Music – The music business is dead, passed on! It is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet it's maker! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If it weren't nailed to it's perch it 'd be pushing up the daisies! It's metabolic processes are now history! it's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, shuffled off it's mortal coil,
I don't know about the industry being dead, but I do not enjoy today's music as much as the older music. Noise is not music to me....and I would enjoy hearing the singer but today it seems the singer and the band are at the same volume level making it harder for a lot of us to understand the lyrics.
Gimme the old crooners, at least you could hear what they were singing about. :)
So in a sense, this supports Peter Drucker's assertions that there is "no business without a customer," a simple notion that was not obvious to industry (Not just the music industry,either) and the importance of substance.
RFE twisting himself in knots, ranting? - You must be joking!!
How about seeing the glass half-empty and half-full at the same time.
And duly considering?!
K-Fedlow just doesn't care. He's perfectly happy with manufactured stars like Britney, Boy Bands, The same old song played over and over and over, and the songs they play during time-outs in sports arenas.
New sounds and thoughts out of the mainstream threaten his corporate-directed, off the rack, herd mentality lifestyle.
k-fedlow, "free bird" and "more cowbell" to you, our "associate of the week/month". He NEVER forges his nametag, has a sensible tie, and judging by his performance review, is on his way somewhere.
FTA-What is a sound economic practice? One that is fair to all who participate in it. Henry Ford was called a "class traitor" for paying his factory workers a good wage and generally treating them well. But he understood what today's junk bond traders, profiteers, and self aggrandizing leeches do not. That to sell lot's of widgets, the buyers must have the capital to purchase them. If Ford's own employees didn't make enough money to buy his model Ts, how could he sell very many?
Roosevelt too, was called a class traitor. It has been said that J. P. Morgan's family kept newspapers with pictures of Roosevelt out of his sight, and in one Connecticut country club...mention of his name was forbidden as a health measure, to prevent strokes and seizures. In Kansas a man went down into his cyclone cellar and announced "he would not emerge until Roosevelt was out of office." (While he was there, his wife ran off with a traveling salesman.)
All good comments and graphs but kinda all over the place, maybe you could have called it something else. I liked what Peter Gabriel Said about artists not being property of record companies. While some may blame the economy for loses in revenue in the music industry it's the fans that are at the top of the list for reasons for it's demise. We the people who listen to music refuse to pay 20 dollars to buy a disc that may have two or three good songs on it and download it for free instead. Copyrights have gone the way of the dodo and the industry failed to adjust for that. With to lose of revenue from record sales there is less money to go along and that leaves many labels scrambling, they need to be more selective with artists and try to time releases with other events to build up support and interest.
Seems like a long time since the last Music Story..
That was the Plastic People, et.al., and they're playing here in Kutna Hora this weekend! We had a cpl of tickets on one side for you but guess it will have to be next time :)
in this story I learned more from the macro-picture than from the music model. I stoppped being an active consumer, except for live gigs, a long time ago. There's always someone interesting showing up and an invitation - a couple of weeks ago to the US Ambassador's Residence where a blind jazz-pianist friend from VT was scheduled to play a benefit for organisations offering assistance to physically challenged people. Due to cancelled flight connections and weather problems he arrived very late and only played a couple of numbers but his band was there and a local guitar-player, American long-term resident in Prague, played a sensational gig. The residence is a fabulous 30's mansion of immense elegance and apparently the most luxurious in the world [?!]
Extraordinarily security was non-existent, unless there were concealed machine-gun emplacements somewhere and not even a proper guest list. "I'm with the band" wd have worked but then were very few times when it didn't, even when it was true. Plus a permanent freebie at Ronnie Scott's in London in exchange for special services. Pop in for a set any time and often that included after-hours jams in extraordinary locations with wild combinations of players and axes..
