ดึงดูดใจ Deungdutjai

Edit: To make it clear how far this goes, I’ve also hear that Grammy has also stated they won’t even allow people to COVER their songs. That means no aspiring singers can show off their voices to Grammy songs they like, no musicians can make piano, ukulele, or guitar covers, nothing. They do not want full versions of their songs available online because they feel it is too easy to record/rip the audio from streaming sites and fear people will do that instead of buying the albums or mp3s.

Here is an English article from Bangkok Post about the situation: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/306947/gmm-grammy-gets-tough-with-youtube

I guess Grammy would get more revenue from ads if they used their own site rather than Youtube, especially if they’re still talking out details, so I guess I can understand Grammy’s frustration from that if they don’t have a deal worked out so they would get paid ad revenue from Youtube, but is this really the right way to go? Moving all their songs and videos to a website only in Thai that very few people check regularly? The nice thing about Youtube is that it’s an international site in many languages with users all over the world that makes it easy for people everywhere to discover new music. I’m not sure if they’ll be able to get that broad reach with their own, limited site… What do you guys think?

I also have no idea if it’s true, but I’ve been hearing rumors that Grammy was considering charging a subscription fee to be able to view the full videos and media on their site. What do you think? Would you guys pay for the access? Or is that being too greedy?

Original: For those who haven’t heard already, GMM Grammy has decided its going to delete all of its songs and music videos from Youtube, stop uploading anymore, and flag any that other people upload as copyright infringement. They apparently don’t like that people can listen to their music there for free and think it contributes to piracy. They don’t want songs of theirs to be available streaming online and seemingly expect people to only buy the albums based on radio singles and 10 second teasers and want their videos to ONLY be available on gmember.com, which is not only completely in Thai so it’s hard for foreigners to navigate, but it’s a horrible, slow, glitchy site with loading problems that doesn’t work half the time and is so frustrating for many to try to use…

Obviously this is a way outdated marketing strategy and will hurt them more than help, as without a site that streams as fast as Youtube or has such a wide user base, their music won’t reach as wide an audience, and it cuts you, the fans (especially the international fans who don’t speak Thai) off from keeping up with a lot of the artists and new music. Streaming the music videos is an advertisement for the artist and can induce people to buy the CDs or mp3s while the company can still make a lot off advertisement clicks and views. The leaders of GMM Grammy need to realize that this is the technology age and the economy is bad, no one will pay for a CD they haven’t heard already and just hope it’s good, not when it’s so easy to find it streaming or for download elsewhere. Limiting the audience who can watch your music videos or hear your music is not going to help your company grow and will most likely contribute to online piracy, so the sooner Grammy realizes this, the better it will be for their artists, and thus better for them.

Many in Thailand have started a rebellion against Grammy for this, threatening to unsubscribe from all Grammy Youtube channels and boycott buying any Grammy albums, as well as thumbing down all the videos they upload on Youtube and leaving angry comments, so if you’re watching Thai videos from GMM Grammy and wonder why there’s so many dislikes or angry comments, this is why.

I’m not sure if it would be right of me to encourage you all to join in on this rebellion, but all I know is that I feel bad for the artists whose fanbase will be limited now, and I feel bad for you guys, all the foreign fans who now might be missing out on good new music or who will find it hard to keep up with releases from your old favorite artists since it’s not so easily accessible for you anymore. So I hope Grammy’s management will come to their senses soon and change their mind, and perhaps a global fan uproar would be what they needed to understand.

Anyway, just wanted to update anyone who was unaware or wondering why there is suddenly so much animosity on GMM’s Youtube channels/videos~