Statement from Frontiers regarding album leaks

[Glen]

Frontiers will no longer be supplying promotional MP3s prior to release.

Personally I think they should go back to voice over samples - no-one would want to upload or download those.

 

Of course this won't stop people uploading the product once its been released, but at least they would have to buy it first.

Statement -

I think very little in 2016 is more disappointing for a record label than seeing an album leak before it's official release date.

Let's admit it....nowadays the marketing strategies employed by most labels allows fans to download and stream a substantial amount of music prior to the release of a new album. Fans get multiple tracks when they pre-order an album digitally or can even go stream them on a service like Spotify or YouTube, without paying any money. So, truly, it is difficult to understand, even from a fan's perspective (and I am a music fan first and foremost), why there is such a need to try and find and download music illegally on piracy sites and blogs which has not yet been officially released.

Moreover, you need to keep in mind that these "pirates" are actually making money off of other's backs here. While you download for free, probably thinking you are smart because you are saving your own money, you are doing two harmful things. First: you are taking away the compensation due to the artist and the record label who have spent significant time and financial efforts to make that music available for you (but, probably you could care less about that). Second: you allow the very people that put the music out for free to make themselves REAL money by selling advertisements on their sites and blogs. Some of these "pirates" are so persistent with their uploading of illegal materials, that you have to assume that this must be their full time job, especially considering the amount of time that it is needed to rip and re-upload full albums on the web, when their own sites/blogs get shut down by the providers after takedown notices. And all this goes on when there are popular, easy to use, LEGAL streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, YouTube, etc. available that give everyone the easy convenience to stream music while paying very little or even nothing at all for the privilege.

I really would love if everyone could understand and agree that the promotional needs of a label are such that we can no longer constantly face the risk of having an album leaked prior to the release. Considering that systems such as watermarked MP3 downloads and watermarked CDs do not prevent these leaks from happening all the time, it is no surprise to see that many labels decide to postpone releasing priority releases to journalists until the day of the release. We will now be one of those labels as we feel we must take a serious and strong stand against these leaks. Further, we will not be allowing any more promotional downloads of our albums, regardless if it is watermarked or not. It is just not right, nor respectful to everyone's valuable time, hard work and efforts to keep going like this, so we have to ask for everyone's respect, cooperation and understanding here. Unfortunately, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch and now this is what happens.

It is 2016 and journalists - who use their "ink" all the time to push for progress and technology - surely can understand that the world is moving forward and abuses of technology to work against the creative process are something we can't facilitate.

Pardon the rant and keep on enjoying the music - BOYCOTT pirate sites and blogs!

Mario de Riso
Head of Label Management / Legal Affairs
Frontiers Records

[heavyharmonies]

Further, we will not be allowing any more promotional downloads of our albums, regardless if it is watermarked or not.

Actually, that reads to me that they will not be providing promo audio to anyone at ANY time.

 

Talk about killing buzz on new releases.

 

Oh well, no more Frontiers audio samples on HH then.

 

I bet that people will still be able to get clips via Amazon. All this does is hurt the indy websites.

[heavyharmonies]

As I posted over at MR in the discussion there:

 

All this does is delay the pirating and torrenting until the day of release. It doesn't STOP anything.

 

For the last 10+ years (almost 15 actually) I have made 60-second clips of songs from Frontiers releases available to my visitors (with Frontiers' explicit permission).

 

Well, that's over. I've received confirmation that the only promotional audio will be streaming only (no download) and nothing until date of release.

 

I'm not about to try and manually record sample clips from the streams to make them available. Presumably people will still be able to go to Amazon and hear samples; all this does is put the independent music websites at a major disadvantage, further eroding the scene.

 

Not to mention this means ZERO promotion of Frontiers artists on any online radio stations until after the date of release.

 

My guess: Frontiers artists will suffer more from the lack of prerelease "buzz" than they did from any leakage. Like I initially said, this does NOTHING to stop pirating; it just delays it and hurts the promotional "partners" that have been promoting the label.

