Evolution of the Music "Industry"

Posted by: winkyincanada on 01 June 2012

The free downloads of the Goldberg Variations got me thinking about the nature of the music business and how it is changing. With more and more music being created privately and distributed over the internet, and studio-produced music being stolen and distributed, is this good, bad or indifferent for music, musicians and their audience? I don't really care abut the jobs and salaries of music studio execs, only that music remains freely available.

 

Are there now fewer jobs in the industry (as someone on another thread  while back seemed to imply)? Is this due to less music being produced and distributed, or due to more efficient production with fewer hangers-on? The latter must be a good outcome, surely?

 

Does the availability of direct, low cost, scalable, web-based models for emerging artists help or hinder them? I guess you could previously have always made cassettes (then CDs) and sell them directly, but distribution costs continued to rise with volume, limiting this approach. With the internet, load your songs onto iTunes (or whatever) and you get about 80% of the price of each download, with no practical limit on volume.

 

Is it easier or harder now for non-mainstream artists to eke out enough of a living to continue to make music, even if that music doesn't sell large volumes?

 

Is the model for big budget recordings under threat?

 

Just some thoughts and questions...

Posted on: 01 June 2012 by Guido Fawkes

I'm no great fan of executives or marketing. 

 

I don't really like the terms music industry and much less music business - industry is an OK word, but business is boring so music business seems like Microsoft Works to be an oxymoron. However, she would all be grateful that there some business men to take care of business. 

 

Having said that, the days of the wandering minstrel may have passed. You need a decent studio to make a great record and in some cases have to go to the enormous expense of hiring backing musicians or an entire symphony orchestra (though the Synclavier is making that less essential). Who pays? 

 

If the record doesn't sell then you pay then you are out of pocket and can't continue. 

 

So although I think it is fantastic to put music on the Internet for free download - how does the artist make a living? An artist is never going to get rich waiting for me to attend concerts. 

 

The good thing about it is that the artist can govern what goes out not a business man who has little empathy with the content. 

 

iTunes seems an answer to me - as you can put your music out there and folk can buy it and business people take care of business things like monetary transactions, but not sure how it works in full - if I sung backing vocals on a massive hit then how would I get paid? (Not gonna happen I know). 

 

Anyways, this Frank view is rather more articulate then I could ever manage on a subject

 

 

Wow de-metalisation centre .... who thought of that 

 

All the best, Guy 

 

Posted on: 25 June 2012 by bluedog

forget the excesses of the marketing people and the pluggers.  Whatever the advantages of the new world of 'grab what you like' from the internet (and there are many) there is nothing like the recording schedule of serious music and opera compared to the 1950's-1980's