This post is the result of two issues: my mind constantly nagging me that I should update my blog, and the blessed one-week of Spring Break where I won’t have to pencil in meals, friends, or a social life
But what has been on my mind recently, and by recently I mean the last three years, is what is to come of the music industry. Seeing as I currently work in the business as both a media campaign specialist and artist manager, I’ve invested much of my time toward and industry that appears to many as a sinking ship. I’m not going to fool you in saying that the state of affairs is not worrisome, and I assure you that everyone invested is anxious to see what will come of this change.
And I’d like to give my two cents on this issue:
First thing’s first: music is not going anywhere. Fact: more people are consuming to music now than ever before. Fact: the possibility of consuming music is nearly infinite. Fact: the resources capable of developing a sustainable career can be acquired without huge monetary investments and pushy corporations.
So where’s the hang up? The assets of the music industry, when developed and marketed conventionally, no longer generate comparable revenues to years past. Michael Jackson celebrated the 25th anniversary, winning album of the year and eventually selling 27 million albums; this year’s album of the year (by the man- Herbie Hancock) has sold about 60,000 copies. And while there is no more deserving artist than Herbie, I don’t think he’s going to make it.
The old model worked fabulously. . . until 1999. The major players within this industry are a guilty as any by stubbornly failing to acknowledge the possibilities and consequences of technology. Even now, some are out there, trying desperately to hold onto the ways of old. Those fossils will become exactly that.
To their credit, these consolidated mega corporations probably could have simply prolonged the inevitable with a better game plan and a greater lobbying effort.
There has been a redistribution in power, and the game has changed. The field is completely different, which has caused the rules to change. And when the rules change, you have to play the game differently. You used to break an artist into mainstream markets going for ads in radio airwaves; now you cross your fingers hoping to get your artist on the next Apple commercial.
We have to acknowledge the ties between these institutions (thanks Durkheim) that will play a critical role in defining my generation’s music industry. How does the internet, radio, movie, social network, blogosphere, and countless others all contribute to this new model? Who are now the gatekeepers, and what are the economics of this new effort?
Here’s where I’ll leave off, because I’m hard at work finding the answer. And I’m not alone in that. But you can be assured that, regardless of when that answer is found, we’ll all still be listening to music somehow and someway.
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