Note: The following is my response to a recent customer question.  Occasionally we print these to clarify to all what might be otherwise misunderstood.  The question from customer was, “Why can’t the sampled songs on your website be full songs instead of only part of the song?” The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Dear Bart,

Your letter came to me this morning from our customer service department.  I’ve asked that these kinds of responses come to me occasionally so that I could help handle them and help clarify confusions.

As CEO of Watchfire Music and one of its composers I would love that you could hear a full sample of my music on the site, but unfortunately we, as well as the rest of the industry, have learned that if we were to put the full sample on the site, then three generations of people would then steal such and never actually purchase it.

Unfortunately I have to eat.  I’m working on overcoming that limitation in life, but I just haven’t gotten there yet.  As it is, we live in a world where now much of what we create as musicians and composers is either free or stolen because of file sharing and hacking.

Your short note came across to all of us here as critical.  We pride ourselves in our giving.  We sell songs that take tens of thousands of dollars to create for 99 cents in a world where music is now even becoming “free” — thereby reducing our much loved occupations to the level of hobbies.

I guess you got me on my soap box here, but when I come across moments like this of such misunderstanding, it usually, these days, puts me right back on that box.

We do offer every possible tool we can think of to help you discover and understand our music.  Perhaps you might rethink this in terms of going to the movies.  Let’s say they were forced to let you see the movie for free and then, if you saw the whole thing and liked it, then, and only then, you would have to pay for it.

It’s a good analogy.

Perhaps that’s why the movies provide trailers — so that you can get a taste of the film, but not the whole experience … Perhaps look at our samples in the same light.

BTW, iTunes’ samples are :30 seconds long, always starting at the top and usually giving the listener only the intro of the song.  (Not much is to be learned from that.) My rule to all our composers is a 1:30 sample including at least a verse and a chorus.  That should be enough information to give a good musician a real taste of the song.  We also offer the full lyric for free.

And then there’s the purchase:  99 cents to hear the entire song!  What professional singer cannot afford that once they have had their taste and are intrigued enough to take the next step?  Think about it … 99 cents …

Ah well, perhaps I’ve ruminated on this subject enough.  I hope I’ve been able to jog your brain, to clarify a few things and most of all to give you a better understanding of our intentions and our obstacles.

Perhaps this was not the kind of clarity you were pursuing, but it is the truth — like it or not.  We don’t happen to like it much and wish this were a different world where people were more to be trusted.  95% of our customers are, in fact, trustworthy.  It’s just a very limited few that take negative advantage of the technology.  They often cause all the trouble for the rest of us.

At any rate, thanks for communicating — and most of all, thanks for listening.

All the best,

Peter Link
CEO & Creative Director
Watchfire Music
peterlink@watchfiremusic.com