Well, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Musical pirating has struck Pomegranate Music. I have received word from Gor that "Yeraz" was spotted in Yerevan for about $3 and it was obviously bootlegged. Since I am not in Yerevan, I can't claim to have seem the bootleg myself. However, the most distressing part of it is that it was spotted at "ArtBridge", a poplular hangout owned by a Diasporan. I've bought pirated CD's and tapes in Armenia myself, so, I am guilty as anybody in contributing to the process. However, I had some time to reflect and research this topic over the last year and here is what I think. In brief:
Consider this timeline. The artist creates the music and commits it to a CD. The CD costs money to produce. Selling the CD to the public allows consumers to hear new music and get reimbursed for the cost of the CD manufacturing. Then, the artist has an opportunity to create another CD and make a few bucks to live on etc. The effect of the pirating is quite devestating to independent Armenian artists. If an independent musician or label in Armenia scrapes up enough money to put his/her/their music on a CD and can't recover the money the result is 1. the artist may have trouble creating another opportunity to make a CD and thus the general public will most likely not have an opportunity to hear new music. 2. the artist may leave the country to pursuit a career outside the homeland. This creates a brain drain and perpetuates a currupt system. However, the most devestating aspect of musical piracy of independent artists is that it retards musical growth in Armenia and does not provide hope to emerging artists. In the end, society gets cheated.
So, if anyone in Armenia is willing to do this, go to ArtBridge and demand that the owner (from Boston of all places) stop selling pirated music. Instead, tell her to buy the real thing from artists or labels directly so in the future we all can continue creation and presenting music for the public. This is also a wakeup call for labels to lower their prices. I will do my part in the future to lower prices on my own label.
Consider this timeline. The artist creates the music and commits it to a CD. The CD costs money to produce. Selling the CD to the public allows consumers to hear new music and get reimbursed for the cost of the CD manufacturing. Then, the artist has an opportunity to create another CD and make a few bucks to live on etc. The effect of the pirating is quite devestating to independent Armenian artists. If an independent musician or label in Armenia scrapes up enough money to put his/her/their music on a CD and can't recover the money the result is 1. the artist may have trouble creating another opportunity to make a CD and thus the general public will most likely not have an opportunity to hear new music. 2. the artist may leave the country to pursuit a career outside the homeland. This creates a brain drain and perpetuates a currupt system. However, the most devestating aspect of musical piracy of independent artists is that it retards musical growth in Armenia and does not provide hope to emerging artists. In the end, society gets cheated.
So, if anyone in Armenia is willing to do this, go to ArtBridge and demand that the owner (from Boston of all places) stop selling pirated music. Instead, tell her to buy the real thing from artists or labels directly so in the future we all can continue creation and presenting music for the public. This is also a wakeup call for labels to lower their prices. I will do my part in the future to lower prices on my own label.
posted by Raffi at 5:42 AM
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