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Art vs. Commerce. It is what I like to call a never-ending awkward white-boy dance at the prom of life. Why does one concert ticket cost more than another? Why does one album cost more than another?

Yes, it’s a simple case of supply and demand and market forces in many cases. But apart from recording costs, and above and beyond physical packaging, what justifies one album costing more than another? Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails asked this question while he was touring Australia last year. He asked a rep at his label this very question, or pointedly he wanted to know why his albums cost more than others he saw in the record stores he visited down under. The rep’s response was that according to their research, Nine Inch Nails fans will pay more for a release because of their devotion to the group. Trent wasn’t too pleased with that notion and left the label in a ball of fire in the months after for a combination of documented reasons.

People often cite Reznor regarding artist disillusionment with the system. Is it because of the media’s fascination with him or because he’s willing to speak out? Many musicians have been hit with various travesties of contracts, yet musicians are signed to soul-sucking-in-perpetuity contracts daily.
In today’s NY Post, Irving Azoff manager of many artists including Christina Aguilera and The Eagles gave the below quote during an interview:

Q: The Eagles back catalog can be purchased through iTunes as individual songs but you withheld this CD from that Web store. Why?

A: We want people to experience it as [an entire CD] for six months or so. [iTunes doesn't limit sales to album only sales.] I recently looked to see how much The Eagles have been paid in royalties from all their downloads at iTunes. The Eagles are one of the two or three best selling catalogs in the business. And we figured out that [total iTunes royalties] equaled about 45 minutes of one concert at any city in the world.

Irving was very open earlier in the interview by saying that the real money is on the road. But his statement was fascinating in the sense that he revealed what many have thought… the money generated from digital sales is minuscule in the scheme of things. Or at least in the world of the Eagles.

If only more musicians could mimic the cliche of rappers selling records from the trunks of their cars…. all profit, my friends.