I'm not saying Zip could buy Microsoft if he put Perlon on Beatport. I'm saying he's stupid for not capitalizing on the free income of his incredible back catalog.Themis wrote:short answer: perlon could never make more money off beatport than Zip or Ricardo makes in a week of work.
its just not worth the hassle.
Regardless if Zip makes $250k/yr as a DJ, and Perlon is just his side hobby or however you want to word it, monetizing the back catalog of his label by making the whole thing digital is a no-brainer. It's totally separate from Zip the DJ or Zip the promoter. I'm not saying he "needs" the money. I'm saying It would be bonus income from an already established source with very little work involved.
With digital music, people forget that once it's out there, the asset just keeps generating revenue forever. You never have to update it. You never have to touch it. People just keep buying it as they discover the sound. Hawtin understood this early on when he worked on Beatport. Many others as well.
Perlon seems to be stuck in the past, however. And it gives them a certain mystique. I get that. Unfortunately it doesn't do anything for real music fans: techno collectors, hobbyist DJs (non-professionals), or people who just recently got into the scene and can't afford to pick up all the old vinyls but still want to rock out to good tunes.
If he's worried about cannibalization taken away from vinyl sales, why not make all Perlon releases as vinyl exclusives for 12 months? After a year it goes into the digital catalog to be enjoyed by the masses. This also keeps the "street credit" with the label. If you must be the first guy on the block to have the new Perlon record, you can only buy the vinyl within the first year.
The whole idea of creating "secret, limited pressings" or "music that nobody knows about because it's only on vinyl" is the stupidest sh!t I've ever heard of in 2011. People sound like a bunch of nerds with their secret squirrel tracks that they want all to themselves.