The Failure of the Internet by Tom Silverman

Tom Silverman is the founder and president of the record label Tommy Boy Records, and co-founder of the independent film and television company Tommy Boy Films. Silverman co-founded Dance Music Report magazine, which ran from 1978 to 1992, and he co-founded the Dance Music Hall of Fame, which existed from 2003 to 2005.  He is runs the New Music Seminar in New York City which you can learn more about here.

Editor's Note: This article is an opinion piece that does not necessarily reflect the views of TuneCore.  Let your voice be heard in this discussion by visiting the TuneCore blog.

Twelve years ago the advent of the internet gave great promise to artists that music would finally be democratized and artists would have equal access to distribution and great worldwide exposure on the web. We believed that finally the cream would rise to the top and great artists would no longer be limited by record labels or the lack of them or the lack of radio play or video exposure.  Now every artist can get their video on YouTube, their music on MySpace, their blog on FaceBook and get their Tweet on too. Now every artist can join TuneCore and get their music distributed to the most important download sites around the world.

Why has that promise been such a miserable failure? Why are less American artists breaking through than ever before? With 5 million artist MySpace pages, why are almost all of the new artists that are breaking still on established labels?

Back in the 80’s I ran a music conference that became the biggest and most influential in the world. It was called the New Music Seminar. It was the ultimate networking experience where most of the people running the music business today got their start. It was so successful that it spawned SXSW, Winter Music Conference, Canadian Music Week, In the City, and CMJ to mention the most famous. 15 years later I was approached by one of the New Music Seminar associates to reincarnate the event. I had been asked to bring back NMS at least 10 times over the last seven years but I didn’t feel like the right time.

But this time was different.  I had spoken on four panels this year in Toronto, Kingston, Jamaica, New York, and San Diego and each time, the audience was filled with artists looking for someone to give them real advice and information that would make a difference in their careers. But each time the panel was charged with debating some music industry issue like digital rights management or synch placements or the future of music on mobile phones…hardly the stuff the audience wanted or needed to hear about. 

Meanwhile, I had been reading blogs by Kevin Kelly and Seth Godin while attending all the traditional record industry events like the Grammy’s and NARM and attending RIAA board meetings. I recognized a dichotomy forming between what the record industry leaders were saying and doing and what was actually happening in the market place. Finally the light bulb went on. In an instant, I saw the future of the music business and it was nothing like what the record company leaders were predicting. It was even different that the technological soothsayers were predicting.

Infused with enthusiasm like never before, I plunged into preparation for the first New Music Seminar in 15 years. A New Music Seminar sole focused on the real needs of the artists and their representatives as we leave the old model and enter the new music business. 

This year’s NMS will focus on four critical concepts.

• The advent of a new paradigm that includes a new definition of success. Forget sending CDs to labels or making music that can get played on radio. It’s a whole new day.
• Introduction to the new science of Fan Relationship Management and the Fan Relationship Pyramid.  Knowing your fans and managing the flow of your creative to them based on their levels of fanaticism.
• The Creative Quartet and Radical Differentiation; differentiating yourself in both skills and uniqueness in the four important areas:

1. The Songs
2. The Recordings
3. The Statement and the Look
4. The Show

• The show and the tour. How to break through the elusive 300 ticket mark and move on to lasting success.

Extrapolating the latest data and incorporating the newest (and most ancient) philosophies, we will explore not only what to do but how to think differently in ways that will change your life as an artist and help turn your avocation into a vocation. The people you meet and network at the New Music Seminar will help you create  opportunities for new businesses and creative collaborations.

TuneCore broke records last week with sales of Drake and he should be an inspiration to the rest of the TuneCore artists that success is possible. The New Music Seminar is dedicated to helping the cream rise to the top.  We will challenge the technologists to improve the tools that will help artists achieve critical mass and the reach and frequency of exposure they need to become successful. We will find the artists that are becoming successful doing it themselves and help promote them to greater exposure and success so they may become an example for those still struggling to make it.  We will give artists and their team tools and a new perspective to rise above the noise floor of obscurity and make it in the new music business.

Questions or comments? Share your thoughts here!

Comments

[david]

real creativity and risk always overcomes the road most travelled. see the artist who came up with "United breaks guitars." one tune on youtube and he's on his way. and two tunes to come and everybody's waiting to see what he'll come up with. luck or risk? i don't know but 1.5 million views in three days and major media coverage. wow how much is that worth. and the guy is very well spoken and talented. so what can you come up with.

[David Wicker]

Interesting article, but the musicians in the trenches need more than another sales pitch to attend a seminar. Most of these comments hit the nail on the head; it takes not only hard work, but working smart. If you're working hard but doing the wrong things, what's that worth? I tell all my aritsts the same thing, "An educated artist is an informed artist. That way you can tell the difference between the BS and the real deal." I always recommend Donald Passman's book, Everything You Need To Know About The Music Business, now in it's sixth edition. I've saved lot's of money and time by not focusing on the wrong things. Although there is no magical or secret path to success, I find that by continuing to educate yourself, no matter the subject, your mind gifts you with inspiration. Ideas pop into your head all the time. . .if you don't use it you lose it, right? Keep up the good work, TuneCore!

