Comments on: Downloads….

By: Damien Olsen

Damien Olsen — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 04:57:22 +0000

Robin is me again, Damien. i saw you at the Knitting Factory NY last year; or was 2 years ago? well, it does not matter anyway, i have Imperial, i bought it right away after that concert, i went to Virgin records(!?) ha, ha, it’s true!and i bought it, that was the only copy available.
And i have Lulubies to Violaine, i have 45 YO and i’ve discovered Cocteau in the early 90′s a little late, i make ambient and making ambient in NY this days is like making margaritas in the moon, who the fuck gonna drink them? so i understand your situation and also the pops and clicks shit too.
I want to buy continental Check my tracks at http://www.theburgundychamber.com please and tell me somethingabout it.

By: Anneli Drecker

Anneli Drecker — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 03:11:23 +0000

I need to explain; Crammed convinced us to sign publishing with their label ” something…. bascule” don´t remember. Clever! I was only 17.. so don´t blame me ,o) Blames someone else, ha. ha.

By: Anneli Drecker

Anneli Drecker — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 03:06:58 +0000

This whole fight between CT and 4ad brings back baaaaad memories from bel Canto and crammed discs!! We never got any publishing from Crammed, not a single penny!
Luckily, now we own our own back catalogue.. Just wanted to share some frustration here . HA!!
That was a north norwegian vikingish “HA”
Just an idea; maybe we should dress up like Halloween Robert Smiths, knock on their doors and ask “AVEZ VOUS DES ARGENTS?”

Best, Anneli x

By: Andrew Wedlake

Andrew Wedlake — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 03:49:16 +0000

I downloaded from iTunes your new work Continental and the two EP’s Everlasting and Waiting for Dawn. Simply awesome work. I’m trying not to “over-listen” to them, but am so far failing at it.

How do you like releasing work in the 4 song EP format?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 10:00:10 +0000

Hey Robin,
just downloaded Imperial & Everlasting from eMusic and am really enjoying them. However, while I enjoy the variety of music eMusic offers, I have to wonder how artists make any money when it costs me about 25 cents a track.

I don’t know what contracts you have musically but have you looked at other download services like Magnatunes? The artists recieve 50% of any revenue made from their work through their label.

Personally I’m all for reimbursing the artists for their work. Do you have a Paypal button on your site? I’d happily flick some dosh your way for all the years of pleasure your music has given me.

Anyway all the best,
~Andrew

By: Claude Rajotte

Claude Rajotte — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:09:09 +0000

Bonjour Robin;
Please continue to make such magical music. I interviewed Cocteau Twins, you and Elizabeth, years ago in Montreal. I continue to play your music regularly.
a fan,
Claude Rajotte

By: mike_in_york

mike_in_york — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:48:51 +0000

I’d also point out that, with the advent of technology etc. people are likely to hear your “new” music, like it, investigate further and possibly (heaven forbid ) want to buy the entire back catalogue of CT recordings, thereby generating additional profit for the record companies, stimulated by the effort you are putting into your new work!

should you not be getting credit (via better royalties?) for “helping the record companies increase their profits” when you are no longer directly recording for them?

I think so ….

By: robin guthrie

robin guthrie — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 01:22:30 +0000

Well Martin, it is possible that there is some miscommunication between yourself and your royalty dept but I think on closer examination you will find that CT receives 6 cents per download of which my share is of course 2 cents. Not much really, is it? You make a fine point about initial investments and the like, after all you did pay the 900 pounds for the recording of garlands but it’s very difficult for me to imagine that you haven’t made that back plus perhaps just a little profit in the last 25 years. Yes, as you said you have a right to a return, I wouldn’t deny you that and I am, of course, grateful to be in the position that I’m in now as it is due, in part, to your support of CT over the years. But that is neither the point not the issue here. The issue is that you are making a disproportionate amount of money from downloads. A dollar is quite simply a dollar and if the subject was approached with any sense of ethics or morality then the artist share would be somewhat higher than it is at the moment. We are talking about catalogue items here, music which has been turning you a healthy profit for many, many years. There is no new investment, no packaging, no marketing, merely a cynical way to expand your profits at the expense of the artist. With the advent of the necessary technology to make digital distribution a reality should come a reappraisal of how the system works. I presume that on our original contract you are still deducting 10% for breakages during manufacture and the like, something that was out dated in contracts even in 1981 when it was signed – well I can’t remember any Cocteau Twins records released as 78 rpm’s anyway….
Well that’s you’re thing and I guess you don’t lose much sleep over it but from my viewpoint, somewhere I like to call the moral high ground, I think it’s a little seedy and more than a little greedy. What you may have lost contact with, existing in the elevated stratosphere of being a big music industry tycoon, is that these things affect peoples lives and their ability to continue producing the art which, not only makes you cash, but can also touch the audience in such a way that the world becomes a more beautiful place. I am blessed for I know how that feels. I guess you don’t. I suppose it may be easy to forget if you have your head in spreadsheet all day but if you look deep inside yourself you may remember a certain enthusiasm for more than just exploiting young bands. A passion for music perhaps. You’re in a powerful position, you could actually use that power for some good, don’t you know. You don’t have to be magnanimous, only just. Sure there will always be willing victims lining up waiting for their chance of fame and success, so I doubt that my words will have any impact on you, I don’t expect you to become a charity for fucks sake, but I would expect you to remember that the bands that you exploit and the music that they created are the people who put you where you are today.
Excuse me if that sounded a bit harsh but, well you know, knowing that a huge body of my work and a huge chunk of my life benefits neither myself, Liz or Simon and in the future will not benefit our children is, well how can I put it, fucked.
Thanks..
For our next discussion Mr Mills and myself will discuss the merits of selling Cocteau Twins records as Mid-Price releases thus avoiding paying any substantial royalties whatsoever.

By: martin mills

martin mills — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:00:02 +0000

i’ll answer this, robin

firstly, 4ad does not pay you 2 cents per track, it pays you 10 cents

that’s more than our contract stipulates, because we didn’t think it was fair to apply territorial or packaging deductions in the digital space

and the difference between our 10 cents and your 50 ? well we made the original financial investment in your cocteau’s music, whereas you’re making it in what you’re doing now

for that we have the right to a return – ok, we’re making money, but we lose money on many other great artists, and the nature of a label is that you have to make money on some to allow you to stay doing what you’re doing whilst losing money on others – as you will know from bella union

of course in the download price there’s also i-tunes margin

we’re also doing all the work and paying all the expense on the cocteau’s tracks that you’re dealing with on yours – handling all the metadata, digitising, delivering, paying mechanical royalties, all that back room stuff

so yes you make more on your own, and so you should…..bet your capitol and universal tracks don’t make you 10 cents a time

martin mills
4ad

By: Morgan Bochan

Morgan Bochan — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 07:10:29 +0000

Do you think you’d ever make your own label?

(maybe it’s silly, maybe it’s good,
but it’s an idea.)