Official Post From Hawkwind.

[Paul Mather]

On Wed, Dec 11, 2002 at 12:54:33PM -0400, Ted Jackson wrote:
=> I'll repeat it again for the folks
=> in the back benches:  BANDS DON'T MAKE DIDDLY FROM RECORD SALES!!

Statistically, that is true.  Worse still, a lot of bands bankrupt
themselves making records.

=> Hell, BÖC didn't make a new CD for 10 years, and they make more
=> money in a month than HW does in a whole year, because they're 'On Tour Forever'
=> and are shrewd about managing their overhead.

The "On Tour Forever" is the key.  I've heard it said that the
record biz is a wheel that has come full circle.

In the nascent days of records, bands earned their income through live
shows.  Records were seen, at best, as a promotional tool to attract
people to come to those shows, but not as a reliable income stream in
itself.  When records became more popular and entrenched, and
recording technology more sophisticated, there was a migration of
emphasis into the studio.  Live shows became a "necessary evil"---a
promotional tool to sell the latest album.  So long as the means of
production and distribution channels were well controlled, bands could
reap potentially large reward for less effort in the studio.  But now,
as those means of production and distribution channels are being
undermined by new technology and superdistribution channels such as
the Internet, many bands are finding that live performance is, once
again, where their steady income lies.  Bands that perform well live
have a distinguishing advantage---something to attract fans time and
again.  (There's also more "repeat business" to be had through regular
live shows than through occasional record releases.)

As someone who will attend all Gov't Mule gigs within an ~5 hour
driving radius, I can personally attest to the allure of a great live
show!  (The availability of freely traded live tapes from those gigs
does not make me want to attend them any less---quite the contrary!)

The shame is that Hawkwind really is a band that needs to be
experienced live.  I keep hearing that Dave isn't much a fan of
live touring any more, though, which doesn't bode well. :-(

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa