The Format to give away 2006 album

Posted by aubin on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 4:00 PM (EDT)

Starting on June 25th and for 20 days, The Format will be giving away their entire 2006 full length, Dog Problems to all comers. The disc will be made available on the band's official website without restrictions. The band adds:

Owning our own publishing and master has allowed us the freedom to experiment,. We'd be doomed if we sat around and waited for things like radio play to come around. We're just not that band.

We understand the reality; kids aren't buying music. We're going to see if we can't pick up 20,000 new sets of ears by offering the album for free. We're betting that the money lost on those record sales will come back when people come see us live this summer.

This will be a chance to share the album with your friends who haven't bought it or fileshared it

Bands in this story

The Format

News (52 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

punk.

BarcodedScene (June 5, 2007)

Good luck with that, Format. Maybe they'll be touring with 14 different t-shirts like Molly Hatche.... um, Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster.

It's a great culture where you gotta give away music to sell frickin' T-SHIRTS.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

well bands have to make money somewhere since everyone seems to download their music for free anyways. dumbass

mikeinflames (June 5, 2007)

last time i saw this band they were selling hoodies for $15 and t-shirts for $10. (i'm in canada and even local bands usually don't sell hoodies for under $25). this band is obviously not in it for the money.

and if anyone ever gets the chance to go see these guys play live. don't pass it up. they are one of the better live acts around.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

the pax cecilia gives away their cds for free. the last onethey gave away about 15,000 copies of. they sure aren't in it for the money.

-andrew13

niveK82 (June 5, 2007)

they must have spent a lot on packaging (packing envelope & digipak itself) It is really a nice thing to give away.

Holy_Balls (June 5, 2007)

Wow. You're a dumbass and totally missed the point of why they're doing this.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

NO they just SUCK.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

You are an absolute retard.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

This is a Format more bands should follow.

Jay-Z

Someone (June 5, 2007)

Well considering that their record label is their management company and their management company gets a % of every dollar they take in, the management company just realizes that no one gives a shit about the band, but if they can gain fans then they can make more money off the band from more people just going to shows and buying merch.

Oh how things don't seem so genuine when you present all the facts.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

what are you talking about? they said that themselves...

We're betting that the money lost on those record sales will come back when people come see us live this summer.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

i mean it's essentially the same thing, record companies spend money promoting a band to sell cd's to sell tickets. they spend money to sell tickets. cut out the middle man, good job guys.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

So what does that mean? Mangers are baaaaaaad because they take money and no "real" band should have them?

Someone (June 5, 2007)

It is just lame because they make it seem so noble and anti-establishment that the are giving away this amazing product and sticking it to the man because they own their masters and they own their publishing, but they just own those things because they have a management company with a disgusting amount of money. As for the whole no radio,
we aren't that band" nonsense, the tour in a bus and have the same managers as Avril Lavingne, Sarah McLauchlan and Dido. They want to be that band, it just didn't happen.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

They're NOT pretending to be anti-establishment, you 4th grade reading comprehension level twit. They're making it very clear that they're doing it because they think it's a smart promotional business decision.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

yeah, i think you're trying to make an enemy out of somebody who's totally up front about what they're doing.

at any rate, this band apes harry nilsson like crazy...and they're really good.

Someone (June 6, 2007)

They also said they're not "waiting for radio," you fucking moron. Jesus christ, shove your dick in a blender so you can't reproduce.

Morgan (June 5, 2007)

Don't listen to them but they sound like really cool guys.
I think more bands might start doing this.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

the big scamola!

Dante3000 (rich) (June 5, 2007)

Punknews.org:
Where you can give away your music and kids will still say your a money hungry whore.
-Dante

IKnowNothing (June 5, 2007)

Dante for shame. I expect better from you of all people.

Please tell me your poor grammar was intentional to mock the org kids who so frequently confuse "your" and "you're." Pretty please.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

actually I think Dante said it best - this site is so ridiculous nothing any band does is not ridiculed.

sceneupdates (June 5, 2007)

Free music is good music. The only artists I support are the small locals but I'm way inclined to check out a band who gives their shit away for free (like this one). Anyways, give me questions for the wonderful Rachel of Zolof The Rock & Roll Destroyer.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

Rachel: Did you have to do the MTV/Mountain Dew challenge because kids wouldn't buy your discs?

Someone (June 5, 2007)

future of music? i hope so. im damn cheap.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

the only music that will be around then are bands that can afford to tour on their own. no label will put out music. idiot.

Lorraine (June 5, 2007)

I very much enjoy this band. Nice dudes from my experiences - I used to work with the drummer

Someone (June 5, 2007)

you want an award for that?

BarcodedScene (June 5, 2007)

Award? You want to get an account to go with that attitude, pinhead?

Someone (June 5, 2007)

You just called someone a pinhead

-HD

Someone (June 6, 2007)

i don't wanna be a pinhead no mo

Lorraine (June 5, 2007)

no, I was just supporting my comment about them being nice dudes - and it coming from an experience not just random shit talking on the internet like everyone else. I'm an historian and I just have a habit of backing up opinion with reasoning.

David_Arquette (June 5, 2007)

Lighten up, asshole.

Lorraine (June 5, 2007)

people are dumb. I don't really give a shit what internet people think of me.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

10th grade junior varsity cheerleaders are stoked that they can save the $10 they were going to spend on their Format album for beer and condoms instead.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

Isn't it usually the guys who buy the beer for these girls and carry the condoms? I'd go with Victoria Secret thongs or something more realistic.

-HD

Someone (June 5, 2007)

sucks to be from wherever the fuck you're from.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

It is a small place called Los Angeles. It is located near some ocean in some state.

-HD

Someone (June 5, 2007)

condoms, hum pretty good idea, hadn't even thought about getting some instead.

nocigar (June 5, 2007)

never heard any of their other stuff (if they even have other stuff)...but Dog Problems really really bored me

mattshade (June 5, 2007)

Hot damn, everybody's getting riled up for nothing. These things I know: I toured for most of last year only for us to lose everything to a BS management company out of Seattle. She sucked us dry and we spent months sleeping on the ground and holding signs on the edge of the freeway for gas to the next show, BUT WE'D DO IT AGAIN. We loved playing and needed to make that music. The business BS cut us down and now we're in other bands, but dammit let bands do what they need to to stay afloat.

I'm not super into pop bands, but Dog Problems is the record most musicians spend their entire lives trying to create. If this band blows up, jointly dates Paris Hilton, and sports pink speedos, who cares as long as they love the music they make.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

sounds like someone needs to suck up your poor decision in management choice.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

Might as well give it away, it ain't worth nothing.

Someone (June 5, 2007)

d0ubl3 n3g4ti3 lol!

Holy_Balls (June 5, 2007)

God this site is filled with morons. You know if Against Me! did this, you guys would praise the shit out of them.

dildonicsboy (June 6, 2007)

I didn't see many people condemning it, so I'm not exactly sure what your talking about. The 2 or 3 that did are morons.

R3venge_Therapy (June 5, 2007)

Are we talkin', like, an actual copy of the CD with the case and everything? Or just the digital files? Either way, that's pretty awesome. Kudos to them.

sceneupdates (June 6, 2007)

Do you actually use CDs?

punk_rawk_show (June 6, 2007)

There an actual decent band, i used to listen to them a fare bit

Someone (June 6, 2007)

Look What I Did did this first

Someone (June 6, 2007)

Interesting concept, but I still think you are better off selling your CD at a reasonable price and using that money to promote your band.