We get given lots of CD's these days, sell some "alchemical" ones too; Michael Maier's 50 C16th fugues, brilliant dark emanations, recorded as "Mirrorion" in a cave in Finland a few miles south of the Arctic Circle by some magic Goths called Arktau Eos.. [google-able! - so is M. Maier - so is our pianist friend, Michael Arnowitt]. Not so long ago Daevid Allen of Soft Machine, later Gong showed up - just one of many trips down memory lane! Sorry to be so off-topic!! Mainly here to say Hi to you!
I surely would love to be there! Alas, no free time just now. I will be with you in spirit and solidarity for certain though. I do agree the piece is more about the big economic picture and how the afflictions of economic practices over the last 50 years are somewhat in tandem to mistakes made by the music industry. I think most industry has abandoned the notion that their business is based on creating something "valued" by it's customers. Instead seeing higher profit margins as a sanctified right of some kind, oblivious to what the customer actually wants. None of this affects music itself, but rather the business of how it is delivered.
Ah, all wonderful reminiscences to be sure! Many of the artists you mentioned made my spirit soar so high I thought the earth itself would be transmigrated upon return! It still happens, though it seems a bit tougher with corporate sponsorships and such with the more established artists. Still nothing has the power of music to transform, does it?
I don't think you are correct in assuming that the music industry is dying.It is just being reshaped.
I will often mention some of the concerts i went to in the past,big shows,six to eight bands.Tull,The Stones,Nugent,The Who,etc.Tickets would range from five to fifteen dollars depending on the number of bands playing.Now it's Fifty to a hundred bucks to see a "major" artist,Fifteen bucks for a cd.
The big record company's have become so greedy that people are finding other sources for there music fix.
I think that rock music as a whole is doing great,getting to the eighties point of sameness in some respects(the growling,cookie monster vocals),but doing well.I find as many new bands as i am willing to look for.The bands are there and the audience is there.Whats the problem?
I think by the end of the article, the conclusion is that it is not dead, but transforming. The "obituary" comes from 3 major artists- Peter Gabriel, Billy Joel, and David Byrne. The problem is for new music to get the attention it might under the old system of promo. There is no problem at all for known bands. Could an unknown band succeed at the type of venture Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead talks about in the article? The possibility is there, which is good. However the likelihood is far from realistic. How realistic is it for bands to promote, account, distribute, etc. ? More realistic than in the past, but is this what they are good at? Wouldn't it be better to go back to simply making music?
I don't know. In today's world, the #1 music vendor is Walmart by a huge margin. (not the internet). Music lovers are not buying music from Walmart, someone else is. Maybe it's the fans themselves who are dead....
I understand,i think:-),tired today so i'm not so sure.I spend very little time listening to corporate radio anymore,when i do I get a little sick.It's like watching the reruns of Mash for the millionth time,still good but very old.I hear the same songs that i heard five years ago(or longer),which isn't a bad thing if they hadn't been in constant rotation for that period.That gives little room for new bands to get any airplay in the traditional way.
I can put up,on any given day,fifty to a hundred bands that are as talented and sound as good as anything on the radio today.Unfortunately bands that may never be heard by more than their immediate fan base.There is so much good music out there,in all genres,not just rock,that the record company's will pass over because they don't fit the cookie cutter mold.
One of the best times ever in music was the mid sixties to the early seventies.If you could get a band together and get something on tape,you had a good shot at radio play.
"One of the best times ever in music was the mid sixties to the early seventies.If you could get a band together and get something on tape,you had a good shot at radio play."
Amen to that brother! And that's the reason that music is still quite popular! It was mostly real.
Baddad, you really can't go by the price of a ticket, or a CD.
In 1979 I could by a gallon of premium unleaded for $0.70, while now it can cost $3.50. So the increase of a ticket from $15 then to $75 would only reflect on the dollar, not the industry.
But the actual cost of making a record versus a cd, that's where stuff gets ridiculous.
Look at who's really going to wal mart, or the mall.... these are the people buying music from "those stores".
