I can see some benefits for small labels to Final Scratch amongst the many questions it raises. One thing that any small independent label wants is as many DJs spinning thier releases as possible. The costs involved of mailing out x number of promo copies to DJs who you will more than likley never know if they recieved it and listened to it, let alone played it are usually an expense that small labels can only afford on a small scale. If Final Scratch took off in the clubs you could get out your new release to as many DJs as you wanted. In fact you could make it downloadable for DJs and even monitor how many and possbly who has taken the tracks.
I think it will be a while before Final Scratch or anything like it becomes the standard home mixing kit. I think it'll have to really take off in the clubs first, which means the majority of people are still gonna be wanting to buy vinyl. If Final Scratch technology does eventually start to oversee the death of vinyl however then I think there could be problems. Even if record labels start getting savvy to marketing MP3s, I just cant see enough honest people out there who would pay for something they could take for free. I personally don't download music. Its a collectors thing, I'd rather have the vinyl in my hands. However I dont feel half as strongly about CDs and would feel even less strongly if the collectable product was just a file on your PC. Given the choice between paying hard earned cash for a file on your PC or getting exactly the same file for free, well I cant see many people reaching for thier credit cards. Maybe I'm looking far too ahead too early, but I definatly think things will change in the future and people need to be prepared. Inceidently it would be interesting to know where Richie Hawtin gets the MP3s he's used in his sets. Has he actually sat down and taken the time to encode his whole record collection? _______________________________________________________________________ Freeserve AnyTime, only £13.99 per month with one month's FREE trial! For more information visit http://www.freeserve.com/time/ or call free on 0800 970 8890 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
