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keithwhu asked Paul Williams: "How are music charts compiled these days? If they are solely based on CD sales, how accurate an idea of a bands popularity can they give?"
Paul Williams answer: "The charts are extremely accurate; in fact they are more accurate than they’ve ever been. They’re based on every conceivable music sale that can be recorded. So that includes CD’s, vinyl and downloads...." Show more»" The charts are extremely accurate; in fact they are more accurate than they’ve ever been. They’re based on every conceivable music sale that can be recorded. So that includes CD’s, vinyl and downloads. In terms of what recorded music was sold last week they couldn’t be more accurate. However in terms of what the charts tell us these days; although they tell us about one aspect of popularity, they are no longer the perfect guide to tell you who the most popular acts at this moment are. They will tell you who are the most popular acts in terms of selling music, but there lots of other factors now that determine how popular artists are. For instance, how much they gross from touring, how many hits they have on MySpace, how many times they appear on TV and the radio. There are all sorts of measurements nowadays. It’s only by looking across different factors that you can make any kind of judgement about artist popularity. If you were to look at the music charts over the last twenty years to judge how successful the Rolling Stones have been during that period you would think that they had lost their way and must be struggling now. But if you look at their touring revenue you think wow they’re the biggest band on the planet. "Show less«
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0 comment | Topic: Arts and entertainment | Email to friends | Dec 27 2007 10:50:11 AM

DonLogan asked Paul Williams: "Download sites, such as I-tunes, are transforming the way in which we buy music by allowing consumers to purchase individual tracks rather than shelling out for the whole album. Do you think that artists..." Show more »"Download sites, such as I-tunes, are transforming the way in which we buy music by allowing consumers to purchase individual tracks rather than shelling out for the whole album. Do you think that artists can survive by making albums where only one or two songs show a financial return? Is this the end of the 'long-player'?" Show less »
Paul Williams answer: "It will change the business model. Over the last thirty years the money made by record companies has been generated by selling albums. Because ITunes, and other services, allow people to unbundle albums..." Show more»" It will change the business model. Over the last thirty years the money made by record companies has been generated by selling albums. Because ITunes, and other services, allow people to unbundle albums into individual tracks people no longer have to go out and buy an entire album. I think that the record companies, in a lot of cases, have been guilty of putting out not very good albums, that contain some tracks that people want and a lot of filler. The difficulty record companies have now is this perception that all albums aren’t that good and there are only a few good tracks on them. The seed has been planted in the public’s head that most albums aren’t very good apart from the singles. However in the early sixties most music was sold as singles, and there would only be certain acts who would successfully sell albums. While we may be going back to that there will always be room for artists to make albums. "Show less«
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0 comment | Topic: Arts and entertainment | Email to friends | Dec 27 2007 10:48:43 AM

JohnDuffy asked Paul Williams: "Will the art of studio recording suffer as artists are marginalized by the constraints of time and money? Lest we forget The Beatles and Brian Wilson created legendary recordings while completely omitting..." Show more »"Will the art of studio recording suffer as artists are marginalized by the constraints of time and money? Lest we forget The Beatles and Brian Wilson created legendary recordings while completely omitting the distractions pertained to live performance." Show less »
Paul Williams answer: "Not necessarily. Certainly now most of an artist’s income comes from live revenues. The Beatles and The Beach Boys spent hours in the recording studio, but only in their later careers. Over the past thirty..." Show more»" Not necessarily. Certainly now most of an artist’s income comes from live revenues. The Beatles and The Beach Boys spent hours in the recording studio, but only in their later careers. Over the past thirty years or so the recording process has slowed down, partly because there’s much better equipment now so people can indulge themselves with technology. Also the issuing of albums has slowed down; the pattern now tends to be to release an album every three years. "Show less«
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0 comment | Topic: Arts and entertainment | Email to friends | Dec 27 2007 10:48:12 AM

mickthemouse asked Paul Williams: "Record company executives used to play god by deciding which music the public actually gets to hear. So how it is it a bad thing that anyone can now release music digitally without having to grovel to..." Show more »"Record company executives used to play god by deciding which music the public actually gets to hear. So how it is it a bad thing that anyone can now release music digitally without having to grovel to a ‘suit’? Doesn't a completely unregulated marketplace provide a utopia for our sophisticated and diverse tastes? " Show less »
Paul Williams answer: "I don’t think that it’s bad at all; in fact it’s very democratic. It certainly has been the case up until now that, generally, the only music that people got to hear pre-internet was at the whim and the..." Show more»" I don’t think that it’s bad at all; in fact it’s very democratic. It certainly has been the case up until now that, generally, the only music that people got to hear pre-internet was at the whim and the tastes of record companies. So therefore there was a lot of music out there that people might have liked but would never have come across. "Show less«
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0 comment | Topic: Arts and entertainment | Email to friends | Dec 27 2007 10:47:02 AM

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