the past 2 years blurred by the confusion and frustration surrounding this new technology. It is also unfortunate when bands such as ourselves, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, etc... (just a few of the new releases with copy protection) are the target of this criticism, when there is no possible way to avoid this new industry policy.Before everyone flames him about moving to an indie, consider that he's risking all sorts of ass-kicking by posting these instructions in defiance of the majors:
B) If you're a PC user, and you haven't yet tried to import the the disk yet, download and install a free program called CDEX from http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/downloads.php. Now hold down the shift button while inserting the switchfoot CD (this disables the auto-run feature on the CD). Make sure that you hold it down until you are sure that nothing has run (maybe 60 seconds). Once the CD is loaded without auto-running it's software, open the CDEX program, and select tracks 1-12 (Lonely Nation-Daisy), excluding data tracks 13 and 14. THen select the top icon on the right side of the program "Extract CD tracks to WAV files". THis will extract them to your mymusic folder. Open iTunes and drag the .wav files you created into your itunes library, and you're done, and free to convert the songs into mp3, or whatever format you wish. (If you've already tried to import another copy protected CD like Foo Fighters, etc..., you may already have the protection software installed on your computer, and should go to plan C.(Careful readers will note that the message board is really at sonymusic.com...)
Click here for plan C...
(via Slashdot)
Posted at 10:29 AM
It is good to see artists who take a stand against labels. Record company's who fight against the way of the future instead of embracing and finding a way to exploit it will be left in the dust.
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It is good to see artists who take a stand against labels. Record company's who fight against the way of the future instead of embracing and finding a way to exploit it will be left in the dust.
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Now that's a great post. I don't know who Switchfoot is, but I commend them for standing up to their label.
And, really, is this "Digital Rights Management" anything other than a PR move by the big labels to assuage Congress and the RIAA that they give a shit about their artists? If they really cared, they would offer them more than the 3 percent of royalties they receive after their bloated A&R departments are finished paying off crooked radio stations. The artists have nothing to do with this--it's the labels that are screwing them. The irony is inescapable, though, for the supposedly political groups.
Savvy music listeners will find a way around any stupid roadblock, just like they did with Macrovision--the lame DVD copy protection.
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excellente post jim, never listened to Switchfoot but definitely agree with Sir Geets and maranthonpacks that they deserve a huge attaboy on that one! Standing up for what you believe and going against the man is extremely a scary proposition to do these days and kudo's to Mr. Foreman and company for having some large ones & doing just that!
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Not very Christian of them. Hence, I approve.
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Sweet. Maybe a lot of artists will get pissed about this and leave the major labels. Or maybe customers will get fed up and stop buying these "CDs." Probably not though.
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It's too bad Switchfoot makes some of THE worst music out.
You can file them under "Alt Crossover Shite" along with Nickelback, Hoobastank, Staind and Puddle of Mudd.
Bleck.
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Hey, at least their heart's in the right place.
Somewhere in our comments they were compared to U2, or at least someone claimed they were "influenced" by U2.
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The Coldplay record came with DRM?
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geez louise mandy, shit on my whole my iTunes library why don't you...
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At least someone's taking a stand. Even if they do suck.
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Another development of a similar ilk--Virgin/EMI now owns Korn--sharing in all profits generated by the band, including touring, merchandising and promotional appearances. Here's a quote from a label exec who's apparently recently suffered a severe head injury:
"KoRn's uncompromising and innovative approach to music has created some of the world's most intense, most memorable sonics, earning the band a deep, lasting and all encompassing bond with their fans. All of us at Virgin are thrilled to embark on a partnership with KoRn, a band that not only defined a genre, but with this incredible new album, moves beyond it."
As we all know, Korn sucks and always has, but this signing represents what could become a disturbing trend of labels "owning" artists--literally now, not just ideologically as they currently do, by attempting to lock their music permanently into the acetate purchased.
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Since when haven't major labels gotten a piece of touring and merchandise revenues?
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Actually, they generally don't. The label will advance a ton of money to pay for the tour, but if it recoups, they don't get what's left over. And they generally have nothing to do with merchandising (which now is more often than not handled by a third party, so while the band gets a bigger cut than they do from most revenue streams, they still don't see all that much). Agreements like this are actually pretty good for the artist, and splitting all the revenue down the middle is a pretty common practice on indie labels. I think Sub Pop pioneered the concept back in the early 90's, though I could be wrong. They usually compensate for cutting into other revenue streams by giving a much, much bigger cut of album sales (like, 50% as opposed to 3%), and while the press release doesn't say this explicitly it's sort of implied. In theory, these "partnerships" are better long-run for artist and label alike, and it's good that the majors are starting to figure it out (though I'm sure they can find a way to pervert the model and screw everyone). If the labels can get a cut of merchandise and tour income, they can stop being totally reliant on record sales for their income, which is good for everyone. But yeah, Korn still suck. And how did Virgin type those backwards "R"s in the PR?
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That was a great post, Justin. Thanks for clarifying that issue.
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I knew i liked that switchfood band more than creed.
(I actually secretly kinda like that last big single they had...oh for shame!)
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Check out Switchfoot's first album (from '97), The Legend of Chin. One of my favs...nice and indie rock. Don't know what happened.
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Well they have my respect- and yeah I agree that big single they had was mucchhhh better than your Hoobastanks and such. Bravo
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i would have to agree about the comment on "legend of chin". check out the bands first 3 albums, pre-"cross-over". full of sweet quirky surf-pop. then... things got... bigger... and... worse...er
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