Gama Bomb - Tales from the Grave in Space
 |
Gama Bomb‘s new album, Tales from the Grave in Space, is OK. It’s well-played and well-recorded. I don’t remember any of the songs, except for one that had a cool robot voice. Like most retro thrash, it just makes me want to listen to Slayer or Exodus.
The real story is that yesterday Earache gave it away for free download here. For physical media diehards, the label is printing up a few CD’s (and possibly LP’s). This is exactly what I proposed 11 months ago here. I said that labels should give away albums for free and get revenue elsewhere. Evidently Earache and Gama Bomb have a 360 deal, which means that Earache is getting a cut of Gama Bomb’s merch/concert revenue. Merch/concert revenue has traditionally gone to artists exclusively, because labels traditionally made money from album sales. Now that album sales have gone kaput, labels need to make money somewhere. In the case of the 360, it’s the pocket of the artist.
My gut reaction is that this shafts the artist. (Two bands agree, Intronaut and Cormorant.) Then again, in the abovementioned post, I did propose that instead of manufacturing CD’s, labels use that money to print up band merch. If bands sell that merch on tour, labels would take a cut. That’s 360-like. The key is in the details. If the label simply takes money from the band that it didn’t take before, that’s bad. If the label creates new opportunities for the band so that after the label takes its cut, the band is at least no worse off than before, then a 360 could be workable.
I’m curious what Earache plans to do to make up for the loss of revenue from the download. (The download benefits Gama Bomb immediately, because as a small band they may not sell enough albums to pay back their advance and start earning royalties. If they see zero or negligible royalties from album sales, they might as well give the record away and get greater exposure.) Earache has presumably invested money into the recording of the album and promoting it. The label needs to make that money back, plus clear a profit. With the free download, the label gives up first-week sales, as well as digital download sales.
Fortunately for Earache, the numbers involved aren’t huge for a band like Gama Bomb, so the label can afford to gamble on it. It would be different if, say, Roadrunner gave away Slipknot’s next album for free. Much more would be at stake there, like first-week sales, Billboard chart positions, and so on.
This interview (part 1, part 2) with Gama Bomb vocalist Philly Byrne and Earache Records head Digby Pearson regarding the free download is worth checking out. The focus, however, is on what’s good for the band and fans. There’s no mention of how Earache will make money from the release. Sure, it may sell a few hundred CD’s. But that’s something the band could have done itself. The band could also have given the album away itself. Earache promoted this download stunt well, though the band could have hired a publicist to do so. Really, all that Earache offers Gama Bomb here is its brand name (which in 2009 still has some weight) and perhaps money to have recorded the CD (which Gama Bomb could have raised in other ways — see here).
Did Gama Bomb even need a label in this case?
