Just a thought...

It has occurred to me that one cannot make the money one used to make back in '01 by selling records. Moreover, nowadays, selling records it's just a way of promoting your live shows. So, what's the deal with releasing records? Aphex has such a huge credit that it's prolly more rewarding NOT releasing records cos people will go to live shows hoping to hear something new. So, I bet that we're not seeing new records soon by the man. He is always been good at marketing and, if you think about it, it's not the time to release records anymore. So, abandon ye hopes folks.

Cheers, p.

Fuck that, Aphex will release those sweet 6 albums he said!!!!! I... TRUST HIM!!!!!!!!!!

boards of canada - no live shows, new record

aphex twin - some live shows, no record

everything is borked

How has that occurred to you? Radiohead had no problems making money with a "whatever you want to pay" strategy. After 2001. Wasnt that Hail To The Thief, or something?

Also, seeing he's more into releasing anonymously nowadays, he's not into making lots of money with his name anyways. A new release under his Aphex Twin moniker would be a fast route to making some money.

Well, I'm no expert and I cannot back up my opinion with facts, it's just a glimpse of things around me. I think Radiohead continue to sell records out of their acquired status, and Hail to the Thief was just a marketing experiment that was never tried again... I guess the business model is not one that functions, otherwise it would have been adopted. (If I remember correctly Nine Inch Nails tried it out around the same time as Radiohead, with similar outcomes, i.e. not tried again).

When that thought came to my mind I was thinking about business, and how permanent connection to the net has changed things. Streaming services are becoming the future, on demand listening is what the industry is coming up with to adapt to the lack of physical acquisition by buyers (let's face it, how many of us listen to new things almost exclusively on youtube?).

Aphex has always been a great musician and a great business guy. I think that what makes his figure special in the recent music history is probably that. He knows how to make great music but he also know how to sell it. The simple fact that he is not releasing music anymore and that his latest releases are in some ways releases that aim at being highly marketable by themselves (think about the huge vynil release of Analords, which in some ways anticipated all of the vinyl craving that is going on lately, ot the tuss release, which was based on the "is it him or not" marketing idea), made me think that he is not releasing cos he is not satisfied with the business model.

Given that intelligence, instinct and wit is what I see troughout all of the Aphex history, I guess that he is looking for new ways of shipping music. Records are not the medium anymore to do so... probably a swinging piano hanged with ropes playing a melody is.

one more thing... Rephlex opened a digital store just to sell its back catalogue. Not an update since 2010. It makes me think that they don't believe in digital sales either.

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:31 AM, goDel said:

How has that occurred to you? Radiohead had no problems making money with a "whatever you want to pay" strategy. After 2001. Wasnt that Hail To The Thief, or something?

 

Also, seeing he's more into releasing anonymously nowadays, he's not into making lots of money with his name anyways. A new release under his Aphex Twin moniker would be a fast route to making some money.

In Rainbows.

That "pay whatever you want" model is adopted by Bandcamp. So it must be successful in some way. And it paid off pretty good for Radiohead, if I remember well. And didn't NIN go from that model to "it's completely free"? Why Radiohead went into an opposite direction, I dunno. Quite honestly, I don't even know what stuff they did, business model wise, after that experiment.

I can imagine it is still safer to have some label involved to deal with aspects of marketing, design, touring and legal issues. And with a label involved, that "pay whatever you want" is not really an option, is it?

I'm not sure why you think Aphex is a great business guy though. Do you mean in terms of marketing? Business wise, I figure he should be happy to have landed some good deals in the past. But I'm not sure whether that because of his business sense, or rather the quality he produces. That basically sells itself, right? Also, I don't think running Rephlex is very lucrative.

And even marketing wise, WARP must have been essential in this department. The irony is, that he doesn't seem to care for the business or the marketing aspects. At least, not in a commercial sense. If he is active from a marketing perspective, it would be during gigs. Having lightshows, videos and dancers and such. But that's more about being an artist than a marketeer or business man, imo. The Tuss example is more a case of anti-marketing, if you ask me. Which is another kind of marketing, namely: lets do absolutely nothing about marketing whatsoever!

A piano on a swing is indeed a new way of shipping music! ;D

^^Beat me to it.

Edit: @Northernfusion

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:24 AM, pierlu said:

Aphex has always been a great musician and a great business guy. I think that what makes his figure special in the recent music history is probably that. He knows how to make great music but he also know how to sell it. The simple fact that he is not releasing music anymore and that his latest releases are in some ways releases that aim at being highly marketable by themselves (think about the huge vynil release of Analords, which in some ways anticipated all of the vinyl craving that is going on lately, ot the tuss release, which was based on the "is it him or not" marketing idea), made me think that he is not releasing cos he is not satisfied with the business model.

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

I just surfed the net for thoughts on this and I found this recent Thom Yorke interview

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:30 AM, pierlu said:

Having thought they were subverting the corporate music industry with In Rainbows, he now fears they were inadvertently playing into the hands of Apple and Google and the rest. "They have to keep commodifying things to keep the share price up, but in doing so they have made all content, including music and newspapers, worthless, in order to make their billions. And this is what we want? I still think it will be undermined in some way. It doesn't make sense to me."
http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/4/4054634/musics-pay-what-you-want-pioneers-sour-on-giving-away-songs

And this one http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/4/4054634/musics-pay-what-you-want-pioneers-sour-on-giving-away-songs

(where I found out that what I was remembering about NIN is actually a pay what you want for Saul Williams: 18% of 150000 people decided to donate something)

At the end of the article, Reznor says a label is worth for all marketing purpouses.

