Message from Vin Garbutt
Dear Lizardson,
I have recently become aware of the fact that you have many of my albums on your website for free download. I would appreciate it if you would remove all of my work from your site. The income I receive from selling my albums is the way I earn my living. I appreciate that you want to bring my music to a wider audience but I would not have agreed to you going about it in this way had you consulted me. It is obviously going to effect my sales if my latest album in it's entirety can be accessed for nothing. A sample track can be seen as helpful but an entire album is very unfair.
Regards Vin Garbutt
Vin Garbutt c/o Home Roots Music Ltd. PO Box 6, Skelton, Saltburn. TS13 4YT
www.vingarbutt.com
Agent: Routes Music, The Swan Theatre, The Moors, Worcester. WR1 3EF
sue@speakingvolumes.co.uk
01905 611323
I have recently become aware of the fact that you have many of my albums on your website for free download. I would appreciate it if you would remove all of my work from your site. The income I receive from selling my albums is the way I earn my living. I appreciate that you want to bring my music to a wider audience but I would not have agreed to you going about it in this way had you consulted me. It is obviously going to effect my sales if my latest album in it's entirety can be accessed for nothing. A sample track can be seen as helpful but an entire album is very unfair.
Regards Vin Garbutt
Vin Garbutt c/o Home Roots Music Ltd. PO Box 6, Skelton, Saltburn. TS13 4YT
www.vingarbutt.com
Agent: Routes Music, The Swan Theatre, The Moors, Worcester. WR1 3EF
sue@speakingvolumes.co.uk
01905 611323
posted by Lizardson at 10:26 PM
7 Comments:
I think it would be interesting to boycott artists who complain about there album's being posted. Just as en experiment.
I don't see why anyone should want to do that. Vin has a perfect right to complain. For God's sake, they're HIS albums. There's still plenty of great out-of-print stuff here. Why jump on Vin's back just because he tries to safeguard his income?
I think Vin and Lizardson are both right. I mean very, very few people ever heard of Vin so Lizardson is doing a good thing in a way making him available. but obviously it should be up to Vin not Lizardson in the end about if his music should be out there for free. Low quality or not. I do think that out of print LPs by obscure artists are the works that are best represented by THTM
I agree with streaker. I cannot fault Vin - think about that for a minute.
The fact is that while I agree I never would have heard of Vin without this blog, I have now. And while I do buy albums when I really like them, I know not everyone does that. Music is not free at all, whoever said that is a total idiot.
But at the same time, it is very hard for artists to gain exposure. I think that if possible, it is best to post albums that are not available anymore. Or if that is not representative, maybe post 1 representative CD. I do think that it is important to post an entire CD because I spent years buying albums based on 1 track and then come to find out it's the only track on the album that isn't filler. This method discourages the use of filler tracks, and you know exactly what you're getting, and how an artist will present themselves in the context of an album.
But it is never good to post the most recent work of a living artist who relies on that CD to make a living. Does anyone know how hard it is to make a living like that these days? Extremely.
If Vin could not make a living in music, he might have an album or 2 but by now he'd be an accoutant, chef, inventor, balloon animal maker, whatever. You cannot starve artists, the work starves you enough as it is. So if you find yourself playing a downloaded album all the time, do everyone including yourself a favor - BUY THE ALBUM so they can make another one and not retire to shucking oysters.
We all need to remember that most of the folk artists posted here are not backed up by large record companies and rely on gigging and selling their own albums via mail order or at gigs to make a living. As you will know if you've listened to any of these albums, they deserve to make some income from their music. We're not talking superstars here, but musicians who are equally talented but with more of a niche audience. I'm glad that Lizardson has posted some Vin Garbutt to bring his work to peoples' attention, but as streaker said, If Vin makes a request I think that we, as folk fans, should respect that.
Newelectricmuse
Vin Garbutt - mini-documentary
For those who don't know much about Vin - and for 'anonymous' who thought we should boycott him 'as an experiment' for not allowing his albums to be posted here - I thought I'd post this link to a mini-documentary about him on YouTube.
It gives some idea of the precarious life of a professional folksinger (particularly in terms of marketing and selling his latest CD, which, with no major label support, is very much a cottage industry). I think it also explains why so many people, particularly on THTM, love this guy and would no more dream of boycotting him than giving up booze or sex.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgdagSQSPhI
Vin works very hard at his music with not nearly as much recognition as he deserves. Giving samples away is great, but not his whole work.
I've been to see him loads of times. Talking to him once he and his wife thrust 2 free albums into my hand and would not except payment for them (I hid £20 in a box they had in the end).
Vin has a really great attitude towards music and alot of the times I've seen him has been for charity events.
I dare say Vins kind hearted look on the world would have him play and give alot more of his music away for free if he could.
But at the end of the day, would you like it if you owned a small shop and a person came in and started giving away your stock?
Why would you want boycott Vin? it's just plane silly. :)
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