Who "Killed" the Music Industry?

Justin Mitchell is a TuneCore customer support representative and liaison for TuneCore mixing and mastering services.

The music industry is changing rapidly, almost daily.  As both a musician and music consumer, these changes have affected me two fold.  It’s a scary and exciting time, like the California gold rush or the dotcom explosion in the 1990’s.

Personally, I think artists are more empowered today than ever before.  You can record an album at your house, and in a matter of weeks it can be sold on the largest digital retailers in the world.  That’s huge.  Social networking sites have allowed for direct access to fans, online blogs are replacing magazines and newspapers, and more and more can be accomplished using mobile devices.  So why, with all these great tools at our disposal, do we still hear so many doom and gloom stories about the end of music as we know it?

I came across an interesting article titled “How to Kill the Music Industry” by blogger Jens Roland.  It discusses major points on what has caused the demise of the “good ol” days of the major labels and the subsequent changes in the music industry.  Industry big wigs have blamed music piracy alone, but what other factors have caused this shift?

  Some highlights include:

1. New forms of technology have replacing vinyl and CD’s.  MP3’s don’t deteriorate over time like physical media so there is no need to repurchase an album like there was in the past.
2. International trade agreements have making it easier for consumers to purchase music anywhere and for a more uniform value.
3. Technological improvements in home computers, audio hardware and recording software making the recording process cheaper and easier.
4. Decreasing physical sales and increasing digital sales DESPITE illegal downloads.
5. Consumers now having more choices on what music they buy, how, and where they buy it.

As a music maker and buyer, it seems to me the ball is now in our court.  Advancements in technology have emancipated us from the control major labels had on both the artist and the consumer.  What did you think about the article?  Share your thoughts!

Comments

[sylvia]

I think we're in a lag time while a new paradigm is coalescing, but it's not set.

that said, when I read through these comments, I saw both sides- yes, in one way the record labels exploited the artists, but in the other, artists let themselves become junkies and irresponsible and vain, etc.(thank you spinal tap for so succinctly putting it together:-)) & effectively giving more fat to the depraved werewolf.

there is a whole myth that the right side of the brain and the left side of the brain cannot function together + at equal strengths:

"ooooh, I'm an artist, I am not to understand marketing and branding . . . I am too pure" or "shut up and sing biatch- I'll take care of the rest".

I know great artists who are innate marketers, copywriters, strategists, but they don't let themselves use those things to serve themselves because it's 'improper' or they're somehow offending God. This is an old prevalent myth that has been going on for centuries. Guess now is as good a time as any to get over it.

[Hansipudin]

Yes but it's just where piracy is

[Christa Oatway]

Abuse & IMPERSONATION There is a user on the net who has impersonated Bruce Oatway, me as well as other respectable net posters. He/she is using our names, email addresses and profiles to post loads of nonsense on the net, as I have found in my name and much like Bruce didn't post the following messages and nonsense on myspace. This impersonator seems to be lokated on Maui or Kula and has the IP address of 66.91.190.240

[Bruce Oatway]

Aloha,
I saw this coming years and years ago as I wrote performed and was basically my own record company (Malibu Music) at the dawn of the digital age. It took it's toll on my songwriting. But I slogged on and finally selfproduced Zuma Tribe. It was very rewarding to manifest what was in my head using state of the art equipment. But when I saw all those hours of fine tuning reduced to mp3 earbuds....well.
So I released an acoustic Live Cd through tunecore this year because music was meant to heard LIVE...full analog thunder or subtle harmonic acoustics..it's all LIVE. I also realized that when the butterfly factor is there in the mix then it's just as close to the creation moment as an audience can get....captured ,not controlled. So hone your chops my friends.The audience will find you.

[Six Lowa]

Technology killed the Music Industry (in a way)

We walk with mp3's, plug a mp3 into our cars, and into our home music systems.

The CD era is on its last toe. (I actually went straight from cassette to mp3 and skipped the whole Cd Walkman thing because of it being to bulky)

Tunecore is the best out of all online digital distributers.

Of course you can sell your own music on your website. But people trust the online stores more.

Let them take care of the business end so I can focus on the music.

[illah]

The era of music has evolved from cds to mp3, just think before cds were mainstream we used tapes and before tapes there were tracks. as long as computers are around, consumers will contunue to thrive on digital media. unfortuntly music has become disposable like a trash bag, this is the only problem to date. too many wanna be artist saturating the market.

http://corporateillah.com

[applespacebar]

I am reading all these comments about musicians complaining about having to wear many hats. I do know this... you are required to learn your craft as a songwriter and producer everyday, hours and hours of playing and learning the craft of production. You apply what you learn everyday. Your home recording with your m box protools set up can be squeezed to give you a top notch sound, with professional production values .. ...All done on an m=box pro tools 7.1, with 30 radio stations picking us up so far ... it is possible... just learn everything there is to know and do it... if you dont believe me just go listen and see. www.myspace.com/applespacebar

[KleerStreem Entertainment]

I think you are right about what's going on in the music industry.