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

Despite I think he is a genius musician, I agree with your point of view.

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:31 AM, NorthernFusion said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:31 AM, goDel said:

How has that occurred to you? Radiohead had no problems making money with a "whatever you want to pay" strategy. After 2001. Wasnt that Hail To The Thief, or something?

 

Also, seeing he's more into releasing anonymously nowadays, he's not into making lots of money with his name anyways. A new release under his Aphex Twin moniker would be a fast route to making some money.

In Rainbows.

 

Yes. Somehow, Hail To The Thief made more sense though ;)

Are you sure great artists with a dedicated fanbase don't sell records anymore? I think thats a modern day urban myth. Even in this day of illegal downloads Mumford and Sons, Adele, Coldplay etc etc all shift many millions of records. Of course Aphex isn't on their level but I don't think for one minute he isn't going to make no money from a new album. Remember his fanbase is very hardcore, and in general collect music, I would of thought Aphex isn't worried about physical sales at all.

I think its a waste of time trying to second guess Aphex, and try to work out what he does, and why he does it.

Some of you have probably seen the documentary about Quincy Jones where he talks about making Thriller in order to save the music industry. Apparently, making music wasn't a money machine back then either, I'd think. Perhaps there was only a relatively small time window where companies made lots of money by throwing out music on the market. The 80's and the 90's come to mind. During the rest of music history, artists are mostly poor basterds. The last people to realise it, are probably those who are in it for the money.

I think I read in Keith Richard autobiography they only started making loads of profit when they did that Steel Wheels tour. Fair enough they were snorting the whole output from Columbias coco fields before that lol, but yeah they were technically speaking broke up until 1990

i believe that somewhere in the universe RDJ is releasing music on another unknown alias

Anything under the Aphex Twin moniker would sell well. Although from the interviews I've heard or read, he doesn't release for money. It's about doing it when it's right for him which is the way it should be.

Whether he agrees with the way online stores market 'big' releases is another story, ie: come grab your LP, limited edition Digipack, stickers, T-Shirts, downloads etc...

Tbh who cares, if or when it's ready, it will come.

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

 

So true, i couldn't agree more.

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:48 PM, Seblastien said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

 

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

 

So true, i couldn't agree more.

It's a fair point, although his best years span some 15 years without a dip in my humble opinion.

I get the feeling there's something in the pipeline but I've felt like that before lol

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:48 PM, Seblastien said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

 

 

So true, i couldn't agree more.

 

But most would agree on this forum that some of the unreleased material he has showcased at some of the DJ sets (namely the Metz and Manchester tracks) are some of his most skilled work yet! He clearly still has a lot more potential. It's that kind of stuff which needs to see a release. It's a bit depressing to think that they would never get a proper release and instead we have to keep replaying the same live recordings from a handheld camcorder.

  On 6/19/2013 at 9:02 PM, Bread said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:48 PM, Seblastien said:

 

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

 

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

 

So true, i couldn't agree more.

But most would agree on this forum that some of the unreleased material he has showcased at some of the DJ sets (namely the Metz and Manchester tracks) are some of his most skilled work yet! He clearly still has a lot more potential. It's that kind of stuff which needs to see a release. It's a bit depressing to think that they would never get a proper release and instead we have to keep replaying the same live recordings from a handheld camcorder.

I was thinking on similar lines but couldn't articulate as well as you did there sir.

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:48 PM, Seblastien said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

 

 

So true, i couldn't agree more.

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 9:30 PM, Chris Toffer said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 8:48 PM, Seblastien said:

 

  On 6/19/2013 at 11:48 AM, RadarJammer said:

perhaps he isn't the genius musician that everyone thinks he is but someone who put in long hours of hard work and managed to catch lightning in a bottle in his best years. he seems to have left on a high note and cemented his legendary status and in doing so has garnered respect as a DJ

if he tried to release something now and it wasn't that great it would be like shooting a hole in his hot air balloon

 

 

So true, i couldn't agree more.

 

 

 

yeah I couldn't disagree more lol, he's gonna blow you away (one day)

he would probably be best off contributing ambient music for game soundtracks or movies, lots of movies these days seem to be headed in the technology direction, would be a good fit, if he isnt doing it already. also would not be surprised to find out he ghost writes and contributes tracks or collaboration with newer artists like the Skriller

  On 6/19/2013 at 12:57 AM, pierlu said:

It has occurred to me that one cannot make the money one used to make back in '01 by selling records. Moreover, nowadays, selling records it's just a way of promoting your live shows. So, what's the deal with releasing records? Aphex has such a huge credit that it's prolly more rewarding NOT releasing records cos people will go to live shows hoping to hear something new. So, I bet that we're not seeing new records soon by the man. He is always been good at marketing and, if you think about it, it's not the time to release records anymore. So, abandon ye hopes folks.
Cheers, p.