Killing the Music – When I started in the music business, music was important and vital to our culture. Artists connected with their fans. Record labels signed cutting-edge artists, and FM radio offered an incredible variety of music. Music touched fans in a unique and personal way. Our culture was enriched and the music business was healthy and strong. *That’s all changed.* Today the music business is in crisis. Sales have decreased between 20 and 30 percent over the past three years. Record labels are suing children for using unauthorized peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing systems. Only a few artists ever hear their music on the radio, yet radio networks are battling Congress over ownership restrictions. Independent music stores are closing at an unprecedented pace. And the artists seem to be at odds with just about everyone — even the fans.
[ “(extlink)Washington Post”:http://washingtonpost.com ]
Music as a business really does seem to be struggling. It’s not just sagging sales. Less albums are being released, and more of what is being released seems to be “Best of” albums, or generic sounding items. New artists are having a harder and harder time breaking into the business, and fans seem to be increasingly frustrated. Somehow, the relationship between the labels, artists, and fans have to change.
I think the surest sign that the industry is in a decline is the enthusiasm with which record labels seem to be embracing subscription model digital download services. If labels were confident in their future production, why would they settle for selling the equivalent of less than 1 CD a month? The subscription model seems to be the sign of an industry that wants to milk more revenue out of it’s past glories than build future successes.
Similarly, the emphasis by the American content industry on Intellectual Property protection and the increasing elimination of the public domain. With such a strong past history of derivative works, you would think that labels would love the idea of works entering the public domain, as it wo uld provide the raw material for new adaptations and variations.
Also, the sheer amount of touring that artists have to do to make money is unbelievable. What the industry doesn’t seem to see is that the more artist tour, the less new material they will produce.
Finally, why isn’t the music industry moving to jump on and develop new categories like ethnic or cultural music?
I’m not sure what the solutions to the industry’s problems are, but some things are going to have to change if they want to regain the vibrancy they had in the past.
Music is Struggling
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Killing the Music – [ “(extlink)Washington Post”:http://washingtonpost.com ]
Music as a business really does seem to be struggling. It’s not just sagging sales. Less albums are being released, and more of what is being released seems to be “Best of” albums, or generic sounding items. New artists are having a harder and harder time breaking into the business, and fans seem to be increasingly frustrated. Somehow, the relationship between the labels, artists, and fans have to change.
I think the surest sign that the industry is in a decline is the enthusiasm with which record labels seem to be embracing subscription model digital download services. If labels were confident in their future production, why would they settle for selling the equivalent of less than 1 CD a month? The subscription model seems to be the sign of an industry that wants to milk more revenue out of it’s past glories than build future successes.
Similarly, the emphasis by the American content industry on Intellectual Property protection and the increasing elimination of the public domain. With such a strong past history of derivative works, you would think that labels would love the idea of works entering the public domain, as it wo uld provide the raw material for new adaptations and variations.
Also, the sheer amount of touring that artists have to do to make money is unbelievable. What the industry doesn’t seem to see is that the more artist tour, the less new material they will produce.
Finally, why isn’t the music industry moving to jump on and develop new categories like ethnic or cultural music?
I’m not sure what the solutions to the industry’s problems are, but some things are going to have to change if they want to regain the vibrancy they had in the past.