 

As a longtime promotional partner of Frontiers this is VERY disappointing.

[PeterS]

Are people that bothered about hearing samples anyway I'd far rather just get the full album and listen to it as a single full piece of work.

The whole leaking whole albums before a full release is unfortunate but, as pointed out, probably doesn't equate to any sizeable lost sales. The world is now streaming anyway. CDs and mp3 will be dead within the next few years.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Are people that bothered about hearing samples anyway I'd far rather just get the full album and listen to it as a single full piece of work.

So, you're saying you'd rather wait till the day of release, and buy the full album blindly?

 

 

The whole leaking whole albums before a full release is unfortunate but, as pointed out, probably doesn't equate to any sizeable lost sales. The world is now streaming anyway. CDs and mp3 will be dead within the next few years.

Truu!

[Dead Planet]

I never buy cds on the day they are released, waiting a bit longer to hear samples online is fine by me... although I agree this does nothing about piracy and in the end will probably only hurt the bands....

[AlphaMale]

Nothing will stop the leaking of album online, even if it's on the release date.

 

It's unstoppable.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Nothing will stop the leaking of album online, even if it's on the release date.

 

"Leaking" suggests it's on the line prior to its intended release date.

[Fat Freddy]

(shrugs) Whatever. I only own a handful of Frontiers releases anyway. Aside from Stryper and Whitesnake there's not much on their roster that interests me...

[Nightrain]

Piracy cannot be stopped as long as you can buy 1 cd and rip it by yourself and then upload it. I guess one way to solve this problem is through crowdfunding.

 

Frontiers announce say 20-30 projects and see who gets the most interest then announce the crowdfunding for that project with an aim to finance at least 50-60% and Frontiers invest the rest. With this, they can reduce half the cost and most of the crowd are true fans who has very little intention to leak the album.

 

I believe this strategy will improve their profit and reduce piracy, not eliminate of course.

[PeterS]

 

Are people that bothered about hearing samples anyway I'd far rather just get the full album and listen to it as a single full piece of work.

So, you're saying you'd rather wait till the day of release, and buy the full album blindly?

 

 

The whole leaking whole albums before a full release is unfortunate but, as pointed out, probably doesn't equate to any sizeable lost sales. The world is now streaming anyway. CDs and mp3 will be dead within the next few years.

Truu!

 

I use Google Play Music .

 

Back in the day I'd buy everything on the day it was released. There would be a buzz because of reviews (Probably Kerrang) and then the excitement of going down the record shop and then listening the first time. There never were any samples.

 

Frontiers are making their music available for review. Just not download. Hope it works for them. Whether you like their output or not I hope everybody respects the passion and effort they put into our music. Somehow feels like the wrong move but if it keeps them providing more music all power to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geoff]

Yeah, I feel for Frontiers and anyone in their situation. But as pointed out, the sad truth is there is nothing that can be done to stop piracy as it's just how the world of music is now. I wish them good luck and hope this works for them, but as Dan clearly points out the obvious, all it seems to be doing to me is delaying the inevitable.

 

If you're not paying for an album it's not going to matter for one second if you get the album on the 5th of March compared to the 20th of March (for example). I know in my instance, when buying CDs or not, I know I've personally only taken note of about 5 release dates in the last 20 years. There is just so much music everywhere, that who cares? When the music's there it's there. It'll still sound the same a month after the release date as it did on the release date.

 

Anyway, no disrespect to Frontiers. I understand their frustration and hope this brings them some peace, but like I said, it's 2016 and this is how it is and sadly there's nothing anyone can really do about it.

 

And what do y'all mean there will be no MP3's in a few years? CDs, sure. I get that. Do they even still exist now? lol. But MP3's being replaced by streaming? Wtf? I've never heard of any such thing. So you mean no-one will want a permanent copy of their music anymore, and that it'll only be streamed when they want to hear it? If that's what you mean, I'd have to strongly disagree. I can't see a day ever that there will be no demand to have a permanent copy of music that people love, whether that be in CD format or MP3.

