Support independent music, or continue to let the big boys tell you what you should listen to... The choice is yours

Primal Soul in an effort to generate more website traffic and increase CD sales, has reduced their full tracks previously available on Dmusic and Soundclick.com to representative samples. Jagged Cross Records head James Wilke says that, " in order to get a better feel for the market, and to weed out those that simply want free music, rather then support independent artists, we have decided to only put up samples." It was felt that, after receiving positive word of mouth reviews, but sluggish sales, that new fans were being satisfied with getting the tracks for free, and not bothering with the album. While understanding the average music fans desire for free music, Wilke says, "we feel that it can not and should not get to the point that the artist should have to spend their entire existence on the road on tour, in order to eke out a living."

The common misconception amongst music fans is that for the most part Artists are rich, when in fact those album sales provide a very minimal income, unless the band owns the label. Once a band owns the label and can set prices, and weed out the 15 to 20 other people involved in a 7-person job, then the band can start to see some profit. Even then, once an international distributor gets involved, profit margins are reduced drastically to the point that an average 5-member band might only see, 25 to 45 cents per album sold. To put this into perspective, even at 45 cents per member per album sold, the band would have to see sales from the distributor of 11 album sales an hour just to achieve minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. (Just to have a little fun lets look at how long it would take to get a platinum selling album {1million copies} at the minimum wage rate:
11 albums per hour
x 24 hours a day
x 365 days a year = 96360 albums

96360 x 10.37776years = 1,000,000.95 albums


The debut album was reduced in price to $7.50USD, to reflect the ever-increasing trend to lower music costs to the consumer while at the same time attempting to generate a profit to maintain the band and the record label.

The album became available world wide on the Statue Records label in February 2004, and will be released to record stores and radio in March.

For Direct download information visitors are asked to go to www.primalsoul.00freehost.com. The three full tracks of The Hall of Mortal Grief, The Executioner, and The Ending, are available for direct down load for $4 through paypal. Visitors may also purchase the full album, Forever On The Edge, for $7.50+S/H through the website.

Finally somebody who knows the math. People think that just because you can burn a copy for less than a buck,then that is the price they should pay. Not taking into account that our studio time, equipment(thousands of Dollars)studio engineers, and travel,hotels,telephone bills,meals cost a bundle.Keep in mind this all comes off the top. That is just for recording. Touring, first as an opening act for very little money so that you can get enough exposure to sell enough records to get to be a headliner if at all. We are already putting our asses on the line to play for you guys and then P2P downloading comes along and really throws things for a loop. I know dozens of great and famous musicians who got out of the business because they just couldn't support themselves.Signing a record contract is no more that borrowing money from a bank. They get paid first all their expenses, then you start to get paid. The advance you get barely covers the costs of producing the record and that money gets paid back first also.It takes a minimum of a million dollars to launch a new act, and that money gets paid back first as well. Plus if you don't sell at least a quarter of a million copies for a major label they drop you from the roster. Indies were and are happy to have sales of those numbers so that is why the independent record labels once thrived.Those numbers are gone and probably forever. Now that there has been 3 or 4 years of solid P2P downloading, even their sales have diminished by a factor of 10 to the point that over 600 indies have folded over the last two years and the rest are hanging on by their toenails. If it was so easy, then everybody would be doing it.As someone who was signed to several major labels over the years,and had several gold records,we were lucky to break even.What used to get us was the IRS picking our bones,creative accounting by record labels, and now fans downloading our work for free, where does it end?As for the major labels, I am not their fan and I have a lot of bones to pick with them over several issues, but one thing is for sure, if you think that you are only punishing the labels, think again, you are also hurting the artists you say that you love.They get dropped from the label, their capacity to promote and tour is damaged and their entire livelyhood is put into question. Its not a perfect world,but even in the world we live in today, its only right that you get paid for what you do. I don't hear anyone bitchin about what sports figures make and believe me they make a 100 thousand times more that your average musician, and after it all said and done,they are millionaires chasing a ball around a field.Our work is everybit as taxing, every bit as competitive and grueling and we do it all year not just a season.We make people happy, divert them from their problems and enrich the culture and civilization as much or more as they do, don't we deserve to get paid too? I play because I live and love my music and playing it for people, but how long a person can work, sweat and slave and not get paid is the major question that musicians ask themselves these days.As fans you have to ask yourself would you work for free?Also for the up and coming musicians of now and the future, and the ones unborn, are less likely to choose a profession that has so little in compensation to offer.Think about it.

