Also, I believe these to be the think tank and publication referred to in one of the comments.
A lot of this is stuff I've been saying for years:
Music piracy and other copyright infringement should be fought at every turn but do not expect to ever eliminate them and stop blaming them for your lack of success; other bands/artists have succeeded in the exact same environment with the same problems. These are not specific to you. Your audience is no more likely to copy than any other.
There is not now, if there ever was, such a thing as the mainstream except in terms of money. If a company can make the most money by targeting a small group of moneyed fools (who are easily parted from their money) then that is often exactly what they will do. This is a main revenue stream, it does not equate to popularity.
Just because 500 people listened to your music on MySpace and didn't buy it, doesn't mean they copied it. They may just as well have spent their money on someone they prefer or not spent it at all. Given the average age of a MySpace user it's also very likely that they can't afford your music. If one person in 500 buys your music this is not an untypical conversion rate in any form of advertising.
Finally: if you've been unsuccessful for five years you don't get to dismiss what I'm saying with 'I've been doing this for years, you haven't'. You've been successful for exactly as many years as I have with the significant difference that I haven't been trying. Until you're actually successful you have no proof that you know anything about how to succeed in this industry and your opinion is, at best, as valid as mine.
A lot of this is stuff I've been saying for years:
Music piracy and other copyright infringement should be fought at every turn but do not expect to ever eliminate them and stop blaming them for your lack of success; other bands/artists have succeeded in the exact same environment with the same problems. These are not specific to you. Your audience is no more likely to copy than any other.
There is not now, if there ever was, such a thing as the mainstream except in terms of money. If a company can make the most money by targeting a small group of moneyed fools (who are easily parted from their money) then that is often exactly what they will do. This is a main revenue stream, it does not equate to popularity.
Just because 500 people listened to your music on MySpace and didn't buy it, doesn't mean they copied it. They may just as well have spent their money on someone they prefer or not spent it at all. Given the average age of a MySpace user it's also very likely that they can't afford your music. If one person in 500 buys your music this is not an untypical conversion rate in any form of advertising.
Finally: if you've been unsuccessful for five years you don't get to dismiss what I'm saying with 'I've been doing this for years, you haven't'. You've been successful for exactly as many years as I have with the significant difference that I haven't been trying. Until you're actually successful you have no proof that you know anything about how to succeed in this industry and your opinion is, at best, as valid as mine.
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