Vancouver's Nettwerk Records are the little guys known for doing big things in the recording industry. The management company, record label, and publisher headed by Terry McBride has a business model that gives more rights, more control, and more per-CD earnings to their artists, and embraces other ways to earn money from music.
From Wired's No Suit Required: "More important, he says, the new model frees him and his artists from the overgrown bureaucracy of the music industry, and that means more money for everyone. He can book tours, sell ringtones, peddle songs to advertising agencies and, yes, give away free downloads without any of the complex, multiparty negotiations that once gummed up the works. 'It used to take months to sell a frickin' ringtone to Bell Canada,' McBride says. 'With BNL [Barenaked Ladies], one phone call gets the job done.'"
The article goes on to say, "McBride's success will depend on what he calls 'collapsed copyright.' Nettwerk will represent artists like BNL, but the bands will record under their own labels and retain ownership of all their intellectual property, an anomaly in the industry. The bands, in turn, can expect to earn considerably more money – say, $5 to $6 from the sale of each CD instead of the standard dollar or two."
Nettwerk made headlines last year with the announcement that they would pay the legal fees of a Texas family being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America. They launched the non-profit Save the Music Fan to raise money to fight RIAA lawsuits, and, as that website demonstrates, McBride is an outspoken advocate of the recording industry embracing peer-to-peer technologies instead of trying to sue them out of existence.
Less philosophically and more practically, I love Nettwerk because they sell DRM-free MP3s or the higher-quality FLAC from their online store.
And now, they've cemented their high position in my esteem by releasing the official soundtrack to House on September 18. The FOX website, where you can listen to samples and download a free track, has the official announcement and track listing:
Massive Attack - Teardrop *
Gomez - See The World
Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentleman - Got To Be More Careful
Ben Harper - Waiting On An Angel
Michael Penn - Walter Reed
Elvis Costello - Beautiful **
Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright
Sarah McLachlan - Dear God
Josh Rouse - God, Please Let Me Go Back
Lucinda Williams - Are You Alright?
Josh Ritter - Good Man
Band From TV - You Can't Always Get What You Want **
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