Une Enfant Du Siècle News/Discussion!

[djwise]

Leaks happen. They happen to the smallest of artists & they happen to the biggest of artists. Especially in this digital age. Sad that this happens, but life still goes on. The best you can do is not worry about the link and only check out the album when it is officially released. And, as my good friend UniCom likes to say, "You must believe in Lili."

[Lucian_RO]

I wish this hadn't happened, and I don't think it was a good idea to make a thread for it. Now the chances that it goes largely unnoticed are close to nil. Alizée doesn't deserve something like this, so please don't let yourselves tempted to search for it.

[Ruroshen]

Originally Posted by Lucian_RO

I wish this hadn't happened, and I don't think it was a good idea to make a thread for it. Now the chances that it goes largely unnoticed are close to nil. Alizée doesn't deserve something like this, so please don't let yourselves tempted to search for it.

The chances of it going "largely unnoticed" were nil, anyway. Already today I've seen references to it on Facebook, Twitter, and two other Alizée forums. If you're an Alizée fan and you're on the internet, you're likely going to read about it somewhere. I understand the desire to keep it quiet, but let's face it--it's newsworthy, and Alizée fans are going to talk about it.

Of course, it goes without saying that we'll be keeping a close eye on the forum, and that any links to leaked or pirated material will be deleted.

[Deepwaters]

As I've said many times, the only cure for this sort of thing is to make the album downloadable legally, easily, for a low price, world-wide, and early.

Why do people use pirate sources? Because obtaining the music legitimately is seen as too expensive or too inconvenient. How, then, to fight it? Make obtaining the music legitimately cheap and convenient. There is no chance of success in trying to hold back the tide.

All I would say that we should protest and discourage any activity that would bring her down. This was really bad and they shouldn't have done this. No one can help. It was a matter of self understanding and they showed their immaturity by doing so.

[djwise]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

As I've said many times, the only cure for this sort of thing is to make the album downloadable legally, easily, for a low price, world-wide, and early.

Why do people use pirate sources? Because obtaining the music legitimately is seen as too expensive or too inconvenient. How, then, to fight it? Make obtaining the music legitimately cheap and convenient. There is no chance of success in trying to hold back the tide.

Agreed 100%. I wish they would bring down prices. It would make it much easier on my poor, poor wallet.

Originally Posted by Merci Alizée

All I would say that we should protest and discourage any activity that would bring her down. This was really bad and they shouldn't have done this. No one can help. It was a matter of self understanding and they showed their immaturity by doing so.

If we protest activities potentially hurting her, we must protest the same activities hurting other artists. Yes, those who released the link should not have done this, but this is not just happening to Lili, but other artists as well. And people have been against this. Tis nothing new. As Deepwaters stated, the one true solution is to allow for easy access at an affordable price world-wide. Even the biggest of artists, worldwide, have had this happen to them. It is sad, but it happens.

But, like I said before, all you must do is believe in Lili.

[Deepwaters]

I have a particular interest in this subject because the same thing is happening in books and the big publishers are using the same really stupid draconian approach.

I will NEVER put DRM on anything I publish. It's just absurd. People are basically honest and I know that for the most part, if they want to read what I write they'll buy it rather than stealing it -- unless they think I'm trying to steal from them, or making them jump through hoops. Those that do steal -- meh, I can still use the exposure.

I will say this about music. I'll buy UEDS because it's Alizée, but nonetheless at about $25 I consider it overpriced. There are, what, ten songs on it? Somewhere between $10 and 10 Euros would be about right. The songs should be downloadable for that. If it were anyone else, and I were faced with a choice between paying $25 for a CD and downloading all the music for free, I'd choose the latter. But between downloading for a buck a song and piracy, I'd pay.

I'll steal from thieves, in other words, but not from honest people. Alizée is honest -- actually so are most artists. But the record companies aren't. And they're paying a price for that. It's unfortunate that the artists are paying the same price, but as long as the music business is dominated by thieves, that will remain so.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

Somewhere between $10 and 10 Euros would be about right.

Well that is the going download price. Unfortunately most sites restrict the region, though we've had some luck with starzik.com in the past. Guess we'll see!

[Deepwaters]

Originally Posted by Ben

Well that is the going download price. Unfortunately most sites restrict the region, though we've had some luck with starzik.com in the past. Guess we'll see!

I realize they are, and it doesn't make any sense at all -- unless the record companies are trying to make downloading inconvenient so as to protect CD sales. And that doesn't make any sense, either.

It's a sore nerve with me as I said because of what's happening in the publishing industry. The big publishers aren't trying to make a profit off e-books, they're trying to hold back e-books so they can continue to sell hardcovers. It's not even because hardcovers are more profitable -- per unit sold they are, but low-priced paperbacks sell a lot more copies and are more profitable in the aggregate, and e-books would be even more so than paperbacks. But as long as the industry standard is the hardcover, a few big publishing houses can maintain their dominance of the industry, whiereas the rise of ebooks has allowed a mushrooming of small publishing houses and an explosion of self-publishing.

It's the same in music, I would imagine. As long as the industry standard is the (relatively) expensive CD, major record companies can hold a lock on market share. The more the standard changes to digital downloads, the more room there will be for small startup record companies and self-published artists, the indie scene. So any blocks that can be put in the way of downloads will be put there.

If iTunes and other outlets would adopt a worldwide market approach, so that any music from anywhere could be downloaded anywhere in the world, for payment in any currency, the CD would die. I'm sure of it.

[lefty12357]

The list of what the record companies have done, and are doing wrong is quite long. It certainly doesn't serve the fan's needs no does it serve the artist well. And I would argue it is not serving the record company's interests either to conduct business in this way.

It is hard, for example, if you see Alizée's single available for download in France, but you can't buy it because you are in the USA. I can see why some may be inclined to download a pirated copy for free. It's either that or nothing. Not a very good choice to give consumers. Fortunately for me, when offered the pre-order deluxe edition, they made a legal download available with it.

As far as going strictly e-publishing for music, I still am a holdout. I want both available to me. This article says it much better than I could.