On the Download: The Industry, The Musician & The Internet – Part I

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  in Features
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OJ LAW

Former bedroom musician and now genuine indie rockstar-in-the-making OJ Law is no stranger to putting up music online. His two past releases, Timezones and Law, are available for free download while latest LP Yesterday is a Distant Dream was only up for digital download first before being put out as a physical release. You would think OJ is a firm believer in the future of digital downloads, but he has his doubts about the practicality of digital download in terms of generating sales. But that doesn’t mean he sees physical format as a perennial staple of the music industry.

A lot of acts these days put out music for free online, some are whole proper albums (in lieu of just mixtapes hip hop acts are fond of putting out). Prior to Yesterday is a Distant Dream, you yourself released two previous works for free download. What led to this decision?
I think you need an audience to sell music too and I had no audience at the time. Giving away the music for free was partly to sharing with friends, and also spontaneous decision to put it out there. If nobody knows who you are, you might as well give your music away for free!  There’s no doubt that more people took a chance listening to my music compared to if I had tried charging for it.

With sites like bandcamp there seems to be a trend among indie acts to bypass the hassle of physical distribution and have their music directly available to their fans. How has this worked for you? Is it an effective way to spread your music as an artist?
I think sites Bandcamp is good for making your music easily available to people without the hassle of web hosting, web design, etcetera. Of course, it’s not the answer to everything; you still need to do the other stuff too, the promo and gigs in order to make your music visible to people. Promotion is the big thing that a record label can provide that can be difficult to do by yourself. It’s unlikely that an independent artist will be able to take out adverts in magazines or on TV, for example. There are probably lots of amazing bands out there that nobody has ever heard of. I’m just one of the luckier ones.

But if you’re talking about sales, then there’s no comparison. Digital music sales are something that the Malaysian market is not ready for yet.  I’ve sold many more CDs of my new album than I have of digital downloads. But I see having all the music up for streaming as a good way for people to preview the music. And if they like it enough, they will buy the CD.

What do you feel about downloading music from the internet? Legally and illegally.
I think illegal download is an unavoidable evil. As an artist, you have to assume that people who download your music illegally are people who wouldn’t have bought it anyway. I understand label concerns over piracy, but it’s a losing battle. It would be better to find a means of getting legal music to the public a la iTunes or Spotify. Over here, it’s too difficult to buy music online. If you don’t have a credit card, you can’t do anything. And kids don’t have credit cards.

Do you see music going the route of full on digital in the offing? Are record labels and the traditional method of putting out music becoming a thing of the past?
There will always be a market for the physical release, but I think more or a collector’s item. Vinyl is still around! But what’s nice now is that you aren’t really restricted to a jewel case or any particular dimensions anymore. I like seeing all these beautifully designed limited edition boxes with extra goodies included in the package along with the music. That’s the sort of thing I’d like to do in the future.

Yesterday is a Distant Dream, along with Timezones and Law, can be downloaded at ojlaw.com.