I agree about prices bad but as you see my post below wonder where the supergroups have gone.Your posts have taught me much of the newer groups and have starting to pay attention but when they come to town are grouped with a whole bunch just to kind of fill a moderate sized stadium.
Plus I just wonder too if the factor of this has had a little effect on ticket prices in order for bands to make a living. Don't know.
I think you also need to take into account that many bands enjoy doing their own things and signing with a big record label can often stifle that creativity. Some of the bigger names in music sing with two or more band plus solo, have a career like that can be complicated when you need permission from two or three labels. Also now artists can take advantage of the lower cost of recording equipment and gather good size crowds at local venues with no help from the recording industry. As to ticket prices even concerts for five thousand or less are getting to be major production costs with big corporations getting involved. Last summer's Stones concert was a big fiasco with Coke getting exclusive rights to sell soft drinks, they brought in all supplies from out of province at increased prices making the venders buy more than they needed and refused to accept returns of leftover or empties. Things like that drive up ticket costs as well.
A very good friend of mine here in Cedar Rapids is owner of a large venue,"3RD ST.LIve"(shameless aren't i),and also a promotion company,"L.M.R. promotions".He brings bands to this area on a very regular basis,Dist... Guy,Saliva,Daughtry,to just name a few.You would be surprised at how little some of these bands will play for(when i say little it is a relative number).Some as little as a few thousand.He provides all the production,perks, etc and keeps cost down that way..Daughtry was fifteen bucks to see.
Usually he will get bands like Godsmack,or some one similar that are getting ready for a large tour and come here as kind of a warm up before the larger venues.
WE are lucky to have some of the bands coming here that we do.It also provides a good opportunity for local bands to be the support band for the major acts,and that can bring a lot of recognition for them.The changes going on now are good.
I don't think you are correct in assuming that the music industry is dying.It is just being reshaped.
I didn't put that right rfe,my apology's.
I think we are in chaos right now, that potentially greatness may come of it. It depends on many things. The downloading method of delivering music has many upsides, yet it's mostly the already well known acts who are financially successful at selling it. For the vast majority, they sell a few tracks, if they are lucky they sell a few hundred. The potential is great, but the reality isn't there yet for the overwhelming majority of artists. Not yet, I do see this as ultimately a good thing. A chance to return to many small entrepreneurial efforts which gives us the diversity we need. Legitimate artists need to be compensated fairly for their work, right now being a musician is a very hard occupation to make a living at. It was always hard, but it's much much harder for my students than it was for me.
The reason for the decline of the music industry is simple: because of rampant music piracy, record companies and distributors are unable to make a profit.
Over the past 25 years or so, the video market has gone from videocassettes to Blu-Ray DVDs, while the music industry is still stuck with 16-bit CDs. Sadly, piracy is picking up in the video arena as well. In the coming years, look for video innovation to stop as well.
I've heard a number of economists say that intellectual property was the U.S.'s next driving force in the global economy, since it is so easily pirated I can't imagine this to be so.
It was simply arrogance to think that when people had the technology to make good quality copies they would pay inflated prices for original product. If the US industry was stupid enough to think people would ever honor intellectual copyrights in the modern world I hope they lost their shirt. Copying music is not new or exclusive to the digital age, remember we all had those ghetto-blasters with the dual cassette recorders with high speed dubbing back in the eighties. Was never anything said about that, Everyone I knew had a pirated copy of "Foot Lose" and the collective works of both Kiss and Iron Maiden. With High speed you could copy a cassette faster than copying a disc today but it was not a issue. I think people must look deeper to see just why the traditional format is failing.
Stephan.."The reason for the decline of the music industry is simple: because of rampant music piracy"
I disagree with you on that point,in fact i know people,myself included ,that buy more CD's and see more live shows because they were able to get some of the music for free.
