How can I send a meaningful message back out to a band to show how much I appreciate what they’ve done? How can both the content providers and myself get a fair deal? There’s so much talk and blame about online piracy where record companies and artists are directly losing revenue while the consumers have clunky access to the content. I’ve been talking a bit about an Annie Lennox record lately, and it serves well to contemplate what I can do to vote with my wallet without feeling like I just paid into a legion of corporate intermediaries that are not the artist. When I bought a copy of “Diva” at Walmart for $5 plus tax I can’t imagine that even 1 cent made it back to England. I honestly would feel the same if I had bought a $5 or even $10 digital download from Amazon or iTunes, or a $15 CD from my local fye or Best Buy retailer. Nevermind if I had bought it used. I assume that the revenue of even a fully priced, legitimate retail record will dry out like the Colorado River trickling into Mexico.

I’m probably wrong with that cynical view of the record business, and it’s unfair to credit just the artist’s name on the record with all the hard work. Even if I could find a way to send some dollars directly to Ms. Lennox, it just wouldn’t be fair unless I also sent some dollars to everyone listed in the liner notes. In the aggregate it’s much more efficient and fair to just pay through the big box retailers, but for the price it feels like being leeched with markups, fees, and sinister accounting. The most obviously least beneficial way to show you appreciate an artist is to straight up P2P download their entire discography. Just slightly better is to ‘Like’ them on Facebook or to buy their records used. Nice gesture, but no benefit to the artist. Next is to buy their record for $5 at Walmart, and better is to buy the album on sale for $5 as a digital download. We’re still sandbagging in ‘loss leader’ territory. Even better (maybe) is to buy their CD (retail full price) and pat yourself on the back for paying a huge markup on some mass produced scraps of plastic made in Mexico.

Anecdotally (it’s too late at night to cite a bunch of references) the artists work on the assumption that record sales, at best, will get them to break even on the burden of their record contracts. They know that the real business is in touring, so you might say the better way to show your support for a band is to get out and see them live. I like this idea because it’s fun, loud, and you’re welcome to get wasted, make a run for the stage, and try to hump the drums. (Disclaimer: Just be content if you can only manage to be lewd to the bouncer as they’re grabbing you by the face.) I imagine that with the ticket sales, the absurdly expensive yet irresistible T-shirts, and the free soda refill at truck stops, the band can come out ahead alright and they can sort of connect with their (wasted) fans. Maybe the best way I’ve found to directly contribute to and encourage an artist is with the ‘kickstarter’ kind of model, such as with PledgeMusic.com. Last Fall I was happy to learn that Esthero was working on a new album, that she was ‘free’ from a distributor in the USA, and that she was calling on fans to help put it together. She offered some great incentives to pledge, like a signed copy of the new CD for $25, one of her unique finger-paintings for your fridge at $50, or going all in with tattooing your initials on her ass for $150,000. I’m not sure What I’d want to talk about if I bought into one of the other hosted activities (like karaoke or Uno in LA) but at least I put in a good word on the forum. She was genuinely gracious with all of that and excited when the project hit its goal. I know I felt pretty great first when I got to download the new record the night before release, then second when the physical CD came in the mail (though I haven’t opened the package yet). I feel like I got a good delivery of the material and I directly gave meaningful support.