The fall of record industry
October 12th, 2007 by Nico Ramon
I really like how things are turning out now in the music industry. Radiohead has released downloadable version of their newest album In Rainbows without a record label and fans can choose how much they to pay for it, and yes you can even get it for free if you choose so. Inspired by Radiohead’s success many other major level artists such as Jamiroquai, Oasis, Nine Inch Nails and Madonna are now planning to do a similar move and release their next albums direct-to-consumer without record labels’ assistance. I just love to see artists taking care of their own business and that is also the main mission of Not Evil Music - to help all artists to become more independent when it comes down to the business side of music.
The main reason why record companies are failing is the fact that they generate most of their revenue by selling recorded music, which is not so good business anymore. CD sales are declining and although digital music sales are rising they are not compensating the overall losses. The new generation of music consumers, or digital natives as they are called, are becoming more and more unwilling to pay for music, because there are so many ways to get music for free such as through peer-to-peer networks, BitTorrent trackers, on-demand Internet radios etc. Major level artists are also realizing that they don’t need record companies anymore as the middleman, and naturally without customers and content major record companies will cease to exist as we know them.
The latest events in the music industry bode a major power change. Artists will have more power over their own music and career, and there will definitely be a gap to fill after major record labels are gone (as we know them). This gap will most likely be filled with companies that specialize in music marketing, promotion, branding, artists management and generally in music management. In other words music industry will become a mashup of different specialized music management services and musically much more diverse. Having a personal music manager becomes a critical factor for any band that wishes to have commercial success. At the moment there aren’t so many music managers in the industry, but that will change soon. My advice for any band that wishes to have commercial success is to get a capable music manager or learn to manage your own music, now.
Wow!
get it for free??? cool hahaha
Very interesting Niko! The possibility of the artists to be able to manage their career definitely will change everything. The artists will be capable to demonstrate their real talent, sometimes they are force to pretend who they are not just to success.
Leaving it here!
See ya!
JeannFi said this on October 14th, 2007 at 2:44 am
“My advice for any band that wishes to have commercial success is to get a capable music manager or learn to manage your own music, now.”
1. Trying to find a capable manager is trying to find a four leaf clover.
2. The cook is not often a good waiter.
minoru said this on October 15th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
minoru, you are quite right about finding a capable manager. There are really few capable ones, because there has been no real education for the profession. Gladly the growing need for music managers has been realized in Europe and U.S.A, where there are now actual study programs dedicated to the profession. So, hopefully there will be more and more good managers in the music industry in the future.
I really like your metaphor about bands managing their own music. I can only say that it is a very time-consuming and hard choice that requires a lot of knowledge about the music business, connections and know-how. However, it might also be rewarding in the end.
Nico Ramon said this on October 16th, 2007 at 8:18 am
I just wish there were a better way for new artists to release their music. The artists you mention who are abandoning the record labels were created by the label system, mass marketing, etc. A new artist has almost no chance of creating the same hype for their own record. It’s all well and good for Radiohead and Madonna to be independent because everyone already knows them but how could a new artist be successful in the same way? The only solution I can see is to have both; the labels find new talent and make them big time, then the talent can go off on their own once they have a name that can make money. Of course that will never happen if the labels continue to be as greedy as they are now, they will need to change their focus from milking current artists to finding new artists. Does anyone else have another solution?
John C said this on November 4th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
John, you are quite right. The artists that are abandoning their record label do it, because they can afford it. They already have a huge fan base and probably some money in the bank. Major record labels still have a lot of power, because they have money and connections. They can make an overnight success happen in the right circumstances, which is impossible for any unsigned band that doesn’t have enough money to back them up. However, I believe that Internet is going to change that, at least partly. More and more people discover new music via Internet and record labels make less and less money due to increasing music piracy. In other words major record labels are getting less powerful. In the future music consumers will have much more new music to choose from, which means more balance music industry, hopefully
One thing is for sure, the future music industry is going to be different and now is the best time to have an influence on shaping it.
Nico Ramon said this on November 5th, 2007 at 8:56 am
An oft-mentioned problem in the new music industry is that while established artists have access to mass media, the new generations of artists seem unlikely to be able to reach that kind of level. To some extent this is just going to be a feature of the NMI. However, when I read your piece just now, the idea occured to me that just as musicians have more power in the new climate, via access to recording & distribution options, graphic design software, and so forth…now fans also have more power in terms of networking and spreading the word. There is extant a network of blogs dedicated to new, independent, or underground music. I hypothesize that the next few years will see these blogs, and dedicated music fans with time on their hands, rise to become a new model of promotion and hype.
Gutterstar said this on November 27th, 2007 at 1:31 am