Oldie But Goodie About Music Industry Today

[Axxman300]

Here's a PBS Frontline Documentary about today's music industry:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ws/music/view/

You can watch it online. It's simply a damn good look at how the industry changed and how hard it is for an unknown artist/band to break in.

Plus, Velvet Revolver is in it, shot as their first album was coming out.

[twonabomber]

i think i saw that when the VR disc first came out. still an interesting show.

it's funny how the record industry is built on failure...as in, one of every what, ten bands make it, and the others are considered losses for the company.

[WinterlessIceness]

I can't see how it's harder than 10-20-30 years ago. Indie bands like Bright Eyes and Death Cab For Cutie aren't even on a major label and have internationally released records and world tours. All that local bands have to do is start pimping their myspace page, set up gigs, get invited by other clubs via their myspace pages and start selling their self produced CDs on the internet before they'd get signed by some indie records company. I've seen such bands live that started as a local act and had articles about them in Kerrang and related just in a matter of months. All the band has to do is write a quality music. I'm really glad if that 1-out-of-10-bands-gets-in statistic is right because those other 9 bands are usually utter crap anyway.

[broken9500]

I am of the opinion that it's never been easier for "independent" artists to take control of their own careers than it is right now. Going further, I think "major" labels are practically inconsequential. Whereas even 30 years ago, an artist had to "get signed" now they only have to develop the skills and maturity to record their own record and toss it online and begin marketing themselves. With the advent of sites like MySpace, MP3.com, and YouTube, an artist can cultivate their own fan base. There are websites devoted to facilitating bands' tours to specific cities. Bands can book an entire tour online now! What's more, television has moved away from the in-house writing of programming music and instead concentrates on using music from bands. There have never been more opportunities for bands that really want to own their destinies then there is today. If you're smart, tech-savvy, mature and willing to do your own legwork, you can market yourself, own your music, and sustain yourself financially. It's like any other business venture. You need to define your audience, seek them out and let them know what you're offering. People are hungry for new music. They wear the obscure bands they listen to like some sort of badge of honour. Anyone who thinks "the man" is still holding local and independent bands down and that the might major record labels won't allow truly good music on the radio are just not thinking clearly and seeing the big picture. It's no longer a matter of the major record labels keeping us down because they just don't matter anymore. When regional independent bands begin to really make some noise for themselves, these same major labels come knocking offering major distribution deals. If you're good, you're good and as time continues to pass, we continue to get to a point where that's really all that matters. If your music connects with a lot of people, today's world offers you a million and one opportunities for both you and your audience to find one another and to establish economic relationships. You just have to be willing to work for it. I find all to often that the "independent" scene is full of people that want some A/R guy to come into some dive and hand them a contract for a million dollars and take them away in a private jet loaded with porn stars and cocaine. Today is a world where the individuals who have the most savvy, the most drive and the most discipline will achieve. This has never been more true than it is now...and that goes for all areas of life, not just music, but art in general, business, and everything else. I'm tired about stories of "the Man" keeping people down. If the Man still exists, he doesn't matter anymore...not unless you let him matter.

One more note: 10-20 years ago how many radio stations were there? How many record labels were there? How many home recording software platforms, hard disc recorders and general equipment was available and how much did it cost? How many avenues were there for a band to get their music out to the people? Now, answer those same questions given today's environment.

[twonabomber]

"the man" is still fucking up the industry - because the man in charge now is a bean counter, NOT someone who cares about the music.

when the labels started hiring lawyers and accountants to run things is when it went to shit.

[Axxman300]

One more note: 10-20 years ago how many radio stations were there? How many record labels were there? How many home recording software platforms, hard disc recorders and general equipment was available and how much did it cost? How many avenues were there for a band to get their music out to the people? Now, answer those same questions given today's environment.

They covered this in the Frontline episode.

The question isn't how many radio stations there were 10-20 years ago it's how many INDEPENDANT radio stations were there back then? Thanks to Clear Channel, some guy in New York writes the playlist for what goes on the air in Wyoming, Chicago and St Luis. Instead of 50 Program Managers to cover, Label A&R guys only need to target four or five. This has already lead to serious Payola activities and since Clear Channel is about the bottom line they're only interested in ratings and not content quality. Because of this, they will not risk airtime on an unknown artist when they know what they think people already want to hear.

For all the talk about the internet and satellite radio the simple fact is that most people listen to regular radio when they're driving around because 40% of the US is Tornado prone and 80% is subject to extreme weather of some kind durring different times of the year. Satellite radio doesn't tell you jack and not everyone wants to listen to talk radio so they've got an FM station or two pre-programmed that is usually on or can be turned on when the weather goes south. Any American who's experienced a natural disaster will have a radio habbit because when the power goes out the radio is all you have.

Like I said before, the Industry has only itself to blame, they were too slow in figuring out the internet and coming up with a way to make money off of it. Instead they tried to fight it and they lost four years in which they could have gotten their foot in the door early and set up shop.