There has never been a better time to make a decent living performing and touring.

Yes there are tons of great singers out there, so, you do have to build your fan base, have some decent music that fan base enjoys, connects with, and at shows you have to create moments for your fans and audiences. So many artist just copy cat the covers they sing and after a while they loose their audience.

I believe a lot of artist are missing the boat when they only think about how creative they are or can become. Music is an entertainment business; music is a liquor & cigarette business, for now. If you can't draw fans to the venues you play, no one cares about how 'creative' your music is, especially the venue owners.

People come to shows to loose themselves for some legitimate reason in their hearts and souls. If you show connects with them in their 'lost state' and you created moments for them, then you have most likely made a real fan. And like it or not, to make a living playing music, it's not about anyone but the fans that show up time and time again to enjoy your music in their 'lost state'.

So, I would encourage artist to 'get over themselves' and become a fan 'getter' and not a song seller....it won't be that much longer, if you won't give your music away free, someone will find a way to either get it for free, or they will become fans of another artist or artists that will give them all their music for free.

I have been in sales and marketing for 20 + years, and one thing that has forever been true is: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT, EVEN IF THEY ARE WRONG!

What has the music industry done wrong? THEY NEVER LISTEN TO WHAT THEIR CUSTOMERS WERE TELLING THEM! Is anyone so naive to believe all the illegal down loaders can be prosecuted? Heck, if you just down a locked down at all schools and took everyone's music player, you would find more illegal music down loaders than you could prosecute in a lifetime. And, imposing big fines on a family that makes 40-60K / year or less???, will never recoup the fine(s).

So, work on you show and keep building 'real fans'. Nothing else will stay so true to you and support you.

---end

[david]

The ball is now in the musician's court but that changes the role of the musician. Now the musician has to become not only good at making, producing, recording, and mastering the music, but they also have to become successful marketers, social networkers, manage their own accounts form online sales, and much more.

Many independent artists also have day jobs, so learning how to use the tools, and then putting them to work for marketing their music, creating a fan base, and keeping in touch with them all takes valuable time away from making the music in the first place.

I think there is benefit to working with a small indie label that pays a good fair share to their artists.

The artist sends their music to the label, the label has it mastered, sends it off to the distributor, schedules the release, markets the release, manages sales and accounts, and provides the social media representation for them so that they can spend more time making the music in the first place.

[Chris janz]

I'm an artist and producer, and I've been in the industry for a long while now. First off, I think if the labels had treated the artists properly when they had the chance, the artist community may have felt more loyalty towards its "benefactor". The fact is, the labels have made MILLIONS on the backs of the artists they carry, most often with the artists walking away at the end of the day with nothing. I was just talking to an artist I'm producing about this, and he was remembering his last record deal. The label owed him $30,000. At the end of his contract, they sent him a check for $30,000 and said, oh, by the way, we're renewing our option, this is the ADVANCE on the next record, we owe you nothing. So they basically paid him to do his record with his own royalty check. And this is not an uncommon story. In fact, the fact that they owed him money at ALL after a 10% recoup rate is amazing.

I do agree though, that everyone having a studio in their bedroom is not necessarily a good thing. For writing and demos,sure.But the quality and artistry in the actual recordings themselves have gone downhill. And with a lot of people now listening to things on MP3, they're not even listening in 16 bit, 44.1. Remember when there was talk about the 24 bit CD a while ago, and everyone said it was going to be the next thing? Looks like we've gone the other way...

So in the one sense, yeah it's great that everyone can get their stuff on Amazon and iTunes, but in another, it takes the public just that much longer to weed through all the crap that has splattered the marketplace to find the artists and recordings that actually sound good. At least in the 80s, the big budget records usually SOUNDED good at the end of it all, even if the bands were shite (which, let's face it, some of them were).

As a producer So many of my clients are people who went out, spent $3000 to buy themselves a little 001 rig and record a record themselves. Then they come to me and want to do it again, because they realize that production and the recording process, just like songwriting or performing, is an art form. It takes time, and experience and giftedness to do it right. And as one user above commented, no, producers are not making big money anymore. Even the top 5 in LA and Nashville, if you look at what they've making compared to 10 years ago... wow!

