Producer Ross Robinson: “Lets Give Away Music So People Can’t Steal It…”
Influential producer Ross Robinson, who helmed seminal albums from the likes of Korn, Slipknot, Glassjaw and more, recently expressed a rather controversial viewpoint on music piracy. Speaking through his Twitter, he stated:
“Lets give away music so people can’t steal it, hungry musicians make the best records – No more guilt trips on the innocent thief.”
COMMENTS
Of course Robinson would say that – he gets his check before the record even comes out.
Is Ross Robinson potentially being sarcastic an option here? I mean, I’m not saying he is or isn’t, but…it seems to me like this reads the best as sarcasm.
that means he cant comment on a industry that is suffering from their own stupidity. television dint pick a fight with the record button on a vcr. they made dvr’s. they new what the consumer wanted.
I think you have a good point, but you’re also wrong. Television show creators and actors get paid by the companies purchasing advertisements during their shows, so they are paid by those companies, not by the consumer. You don’t buy the latest episode of American Idol. Hollywood is in the same fight as the recording industry, but television itself has a completely different business structure altogether.
They “dint”?
I am sure he is willing to “give away” his production skills too, right? Make records for free, give them for free. Sounds good to me.
Not taking anything away from Ross Robinson because he’s produced a ton of epic albums but what he just said is asinine. Obviously he gets paid no matter what so it’s easy for him to play the role of the “good guy.” When he pretty much doesn’t give a shit about any of the bands he’s produced in the past 10 years or so. I guess that’s what “seniority” gets you.
He’d have to actually produce a record before he could get paid for it.
Eating sandwiches and drinking faygo while listening to the band and saying “Yes, that sounds good” is producing my friend. And he’s king at that.
If I can manage to develop a taste for Faygo, I, too, could be a producer? Better start huffing paint and raping chicks.
why is anyone even saying the word ‘faygo’ on here right now, its like saying ‘beetlejuice’ 3 times, youre only asking for trouble!
kturl69 You’re thinking of Rick Rubin. Not the same guy.
Fuck, you are absolutely correct sir. My apologies. Rick Rubin is the sandwich eatin, Faygo drinkin son of a bitch.
Ross isn’t concerned because he has an ample food supply stuck in his beard, plus his fat reserves.
You too are thinking of Rick Rubin.
Totally was too, thanks for the correction.
Keep helping bands make albums like “korn: remember who you are”, and i can see why youd feel that way ross!
Fucking A. This duder hasn’t created a decent album in at least ten years. It’s kind of sad when Korn III makes Hard To Swallow look like a masterpiece.
Production wise, great records in my opinion:
- Roots – Sepultura
- Relationship of Command – At the Drive-In
- The Burning Red – Machine Head (NuMetal or not is very well produced)
- Slipknot – Slipknot
- IOWA – Slipknot
- Amen – Amen
- Redeemer – Norma Jean
But all of those albums are from a decade ago. The guy hasn’t done anything worthwhile recently.
I’d like to add the first two Glassjaw albums to that one.
Didn’t see you mentioned them
They pretty much flew under the radar, but he produced a record by a British band called Vex Red back in, like, 2002. I actually really liked it.
I remember that record! Wook’s review is what sold me on it.
http://www.theprp.com/thevault/reviews/vexred.shtml
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence and Worship & Tribute by GlassJAw. Two of the best albums Ross worked on.
clicking that link for the vex red review made me realize how much i miss the old prp layout. aaaah sweet nostalgia…
ol’ blue.
Fuck free music I want my reparations!
You’s a crazy lil nigga.
Even though Ross forgot to use his sarcasm font, it’s kind of screaming through the computer screen. Dude probably looked at some album sales report or his last royalties check and got pissed and went to the first place you go to when you realize you’re getting screwed, Twitter. I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that people are mixing him up with Rick Rubin, though. I guess it’s a testament to how big of a nerd I am, but that shit makes me giggle.
I think the alliteration is what’s killing everyone.
The RIAA has no one but themselves to blame for this fiasco. They had all the opportunity in the world to EMBRACE Napster/MP3s and use them to their advantage.
Instead, their own greed got the better of them, they freaked-the-eff-out and tried to squash it and everything else associated with it (LimeWire, The Pirate Bay, etc, etc. etc.)
Their “kill it with fire” approach backfired and ignited such a backlash among people who probably wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire.
Musicians – and perhaps some producers too – need to see they are wasting their time fighting against MP3s and instead look for ways to embrace the changes in technology and give the fans what they want; reasonably priced music in various forms.
Too true. I think in their short sighted minds they thought that Napster was something they could kill with a simple lawsuit. How could they not see from the insane popularity of Napster that by trying to kill it, dozens more file sharing sites would pop up? I’m finishing up the Steve Jobs biography right now and there is a whole chapter on iTunes, digital music, the pushback from the record companies and the dealings Steve had with the publishing companies and the artists. What’s funny is I hold Trent Reznor in high regards as being one of the pioneers of adapting to the digital music age, but he is quoted in the book as being one of the ones to push back against iTunes because he didn’t want people to buy single songs after he produced the album as a whole experience. Completely disregarding the fact that the masses had already decided that they were just going to download single songs illegally or legally.
Imagine listening to only a few select tracks from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”. It is possible, but I do believe that you lose something by doing so.
Many of NIN’s albums are in the same vein. They ARE designed to be “whole experiences” and while you can listen tracks individually, ultimately, I believe that you would lose out on the overall experience.
NIN is the exception though and for many other artists, selling individual songs would be more beneficial.
I totally agree. I have downloaded very few singles in my lifetime. The bands I listen to generally offer an album experience to be enjoyed as a whole, that’s just my preference and I buy the whole album. I’m also OCD about my iTunes library, random tracks drive me up the wall. But… that’s not the way it is.
I think all CDs should come with either a DVD, t-shirt, or signed insert with them. I’ve bought special editions for these reasons, and having something like a t-shirt provides advertising for the band. Sure there’s additional costs in production and shipping, but what a lot of these bands need is promotion. So why not have thousands of walking billboards?
Not a bad idea. There needs to be some incentive to buy a cd even as opposed to buying it legally off iTunes. When the last Animals as Leaders came out, I debated buying it online, but decided I wanted the hard copy and drove to Hot Topic. I bought the album for $4 more than it would have cost me online and had to drive about 20 minutes. When I opened up the cd and there was as simplistic packaging as I had ever seen, not much more than a sleeve – no pictures of the band, no thank you’s to read through, not even what I would classify as liner notes, I was a little pissed. Why the fuck did I not just download this shit off iTunes for $7.99 and save myself the time and trouble. I’m a modern musicians best friend, I don’t pirate music and I’m very simple to please. Give me some cool pics of the band, something to flip through while I sit in the mall parking lot and listen to the album in my car the first time. AaL failed me on this one.
One of the most brilliant sales tactics I’ve seen is on Warped Tour – buy the bands’ CD for about $10-$15, get all the free water you want for the day. Think about it, a pack of 24 water bottles at Wal-Mart costs about $4, or $0.17 per bottle. Add in additional costs for ice, coolers, and tax, and you’re probably looking at $0.25 per bottle. Water costs $3 per at the show, so if you buy 4-5 waters at the event you can also get a CD whereas the bands’ cost is about $1.25 + CD production. You’d have to drink about 30 bottles of water to make the band just break even, and you’re having people constantly go back to their merch area. As a patron, if you get 5+ bottles of water you have a perceived “profit”. Brilliant.
there are an insane amount of opinions generated from one equivocal statement.
Burn, Piano Island, Burn!
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