Idlewild's post file-sharing blues
by Martin Belam, 15 June 2009
Last week the new CD by Idlewild - "Post-Electric Blues" - arrived at our house. Like several bands before them including Marillion, the recording and pressing of the album was financed by getting their fan base to pre-order it in return for a physical CD and a mention inside the sleeve.
As well as a booklet featuring my wife's name, the CD came with a small note imploring fans not to upload the album to file-sharing sites.
"Thank you very much for pre-ordering this album. Your support is much appreciated, as is your patience during all the teething problems we've encountered along the way - it's been a steep learning curve for us, so thanks for your understanding.
Each album is electronically watermarked to prevent and track internet uploads so we kindly ask you to honour the ideals behind Idlewild's first self-release. You, our fans, paid for this album in advance so you would receive it before a general release. Please don't give it away for free.
Keep visiting members.idlewildmusic.com for exclusive offers, updates and blogs. We hope you've enjoyed being part of this process as much as we have...and hopefully we'll see you somewhere, sometime soon."
So far the appeal seems to have worked. Although a leak could have come from anywhere along the supply chain, I'm yet to spot the album on the usual BitTorrent search engines.
Updated 16/6/2009 - it seems I spoke too soon
Hey Martin,
I paid in to the fan-funding option, too. Got the CD on Friday, so my name's amongst the liner notes, too.
Didn't see the P2P note, though.
Was at the Dingwalls gig a few weeks back.
I love Idlewild.. I'd like to buy that album too. It's good that it hasn't appeared on file sharing places, but I strongly suspect it will before long. The file sharers rarely miss out. Some of the videos are already on youtube so I guess it wouldn't be that hard to rip it then convert it into mp3. I wouldn't know how, but i'm sure there's a way.
I hope the fans hear the appeal and respect it enough not to file share. It's gutting when you work your a$@e off only to see no reward! And I feel sorry for the small time musicians and bands who are in it to make a living, NOT to make MILLIONS, up against the likes of Sony and EMI. Bleugh!