[myspace.com/officialhaydenpayne]

I think people have forgotten what a musician or a band actually has to do to make money and build a following. I myself am happy to stay at home and sit and write music. I don't care to be a rock star and I don't care to be famous. The facts are if you want to make it you have to play every $2 Bar and Casino in town play for nothing, play for something, play a cover, release your demo as an EP. Make it happen, beg your friends to come to gigs, ring the radio stations, ring TV late shows, ring the news papers get a manager a good one, give em a good cut, work hard work hard work hard then believe it, believe it, you will make it. There is no magic success all success is built on failures and bloody hard work, ask anyone who has succeeded.They will tell you about the seedy hotels, living on a couple of bucks wearing the same clothes for a week, breaking down in there tour bus, dodgy pups and dirty bathrooms it is not a fairy-tale. There is a 95% chance you won't make it on the web seriously don't kid your self. If you think your going to make it on myspace, facebook, reverbnation, twitter or any of these sights your just a dreamer with a guitar and maybe a band. If that is you save yourself the disappointment and get a job you'll be more successful. Trust me you'll also be happier.

[Peter Greco]

Tom's blog article and the collective of responses are thoughtful and interesting.

Art is rarely the result of money or fame. Business success rarely improves the art of an artist. Artists almost always find time and energy to express their art, regardless of the return on investment of time for previous works.

I'm a music industry nobody with a small collection of works that do exactly what I want them to do. So, forgive an "art or business" perspective in an "art and business" forum, but the "new music business" is really just the old music business with a slight change of address. The only difference is that the individuals with power and money are a bit more nervous than ever before.

[633 Music Group]

I got back in the music business because I loved the music that Ben Robinson was making, but, as noted above, it has been very dificult to be heard with so many artists trying to garner attention.

We are breaking through, mostly due to his touring.

We will see how it shakes out.

Best,Monte
P.S. Thanks Tunecore!

[George Ziemann]

"...the new science of Fan Relationship Management and the Fan Relationship Pyramid"

This is not science.

Just one more reason not to take advice from a member of the RIAA.

[Mike Rapp]

Without going into too much detail, I've worked for major labels for two decades, and work with dozens of artists, managers, and promoters.

Long story short, 75% of Echo's 300 clients were evicted largely because they were not marketing their sites. And, they were paying for the system. And bitching about how much it costs.

We started Generator to be an alternative to Echo, and after three years of trying to train artists and managers to run their own businesses, we have essentially given up. We built a great system, undercut Echo's prices, and worked to help get artists up and running. We even built some sites for free. I could count the number of new stories, blog posts and email sends the entire group does on a monthly basis on one hand.

Rather than complain or award blame, I am just saying this: The future is going to look a lot like the past, because artists as a group have little to no money, are very distracted by nature, and have too many people around them willing to work for free to support their music. The qualified experts won't work for free and therefore the artist is left on their own.

The solution? Investment. Plain and simple. Cash, infrastructure, and expertise. Sure, future labels won't make all their money selling CDs in stores, but the basic financial structure of the buisiness — advances against ownership of assets — will return and remain.

http://www.generatornetwork.com/blog

[David Fauvre]

The problem is that it is nearly impossible to market and promote one's music full time, hold down a job and acquire the skills to actually make music someone wants to hear. Most of the artists we know and love today were not out marketing themselves. The were discovered and someone else marketed them. All the internet did for artists was allow theft of music, much as the ipod. These technologies destroyed the music industry. Today, anyone can 'promote' their music, but how many actually make any money? I know of zero artists that were not established prior to 2000 or were broken by a label that actually make a living selling their music online. Maybe there are a few but that is insignificant. I have yet to see any business model that can make sense out of the nightmare the internet has wrought on copyright laws and and artists. What was supposed to save artists from the tyranny of the labels was a torjan horse that destroyed the entire music business.

[Jai]

Janifer - I totally agree with your comment "It isn't always the most talented artist that gets the fame... it's the most driven".

I agree that there are many more options available to us these days for self promotion and many of them are great; however, I really prefer to play my guitar and sing my songs rather than trawl around on Facebook, Myspace or ReverbNation obtaining 'friends' or 'fans'. It becomes an admin job. I can do that in any normal office and earn much more money, and then use some of that money to make the music I like, whether 1 or 100,000 people listen to it.

[Lil Drake]

I'm very inspired!

As soon as I can get on a BET awards show with Lil Wayne & exploit underage girls as props for my sexist yowlings, I too shall sell big!

http://www.rapbasement.com/bet/070209-bet-is-under-firing-over-the-performance-of-lil-wayne-and-drakes-every-girl-song.html

All the breast & ass,

[Janifer]

There are quite a number of factors many artists do not even touch upon, thinking someone else will help them in that measure. In my opinion, it has to do with be open to be educated in the business aspect of the business. It isn't always the most talented artist that gets the fame... it's the most driven.