my 0.02c:
As much as I love twisted, i can’t help but think that they’re really just pissed off that they have to keep working rather than being able to make a few good albums and live off the profits for the rest of their lives.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought every Shpongle album on vinyl, plus Younger Brother and some old rarer stuff by Simon and Raja because I love vinyl, but I really don’t believe in buying CDs. For one, they’re plastic. Downloading music rather than buying a plastic CD is far better for the environment, and since I support twisted in many other ways (bought a tshirt and a hoodie at the gig on friday night, saw them last year at the roundhouse as well, and at the Ozora festival) I think downloading the MP3/FLACs from piratebay (after having bought the same albums on vinyl) is more than justified.
Whether you like it or not, the world has changed. Selling CDs is no longer as viable a business model as it used to be. Nobody is going to become crazily wealthy like the rolling stones were by selling CDs. Times change and if you can’t adapt to evolution then that’s your loss. Twisted have plenty of other ways to make money, gigs, tours, DJing, MP3 downloads.. all of which they do. I’m sorry but having read the booklet in the Shpongle CD about how they toured India etc seeking inspiration for the album, I just can’t feel sorry for these people. They live amazing lives, have ridiculous amounts of wonderful and VERY expensive studio equipment with which to realise their ideas, have no doubt had some amazing experiences and adventures all over the world, played to thousands and thousands of screaming cheering fans.. I’m sure they earn far more money than most people on these forums and yet somehow all this isn’t enough.
I’m a loyal Shpongle fan, I buy tshirts, hoodies, vinyl - things that have value to me that I will use again and again. CDs have no value to me, I really don’t like the idea of paying for a piece of plastic that will get ripped once and then never be touched again. I might as well buy it, rip it, and then sell it on ebay but there’s really no point since selling it on ebay afterwards is bascially the same as downloading it in the first place as I’d be taking a sale away from the Twisted online shop. If you add 24bit high-quality FLAC downloads to your downloads site I will happily spend more money, and I’m pretty sure many others would as well.
Simon: I totally get what you said in a previous post about how you’re from a different generation and couldn’t wait to go out and buy the latest albums from your local record shop etc.. I was the same as a teenager, always at my local record shop in Cornwall buying the latest hardcore dance records. If your music was available on vinyl from the day of release in my local store I’d be queuing up to buy them, but they’re not. Yes I downloaded the new Shpongle album, but I absolutely intend to pay for it when the vinyl is available, and if you had 24bit flac downloads on twisted downloads right now I’d go and buy it there as well without hesitation.
Whether you like it or not the world has changed and it’s never going to change back. There’s no point whingeing about not selling enough CDs, do yourselves a favour - get with the times and adapt, innovate. Do more gigs like the roundhouse - it was fucking awesome and I (and im sure I speak for many others on here) wouldn’t miss a single gig.
Merchandise is another thing that makes money. How about some Younger Brother tshirts and hoodies?
Edit: also just ordered the DVD, as that has huge value in that I can lend it to non-shpongle-heads to get them into it. Hope there’s going to be another one for this year’s gig!
peace~
