The New Music Industry

This is a response to my coworker Scott’s post over at CognisantCow.com. I’d recommend reading that first.

I’ll preface this by noting that I am not a musician, I do not know the trials that they go through to get discovered, however I am a consumer and I know what I want. So I’m looking at this from a consumer perspective.

I actually started a huge diatribe about this topic earlier today, but I’ve since trashed it rather then editing it.  So now I just want to express a few points…

First of all, Trent Reznor acknowledges that he probably wouldn’t be where he is without the label, and that that popularity still fuels his success now.  However, he feels that modern technologies (myspace, youtube, etc) makes starting out and marketing yourself much easier then is was when he was coming up.

Yes, there are thousands of artists out there competing for attention on the internet, but the same rules apply as getting noticed by a label.  Create something good, and be able to follow it up.  It’s the same competition, just a new venue to vie for attention in. Look at Ok-Go, they did it, other artists can too.

Trent uses hyperbole when saying the labels ‘cant use email’.  It’s a way of saying that they aren’t with the times.  Look how long it took for the lawsuits to stop, and digital downloads to be where they are.  Corporations are rigid, greedy, bloated, and wasteful.

Now, this is my own anger with corporations coming out, but it is related.  Corporations find something that works, monetize it, and stick with it.  Labels are no different, they pump up artists to make a profit.  This makes sense, it’s capitalism, however for music it is harmful to the industry and to culture and make the corporation rigid, greedy, bloated and wasteful.

• Harmful to industry: other labels follow the status quo, the problems multiply
• Harmful to culture: ‘popular’ music dominates the radio, while generally lacking real skill at the art.
• Rigid: the label is set in their ways and doesn’t embrace new technology.
• Greedy: this is the american way, look out for #1, screw everyone else.
• Bloated & wasteful: companies grow to huge sizes with multiple VPs, secretaries, exuberant salaries, jets, etc.

All this has lead to low pay outs for the actual artists so label can improve their bottom line, and has also lead to shitty cookie cutter bands dominating the radio.

Don’t the artists creating something deserve as much as the people selling it?  It’s a symbiosis, right? Wrong, the value of the artist gets lessened as more desperate artists lower their price to sign with a label.  The ratio or artists to labels is out of wack.  By reducing that ratio closer to 1 and making the artist their own marketer is the only way they will get a fair shake.