As an artist, I do think it's ironic that after years of screwing the artist, the lables are now getting screwed. We would all stand in a line with our hands outstretched, hoping that one of these wonderful labels would see us and lift us out of the crowd, only to find that we'd been cheated out of everything that was ours at the end of the day, and someone else was rich, drinking Dom while we were back in the 1 bedroom apartment we started from (this is just an example, I don't live in a one bedroom apartment).

So I don't think the industry is dead... I think it's in transition. I do think that the ease with which everything is done now, as well as having many great facets to it, is also dangerous, because there is a danger that artistry gets even further removed from the art when things are that easy. (To be fair, look at half the acts on major labels these days, not much artistry there either. Overproduced drivel.)

Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's good, and just because you can doesn't mean you should!

(seriously, I didn't mean that to rhyme, it just turned out that way...)

[Eric Seaberg]

I've been in the recording industry since 1971, working in some of the premiere facilities on the West Coast during the hay-day of Big Budget Records.

I know the labels all blame Steve Jobs and the iPod, but they did it to themselves when the CD took hold. Pressing a CD cost little more than pressing vinyl, so why, immediately, were CDs two to three times the cost of vinyl in 1985?

Maybe there were some startup costs and R&D expenses, but over time the retail cost of a CD should have come down to less than $10 retail!!

When I was a voting member of NARAS, we could buy new vinyl releases for $3.00 each, and when CDs arrived they were $7.00 each. This was still 1985-1986 when CDs were selling for $16-$25.

IMHO, the labels and their greed is as much, or more, to blame for the downfall of their industry.

[Edward A]

The true revolution will happen when major labels/indies are not automatically given A list exposure on the Radio, TV etc. If this monopoly is broken, new and exiting development will emerge. Having a great product is one thing, getting it heard is different ball game altogether and the majors know that and for some reason the media are supporting this exposure monopoly.

[Alex Jackson]

So many artists are left in a catch 22 by this situation.

Yes, you can record in your bedrooms - but can you record drums well? Can you mix like Steve Albini? Can you master properly? Can you afford to advertise or promote your music properly?

I was in Atlantic Records recently discussing an artist I manage and they said that they would not consider signing a band unless their album was recorded and ready. How many unsigned bands can actually achieve this on a technical level, not to mention having great songwriting, superb production and arrangement skills and the skill to select the right songs for the album?

This problem hit us, we've never been able to recreate anything close to our live sound - always had to use a producer costing about £1300 for 2 songs - 'if they love you they'll do it for free' DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE! producers are earning so little sometimes I've heard they are asking for a share of publishing!

I think we're in quite a bad state. Yes musicians are empowered these days but they are not necessarily skilled enough to use that power. A bit like giving a modern battleship to a few civilians and expecting them to run it, sail it, fire the weapons etc. Not gona happen.

To hear our band see below - we did end up on mainstream Radio here in the UK, but only when we paid for the Producer! The track he produced is called 'All In Your Head' all the rest I did myself.

www.myspace.com/themoreassured

[Avishai]

Today may be a better day for making music but not a better day for being heard.

In my opinion, in order to understand the actions of major labels, we have to look at them as they actually are: industrial companies which sell products. the truth is that they sell music as products and what they think as a priority is to sell. some companies sell cars, some sell music and image - and that's not the problem. the problem starts when the high ranks start see the decrease in sales and in future profit and pass on to the producers, PR people, managers etc: get me a product THAT SELLS FOR SURE - meaning, they don't want to take chances with new sounds and different sounding artists, they want something that already works cos they don't have the resources to fuck around anymore. this can also explain going after pirates - they want to save money where they can. I don't pretend to be an expert on anything and I'm not saying that they shouldn't think about money making - but the trade of the major labels should be spotting the "unripe" artists and tracks just like a car company should invest in quality components before assembling everything, otherwise what you mostly hear is great production with no decent songs in it and that's not what I call doing your job.

if they aren't doing their job in spotting a good song, it means we as artists need to have an even better business attitude in order to get heard, which really isn't easy (for me at least).

[James]

Yeah there are issues out there we have heard but I agree that the ball is in our court. Yes piracy is an issue, but it was in the past too. The only difference is that it could not be tracked like it can be today, so that issue is mute. Labels now seem to be forcing out the exact same "sounding" bands. Where's the originality people? How many new bands have you heard that sound nearly identical? We all can name a few, especially in the rock/alternative genre.

I'm willing to bet that if labels put out many different sounding bands like we've heard in the past, we would see a resurgence in the industry. With that said, the artist still needs to put in their work too, and I'm in that boat with many others.