[Glen]

I do think that it will reduce the availability of illegal downloads of albums.....perhaps not across music in general but definitely in our small genre.

 

Let's not act dumb here - there are one or 2 arseholes in our small genre who actively upload every god damned release onto their pointless little blogs and are damaging an already strained scene.

 

I honestly don't think half as many albums will get uploaded to these blogs if they weren't all handed to these individuals on a plate free of charge 6-8 weeks before release date.

 

We will see.

[martinsane]

Frontiers is the problem on this. They have the ability to share these downloads for promo with reputable people. I know I get advances from various labels and management companies and never share.

 

Agree it will hurt artists and eliminate any pre release buzz/or/etc...

[PeterS]

 

And what do y'all mean there will be no MP3's in a few years? CDs, sure. I get that. Do they even still exist now? lol. But MP3's being replaced by streaming? Wtf? I've never heard of any such thing. So you mean no-one will want a permanent copy of their music anymore, and that it'll only be streamed when they want to hear it? If that's what you mean, I'd have to strongly disagree. I can't see a day ever that there will be no demand to have a permanent copy of music that people love, whether that be in CD format or MP3.

 

Won't be long before the speed and availability of the internet means you really don't need a local copy. Whether you're in your car, on a train or even on a plane it will be there with enough performance to stream from anywhere at cd quality.

 

Something I've been saying for 10 years...

 

I guess the point about hard disk is that it won't have to be your hard disk.

 

I've said before that I can see music going the direction of central storage and then you listen to the music over the internet. Video will probably go the same way. It could even be argued it is more likely to go that way becuase PPV is already a functioning business model.

 

Do you really need to own a disk to watch a film? All that is required is that you can download the film in realtime.

 

Personally I think the blue ray technology will be a success becuase the internet is not quite quick enough yet but longer term I'm not too sure. I would have bet on the Sony standard as the PS3 should be the vehicle to push it into most houses in the same was as the PS2 was my first DVD player but with all the delays and the high price of the PS3 I'm not so sure.

 

[kourosofsteel3]

Piracy cannot be stopped as long as you can buy 1 cd and rip it by yourself and then upload it. I guess one way to solve this problem is through crowdfunding.

 

Frontiers announce say 20-30 projects and see who gets the most interest then announce the crowdfunding for that project with an aim to finance at least 50-60% and Frontiers invest the rest. With this, they can reduce half the cost and most of the crowd are true fans who has very little intention to leak the album.

 

I believe this strategy will improve their profit and reduce piracy, not eliminate of course.

 

 

Buddy, seriously, did you read again what you 've just typed? Your proposal sounds like modern day cyber inquisition.

[Glen]

 

And what do y'all mean there will be no MP3's in a few years? CDs, sure. I get that. Do they even still exist now? lol. But MP3's being replaced by streaming? Wtf? I've never heard of any such thing. So you mean no-one will want a permanent copy of their music anymore, and that it'll only be streamed when they want to hear it? If that's what you mean, I'd have to strongly disagree. I can't see a day ever that there will be no demand to have a permanent copy of music that people love, whether that be in CD format or MP3.

Won't be long before the speed and availability of the internet means you really don't need a local copy. Whether you're in your car, on a train or even on a plane it will be there with enough performance to stream from anywhere at cd quality.

 

Something I've been saying for 10 years...

 

 

I guess the point about hard disk is that it won't have to be your hard disk.

 

I've said before that I can see music going the direction of central storage and then you listen to the music over the internet. Video will probably go the same way. It could even be argued it is more likely to go that way becuase PPV is already a functioning business model.

 

Do you really need to own a disk to watch a film? All that is required is that you can download the film in realtime.

 

Personally I think the blue ray technology will be a success becuase the internet is not quite quick enough yet but longer term I'm not too sure. I would have bet on the Sony standard as the PS3 should be the vehicle to push it into most houses in the same was as the PS2 was my first DVD player but with all the delays and the high price of the PS3 I'm not so sure.

