Let's talk about digital music for a second. There has been a lot of ink spilled in the press during the last couple years about downloaded music, claiming that it's everything from the savior of the music industry to its ultimate undoing. From an artist and label perspective, what are your thoughts on its impact to the music business in general, and maybe specifically within the dance music culture?
AVB: I believe there's a line in the American constitution that basically sums up why we have copyright. It is to promote and stimulate arts in general. It's very simple: if you don't pay for your downloads, artists don't get paid. The whole reason of copyright is to be able to give an exclusive right to the artist so he can afford to distribute his work. Some of my friends who are great producers decided to call it a day with producing music, just because they couldn't pay the rent anymore. It's a very sad but very true reality. What we see at the Armada office is a shift from selling vinyls to online downloads. It's harder to sell an underground dance track, which means more and more producers are playing safe and not experimenting so much anymore.
But in a sense, it seems that perhaps dance music might be less... "convenient", I suppose, when it comes to a download format, as the experience is more centered around a longer DJ set, which means one big file to handle, than one-off songs that are more quickly obtained. Is that a hindrance or a help when it comes to managing or positioning with download store sites (or even your own label store)? Or because of that do most people tend to avoid mixed sets altogether?
AVB: I think good brands and big names still do sell. It's all a matter of marketing I guess. Some download portals are strictly for DJ's, other more for the general public. Mixed sets are maybe more appealing to the last group than the first. I think it's a big help for the music in general that we're able to make DJ sets available. The audience wouldn't be interested in a particular song maybe, but will still buy the track because it's in the mix. A lot of people still do like mixed DJ sets. I think a lot of people are still adjusting to the quickly changing market, as is the record industry.
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