Don in the Press/Blogs/etc.

[luvthelighthouse]

I guess we'll never understand his dislike of youtube. If only he knew, there were people like me out there. It was through youtube that I became a hardcore fan. I always liked the Eagles, but after watching so many of their videos on youtube, that's when I went full fledged fan. I've bought tix to their shows, purchased the entire Eagles catolog, bought shirts and am evening seeing solo shows.

That's our Don though... true to his reputation. At least he gave a pleasant nod to Timothy, which I thought I was cool.

[sodascouts]

Sounds like I'm in the minority here, but in this case I understand Don's point. Once a video shows up on Youtube hundreds of thousands of fans can have the recording for free and therefore make the decision to not pay for it when it comes out in "legit" form. I can understand the frustration in that lots of money and control are given up.

I think that's exactly what Don believes, but is it accurate? Lots of people aren't interested in buying an album unless they've heard at least one song off of it - and since Don doesn't get played on the radio, YouTube videos are it. It also raises awareness that he even HAS a new solo album out at all, or is touring. Also, as LTL points out, there are people that become bigger fans because of the videos!

Conversely, I have never met any fan - even a casual fan - who has been content with a crappy-quality video that they can't even burn to CD or easily convert to MP3 instead of buying the music. Anyone who would settle for a shakily filmed, tinny sounding YouTube video of one or two songs from the album instead of the legit version is too cheap or too poor to buy the album anyway.

The only place YouTube costs him money is when videos show up from the Inside Job DVD or other commercially released DVDs. It's very true many people will not buy the DVD if they can stream the video. Music... not so much... especially crap quality live music.

So, you see, YouTube makes him money - but he'll never see that, I'm afraid. The mentality of YOUTUBE = EVIL is too deeply entrenched.

Ironically, it's a counter-productive negative emotional reaction akin to the mentality of people who believe that environmental initiatives will cost them money despite evidence to the contrary.... a mentality that Don criticizes in this very same interview. He believes YouTube will cost him money despite evidence to the contrary, and thus he sabotages himself.

[Prettymaid]

Conversely, I have never met any fan who has been content with a crappy-quality video that they can't even burn to a disc instead of buying the music - or at least the song off of iTunes. If someone is that cheap, they weren't going to buy the album anyway.

Soda, I'd like to introduce myself... (Honestly, depending on who the artist is, I've done all three - downloaded a Youtube video or audio, bought a song(s) off of itunes, and purchased albums.

[sodascouts]

Did you not think that much of the song, then, that you had no desire to buy the album after hearing it?

[Prettymaid]

Did you not think that much of the song, then, that you had no desire to buy the album after hearing it?

Most of the stuff I download from youtube is older stuff, just one song I want on my ipod. But still, I think were it not for youtube this artist would have gotten my money, along with my fandom.

[sodascouts]

Most of the stuff I download from youtube is older stuff, just one song I want on my ipod. But still, I think were it not for youtube this artist would have gotten my money, along with my fandom.

For a live video of a new song to cost Don money, two things have to happen:

1) The person was intending to buy his new album prior to viewing the video.
2) The person decided, after viewing the live video, that he no longer wished to do so.

In your case, it seems you are talking about an individual song that you would have bought the album exclusively for - that you liked the song that much, but were not interested in the other tracks. Hearing that one song in a live version on YouTube was sufficient, and you felt you no longer needed to buy the album you were intending to buy. Am I understanding this right?

That's not what I'm talking about here. That scenario is not readily applicable to new songs Don performs in concert that no one has ever heard before, especially since the live recordings would not be of commercial quality (I'm assuming what you downloaded wasn't filmed by a fan with a digital camera surrounded by noisy concert-goers, lol). Am I right?

[TimothyBFan]

Having trouble copying and pasting today geez---Anyways....

This part here really got me..."I have absolutely no regrets about making the deal with Wal-Mart. I think it was a brilliant move on the part of our manager, Irving Azoff. We know who our fans are. They’re the people who don’t steal music online; they still step up and buy the physical product. The Wal-Mart deal made it possible for these loyal fans to get 20 new Eagles songs for under twelve bucks, and we didn’t have to wrangle with the usual fiscal shenanigans of a major record label, so it was a win-win."
Guess what Don--I do both!!! I really don't see anything wrong with that. If I check out YouTube and like what I see, there is a much better chance of me buying it rather than just going into a store and buying it if I haven't listened to it yet.

[TimothyBFan]

So, you see, YouTube makes him money - but he'll never see that, I'm afraid. The mentality of YOUTUBE = EVIL is too deeply entrenched.

Exactly, and personally, I can't see why he doesn't get this! Like I said above, I usually will go out and buy something AFTER I have seen or heard it on YouTube. It has definitely helped sell me stuff that I otherwise wouldn't have bought because I wasn't sure if I would like it.

[Prettymaid]

In your case, it seems you are talking about an individual song that you would have bought the album exclusively for - that you liked the song that much, but were not interested in the other tracks. Hearing that one song in a live version on YouTube was sufficient, and you felt you no longer needed to buy the album you were intending to buy. Am I understanding this right?

Most of the audios I download from youtube are not live, but rather from albums or dvds.

That's not what I'm talking about here. That scenario is not readily applicable to new songs Don performs in concert that no one has ever heard before, especially since the live recordings would not be of commercial quality (I'm assuming what you downloaded wasn't filmed by a fan with a digital camera surrounded by noisy concert-goers, lol). Am I right?

My example is not applicable to this particular scenario (Don performing new songs in concert), however because of people like me I can understand Don's overall view of youtube.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I can somewhat see Don's point here, but I do think he needs to "get with the program".

I grew up in the same era as Don, and I remember when the only way we had of hearing music was either on the radio or buying the album. There was also the occasional TV appearances that some musicians would make on shows like American Bandstand and Where the Action Is (yes, I'm old), but, by and large, the only way that we had music "on demand" was to purchase the album.

Obviously, that has all changed now, but I believe things actually started changing with the advent of MTV and VCRs. Now sure, MTV wasn't music on demand, but by recording a song/video on your VCR, you could listen to it anytime you wanted to (or at least if you were in front of a TV). The Internet and other technology such IPODs has changed the rules again, and now we pretty much really have music on demand without having to go out and purchase it. So I do think there has probably been a negative impact on record sales. BUT, at the same time, the internet also gives fans a venue that has never existed before. Just right here on this message board is living proof. I don't think there is any doubt that fan web sites, message boards, YouTube, Itunes, etc. help ignite the fan community's interest in a band like nothing that ever existed before. And that also translates into free marketing for the band. We don't have numbers to really judge the true overall impact, but one thing is certain - the internet isn't going away, so to me, the best thing an artist can do is embrace it and use it to their full advantage in any way they can.