News from Nick Barrett (Pendragon)

tuxon wrote: Great to see the big guy turning in his 2 cents.   but anyone questioning The Window Of Life as being the best pendargon ever released should start listening again (E-dub listn again and again, but anyone should realise that Ghosts and Breaking The Spell and the other 4 songs are sheer magic). (not saying the other albums ae any less great though).   anywoh. Love to see a next Pendie album, preferably with Clive Nolan at the key's, if any thought already excist of making it, I will gladly pay in advance for an assured quality product.   keep the creative juices flowing Nick, for I want to hear it (but make it beter than Believe, which I consider mildly dissapointing) love you even so.

I love The Window Of Life. Question: if you have the recently remastered version, do you hear static on yours? I do at the beginning and it's very noticeable.

E

E-Dub wrote: tuxon wrote: Great to see the big guy turning in his 2 cents.   but anyone questioning The Window Of Life as being the best pendargon ever released should start listening again (E-dub listn again and again, but anyone should realise that Ghosts and Breaking The Spell and the other 4 songs are sheer magic). (not saying the other albums ae any less great though).   anywoh. Love to see a next Pendie album, preferably with Clive Nolan at the key's, if any thought already excist of making it, I will gladly pay in advance for an assured quality product.   keep the creative juices flowing Nick, for I want to hear it (but make it beter than Believe, which I consider mildly dissapointing) love you even so. I love The Window Of Life. Question: if you have the recently remastered version, do you hear static on yours? I do at the beginning and it's very noticeable. E

I love Pendragon and I sure hope that this situation of greedy downloading can amend itself somehow ... If I was Nick I would make CD`s that join each song yet indexed as the next song digitally  so that downloading each file sounds rough and rugged for the listener when put together as an mp3 album  .. probably a silly idea   but I know it ruins the audio effects when there's a 2 second gap between each song  that should run smoothly to the next song unnoticed and downloads may want to upgrade to a retail version ....  asap 
Also no advanced copies to anyone   its a silly idea and that's where the trouble is starting (the enemy is within, trust nobody)  

I think Pendragon are amongst the worlds best Neo Prog band that's how I see things and they fully deserve their recognition and some rewards ,  so many great CD`s  over the years

anyway give Nick a handshake from me and tell him the CD "believe" helped me carry on in a time of life I thought I was  not going to make it

BTW   I didn`t know who you were the other day progchic,   now I do I`m stoked 


Edited by Snakes & Arrows - May 20 2007 at 01:04

How much would a band like Pendragon get from a single sale if I ordered off a site like Amazon or in a store? Is it less than if I ordered it from someone like Greg Walker (whom I have never heard of... can someone explain?)? Does this depend on whether the band is an RIAA-affiliate?

I'm asking because I've always heard that artists get very little money from a CD sale; just seeing if that's true or not, especially since Nick Barrett said they get 9.28 from a Greg Walker sale.

Edited by KeleCableII - May 20 2007 at 22:56

[QUOTE=KeleCableII]How much would a band like Pendragon get from a single sale if I ordered off a site like Amazon or in a store? Is it less than if I ordered it from someone like Greg Walker (whom I have never heard of... can someone explain?)QUOTE]

Edited by Glueman - May 21 2007 at 02:37

Although this is an old topic, I thought I would contribute my point of view.

First a little history:
I first saw Pendragon in Queen Mary College Student Union, Mile End, London in hmmm must have been 1983 ish.  I was very impressed - Nick wore a top hat, which I thought was his attempt to be Gabrielesque, however I liked the music and bought a cassette which had 3 tracks on it... early versions of "Victims of Life", "Insomnia" and "Armageddon".  I still have it!

I kept an eye open for Pendragon and found a "prog sampler" album called Fire in Harmony (or something like that) which had "Fly High, Fly Far" on it and soon after got the mini-album of the same name. I looked out for concerts and saw them again in London at... hmmm maybe Marquee? Then along came The Jewel and I was knocked sideways, loved it! Saw them again at the Astoria and I think I'm in the audience in 9:15 as it was those concerts that were recorded. All well and good, I was a dedicated Pendragon Fan.

Then along came Kowtow. Oh My God! What is this appalling rubbish? I was utterly devastated. It was even worse that Abacab! Dreary, samey and just depressing. I listened to that record 2 or 3 times and have never played it again. It destroyed my trust in Pendragon music and I stopped looking for any more music.

Sorry Nick, but you lost me because of that album.

Fast forward 10 years or so and we have the internet and I discover this site and check up what Pendragon have been doing since I lost faith. Lots of live albums and stuff and a few studio albums. However, my trust having been betrayed by Kowtow, there is no way I'm going to risk my money (of which I have less of now than back then) and potentially get another Kowtow experience.

So I'm afraid you can count me as one of those people who downloaded the Pendragon discography. I  was, though, pleasantly surprised to discover that I liked a lot of the newer material. As a consequence I went out and bought:

The Jewel (Remastered)
Masquesrade Overture
Window of Life
The World

So without that opportunity to sample Pendragon's musical output, I would never have parted with any cash. Nick didn't loose ANY money by me downloading the discography - I'd never have bought the albums anyway. The opposite happened, I actualyl went out and bought the CDs - because its GREAT to have something tangible in your hand you can put on the shelf and be happy you own. Having a downloaded album isn't the same.

All that being said, I'm sorry to hear the financial difficulties Nick is facing - I've been there myself.

However, quality music will sell, bad music will not. Because of a bad album, I stopped attending Pendragon concerts and spending any money supporting the band. Now though, because I could freely check out the newer material, you have got me spending my money to support your efforts again.

There are plenty of legal ways to hear music without illegally downloading it, and the flat truth is less than 1% of people that download it ever buy it.  Internet radio is a great way to sample, the bands myspace page, the label page, amazon, etc.

And to the question about what pays the band best.  typically if you are on Amazon, you're going through several layers of resellers, which means the band probably gets about $4 for the CD.