Music News for Week Feb. 25 - Mar. 3

Where Should You Buy Your Music?

You may have noticed an occurring theme with the poll questions I have asked on The Crescendo the past 2 weeks.  I have asked the questions of where do you buy your music and how do you usually get your music fix.  I was surprised to see that all of the answers were iTunes or other digital music downloading.
I realize that iTunes and digital music downloading is becoming very popular and the most convenient way to obtain music for most people, but did you know that music artists only receive 60 to 75 cents per song that is sold on iTunes?

Wouldn't you like for the larger chunk of the money that you paid to purchase the music go directly to the artist?  I don't know about y'all, but I want the most of my money spent on an artist's music to go directly to that artist and not to some distributor or record label or any another greedy person that didn't have a hand in producing the music artist's album.  So, how do you get the most money to an artist from their album that they released?

Well, you can listen and preview a new album for free on Youtube (hosts non-sanctioned user-uploaded streams), rdio (pay a subscription fee to have access to a selection of cloud-based streaming albums), or sites like NPR Music, which doesn't count as a purchase, but musicians still don't walk away empty handed.  Music artists actually receive $0.0017 per song.

If you buy music from a brick and mortar record store then music artists receive between 5 and 7 dollars per album.

However, to get the most money to a music artist or band is to  buy directly from their websites or at their shows.  Because when you buy a CD on the artist's website or at their show the musicians function as a retail store.

Forget this iTunes and music downloading stuff!  Buy directly from your favorite artist or band, so they can make some money and support themselves and their families and they can keep making the music you love.  Plus nothing beats having the actual physical CD or a record in your possession, but that's just my opinion.  

So, will you start buying directly from your favorite artist or band or are you going to keep buying from iTunes or other digital music downloading sites?  Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

~ Peace, Happiness, and Music~

Lucinda Williams' New Album

Lucinda Williams, new album, "Blessed" is amazing!  BUY the CD!!!  It's incredible you won't regret buying it I promise. 
Here's my favorite song off of Lucinda's new album.  It's the perfect KISS OFF song!!!

Video:  " Buttercup" By Lucinda Williams