HAHAHAHAHA You've gotta be kidding right? P2P downloading of music a bad thing??? Completely wrong. It's the best thing to happen to music fans ever...aside from actual good music obviously. The great thing about P2P is that the fan can hear the music before they buy it. This way, the fan will know if it's just another watered down, commercialized replica of what's "in" musically...like most mainstream music is nowadays, or something worth listening to. You see, the music industry fucked it up. They became sooo obsessed with putting out album with one to four or more singles on an album, that they've taken away from the artists creativity to make a "whole album" as opposed to an album full of "potential singles". Albums are so predictable anymore...one very commercial radio-friendly song for the lead single, then a more toned downed song for the second single, oh wait...then you gotta put the love song on there...yaddi yaddi yadda. It's bullshit! Where's the creativity??? Where's the originality??? I remember when I could buy a cd, play it, and be like "damn...that was an unbelievable song!!!" That rarely happens anymore. Yeah you can say that overall sales are down from music, but no one bothers to look at the reasons particular albums don't sell. Is it because it's the same formula the artist has used in his (however many) previous albums??? Is it because it seems like the just went throught the motions instead of putting something into it??? Is it because it just flat out sucked??? More than likely. Because that's how I choose what cd's to buy. I wait 'til I hear them, and if it's good...you better believe I'm knockin' down the door on Tuesday to buy that thing. If it sucks...too bad, you ain't gettin' a dime outta me. You see, music is an artist's job. Artists that are good at their job...sell alot of records. Artists that aren't good at their job...don't. I don't understand what's so hard about that??? If I don't perform well at my job...I bitched at, hours cut, fired and so on. If I do well at my job...suprise suprise...I get a raise. Don't make it seem like people are obligated to buy anything...cuz we're not. If you're not puttin' out a satisfactory product...sucks to be you...get a new job. In the meantime...I'm gonna go to bed, because I downloaded a few albums off the net that are good albums, and I'm gonna wake up tomorrow morning and go buy them. Simply because I buy good music, and the bullshit...stays on the shelf.

Well if you are in fact buying the albums that you are downloading then fine... congradulations. You are one of a very few that do. Most of the people that are downloading music for free off the net have no intention of buying an album. Often time they end up burning them to CD and using it for everyday listening. The artist makes no money...regardless of whether your taste in music says they suck or not. Secondly or are right about one thing... the record companies have taken the creative power away from the artist and placed it in the hands of a producer. But on the other end of the spectrum avante garde does not make money in this industry. Not to say that what labels do is a good thing.

But my problem is the following statement that you made "You see, music is an artist's job. Artists that are good at their job...sell alot of records. Artists that aren't good at their job...don't. I don't understand what's so hard about that???"
If you truly believe that is the way that it works then you are sorely mistaken. There are too many cases in today's music of artists that had no clue what they were doing and were rewarded, while musicians that prove to have talent are left out of the money, because no one knows that they are out there.
Do yourself and other artists that you respect for their talent a favor...if you like something that you hear... tell people.... but don't pass on what you downloaded so that it gives them an excuse not to buy the album... you are only perpetuating the problem. Just because an artist has talent doesn't mean that he is going to make money just cause he has talent...This is one of those rare professions that you do not necessarily get paid what you are worth.

"If you truly believe that is the way that it works then you are sorely mistaken. There are too many cases in today's music of artists that had no clue what they were doing and were rewarded, while musicians that prove to have talent are left out of the money, because no one knows that they are out there."

Hmmm...maybe you've never held a job in your life. Allow me to explain. This happens quite frequently where somebody you work with (for whatever reason) will end up doin' less work than you, always dicks off at work, shit maybe the only reason they have a job is cuz they're related to the boss or something...but they'll end up making more than you. This happens at about every place of employment in the world. And why is that you ask? It's cuz the world's not fair. I know that there are tons of indie bands and artists (some not signed at all) who have a shitload more talent than the people makin' tons of money...but that's how life is. And as far as this being "one of those rare professions that you do not necessarily get paid what you are worth", artists are tremendously overpaid in the first place (along with sports figures, movie stars, etc.) and like I said before, there are tons of jobs (not just a few) that you're not treated fairly and people are underpaid. And as for people that burn an album instead of buying it...that's mostly due to the fact that cd's are expensive as shit (which the industry is starting to realize and starting to lower prices) and why the hell would anyone pay full price for a half-ass cd??? Why would I drop $15-20 on a cd that has 1-5 good songs out of 15-20??? Fuck that LOL