Seriously. I managed a small rock band for a while. We got picked to tour with another band in some clubs in Eastern Europe. This was pre-Spotify, but Facebook strong.
We had no CD sales pre-tour to these places, just some views on youtube. We were relying a lot on the other band.
But the people that came to the shows?They knew the words and sang along and we had a great time.
Someone had our music and shared it before we got there. And we were grateful for those pirates!! And yes, we sold some merch and CDs at the shows.
If not for the pirates it would have been a much different experience with a lot less people showing up.
Our band never “made it” but it was still a successful tour and a helluva lot of fun. In large part because our music was pirated and shared ahead of time.
Seriously. I managed a small rock band for a while. We got picked to tour with another band in some clubs in Eastern Europe. This was pre-Spotify, but Facebook strong.
We had no CD sales pre-tour to these places, just some views on youtube. We were relying a lot on the other band.
But the people that came to the shows?They knew the words and sang along and we had a great time.
Someone had our music and shared it before we got there. And we were grateful for those pirates!! And yes, we sold some merch and CDs at the shows.
If not for the pirates it would have been a much different experience with a lot less people showing up.
Our band never “made it” but it was still a successful tour and a helluva lot of fun. In large part because our music was pirated and shared ahead of time.