 

streaming cannot take over from MP3s until wifi access is available everywhere - I really cannot see this happening in the foreseeable future - and by that I mean the next 10 years at least.

 

Its taking train companies forever to obtain wifi access - ours is the only line even considering it here in the UK and its still 2 years off at least.

 

Unless they can provide some open access which actually works.

 

Other music formats will never disappear, just shrink.

 

Look at vinyl - its making a comeback now with people getting all retro.

[kourosofsteel3]

Frontiers seems and acts like a cheated husband/wife.

 

And still mostly hurts the ones that support her the most ( like Dan wrote).

 

 

Also they should try to find different ways to allocate their funds and change their strategic planning.

 

 

Seriously, what does the artist mean with this phrase: " that the world is moving forward and abuses of technology to work against the creative process are something we can't facilitate"?

 

Is this Neo-luddism disquised?

 

Hello, technology is merely a tool only!

 

Do your artists still use analog machine tapes?

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Why don't they just distribute promo copies on cassettes? Problem solved. Next!

[Glen]

I bet you can rip from that too ;-)

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I bet you can rip from that too ;-)

I said next!!

[DeLaCruz]

One comment below the facebook post in particular resonated with me:

 

Maybe it's time to rethink release dates, instead of complaining how the decades-old promotional model is broken. I don't understand why advance copies are necessary. If, say, Toto has a new record coming out, don't tell me how great it is but then tell me I can't listen to it for another 2 months. Just go "the new album is done! Here it is." Reviews can still be written after an album is released, unless the only thing that matters is first-week sales, which is an idea that really needs to die. A good album is just as good a month, a year, a decade after it's released as it was on the release date. There's no MTV, or good rock radio anymore, so the idea of serving videos and singles to build up albums seems very out of date and unnecessary. I don't need to know about albums I can't actually go listen to yet.

 

While not directly aimed at the issue frontiers raised, I've been asking myself the same question like what the fuck!!??!?!?!?!?!? this needs to stop just release the music we love and want to hear don't be teasing us with that type of shit. take the inglorious release for example, people who have been wanting to hear it know about the album coming out since........ at least october. the album's been done since LOOOOOOOOONG before that. when is it coming out though?? fucking end of february i mean come on!!!!!!!!!

[Glen]

Did you read Paul Logues (of Edens Curse) comments - he explained the reasons why. Ill copy and paste his comments later for you. Will make sense then

 

Cheers

[Geoff]

 

streaming cannot take over from MP3s until wifi access is available everywhere - I really cannot see this happening in the foreseeable future - and by that I mean the next 10 years at least.

 

Its taking train companies forever to obtain wifi access - ours is the only line even considering it here in the UK and its still 2 years off at least.

 

Unless they can provide some open access which actually works.

 

Other music formats will never disappear, just shrink.

 

Look at vinyl - its making a comeback now with people getting all retro.

 

 

Yeah, I stand by what I said originally. I can't see this happening at all. There's a reason people build up a music collection of the music they like, whether it be hard copy or MP3 - it's to have easy and constant access to the music you like, without having to think too much about it. Imagine just randomly streaming every time you wanted to hear something. How would you keep track of what you may have heard and liked? I mean, I assume there'd be libraries of stuff you've heard and/or rated and you could pick your favourites and stuff, I guess I don't know. I just can't see this taking off at all, but I'll admit I'm wrong if it ever does.

 

And as Glen points out, in the UK it's a long time away before wifi is around the place... multiply that by 1000 for Australia. Eg. trains etc. Even our broadband network leaves a lot to be desired outside of any capital city. To get the entire country up and running at a workable, let alone stream-able wifi service level seems lifetimes away... and we're not exactly a third world country here.

[simo]

True, what I think is gonna happen sooner than worldwide Wi-Fi is providers offering data plans cheaper and cheaper so that a few years from now that will be the standard - most people will have unlimited internet data with their plans so that's how they will use the streaming services.