I think the real pirates are the record company's,not the fans.One of the worst moves ever was the RIAA suing the fans,and then being arrogant enough to keep the money themselves.You don't sue your customer base and expect to make more money.That and the ridiculous prices for CD's and ticket prices.
I could understand some of those increases if the artist was benefitting proportionately,but they aren't.
"I disagree with you on that point,in fact i know people,myself included ,that buy more CD's and see more live shows because they were able to get some of the music for free."
The poor earnings of the record companies and the bankruptcy of major distributors like Tower Records speak for themselves.
People are so used to getting free music that they consider anything that they have to pay for is "overpriced."
A lot of good comments but this brings up just one curiosity I've been thinking about.The rock and roll era particularly hard rock began in the early 70's and am really curious has the "fad" reached it's peaked and in decline.I hear new music and like a lot but ask "Is there anything new."Yeah there's rap and Hip-Hop but where are the Super stars that sell out arenas and stadiums except the old classics.
I just wonder if the rock era as we know it has gone the way as say the jitterbug era.
In the past, our channels of mass music consumption were limited and dictated by the record labels. In effect, more people listened to the same thing. The internet has expanded those channels and subsequently fragmented the listening audience.
Because of this fragmentation, I believe that the superstars who sell out arenas are much harder to come by.
You are so cynical! I love it!
I'm wondering though, even if it weren't dead, at this point, wouldn't you want to put it out of OUR misery?
That is certainly David Byrne's take. And Gabriel's too. That it must die for new life to grow out of it. In a sense, as I have pontificated many times in this forum, the mass corporate takeover of the many smaller labels began in 70's. "Hey there's money being made here, we can't let these musicians just make whatever music they want willy nilly! This must be managed and controlled!!!"
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As much about the failed economic policies of the past 30 years as about the Music industry itself. Is it dead? In a sense, yes. Will it be resurrected? That is the larger question, we are now in a period of flux. Perhaps something better will emerge. Trent Reznor seems to think so. As does Peter Gabriel and David Byrne. But only if Artists stand together and demand it.
It needs a serious resuscitation. Mouth to ear in this case. It's as if the music industry is doing its best NOT to record anyone who is GOOD enough to demand ANYTHING.
It's always best to read the article rather than comment without knowing what it's about k-. Well known artists are not having a hard time, new artists are. Your comments are uninformed and ridiculous. (this should be a response to K-luumplow, don't know why it showed up here.)
It's good to see a shift from artists under the control of middlemen - meaning people who take money and stifle creativity in the interests of corporations like Clear Channel.
But I think successes like Radiohead and NIN really only show what can be done for established artists who would have a deal with almost any company they wanted.
Of course, if you're a minor musician selling music on the internet, it seems it doesn't hurt to be involved in sex with a higher ranking politician.
I am happy to see the financial crumbling of the corporate idiots because they follow every pathetic whim of the 10 year old children who know nothing about real music.
The saddest part about all of it, is that rock and roll has taken a massive beating. But anyone who appreciates real music, still can recognize true talent. Lots of kids today are rejecting the garbage and embracing greats like "Pink Floyd, Dark side of the moon"
We all know the garbage that is being pumped out today like the sewage it is, will have the longevity of a carton of milk in the hot sun.
There's actually more great music now than ever, there's just even more lousy music. It's a matter of how you hear music- commercial radio is terrible, and increasingly irrelevant. My friends' bands are making money, one of them is even on a major label. The only way they can be sure to make money, however, is touring. That's still the only way your music is likely to get out there. One of those bands now get $50,000 guarantees per show.
_The old greats can still fill a stadium, while Kid Rock is playing the local high school next week.
_The corporate morons that ignore that fact should be thrown out into the street, or put back into grade school where they belong.
"I was a securities analyst 70 years ago in London, so I can say that no financial man will ever understand business because financial people think a company makes money. A company makes shoes, and no financial man understands that. They think money is real. Shoes are real. Money is an end result." -- Peter Drucker