After reading both of your posts, I’m still not quite sure as to ‘what side’ you’re actually on, or as to ‘what point’ it is that you’re trying to make? (with all due respect.)

If you, ‘yourself’ are in fact an artist, I still don’t really see what you’re making a complaint about here. If you’re overall ‘goal’ is to be able to self-record, self-market, & sell your music on your own – then where’s the problem?

I still don’t see where these ‘evil’, large record companies are hindering you from doing so. If anything (and this is according to what ‘you’ have already mentioned) – you have more power to do so ‘now’, then you’ve EVER had before in the past – so again, ‘where’s the problem?’ Record companies aren’t preventing you from doing ANY of this.

Also keep in mind here, if ‘you’ yourself actually owned & ran a major record company or label, wouldn’t you be in the game of trying to make as much money as you could? I’m an ‘Indie’ artist myself, so please don’t think I’m ‘part of’, or sticking-up for any record companies – but again, I’m just confused here on what point you’re really trying to make, or what it is you’re complaining about necessarily.

‘No’, I’m not saying that the actual ‘explosion’ of more Indie artists is what’s ruining the music business – there’s always going to be new artists coming out each year. But I AM saying that with the major ‘aid’ of the internet now, that SO many bands coming on the scene each & every day, are practically ‘flooding the market’ as a whole. So in other words, if you’re in the ‘business’ of trying to ‘make it big’, or become a very successful artist today – then you now have WAY more ‘competition’ than EVER before (good luck) And as a result of all of this – ‘no’, I still don’t see where large, record companies really have anything to do with this, nor to ‘blame’. Again, if anything, who’s to blame here are all of these artists or bands themselves, who are consistently ‘flooding the market’ each & every day on the internet, trying so hard to ‘make it big’ & get everyone they can to listen to or purchase their songs. Now, multiply that by ‘millions of bands’ (literally) – and you have a new music market that is so large, that it makes trying to find new bands (especially the truly ‘talented’ ones), nearly impossible to find now.

(this is also why I said before that due to every ‘tom, dick, and harry’ out there who all of the sudden wish to become over-night rockstars – regardless of true ‘talent’ or originality – have actually ‘hurt’ the music scene of today, by simply ‘bombarding’ it to death in the way they have. The major record labels out there simply have absolutely NOTHING to do with this.)

You also mentioned that these ‘evil’ companies don’t wish to lose their money or better yet, ‘control’ over their assets – but again, if it were ‘you’, yourself that owned one of these companies, I would assume that you would only want to protect your investments as well? But on that same note, I still don’t see where ANY record companies out there are trying to ‘force’ or ‘control’ you and the songs you write. You’re still free to write or record anything you want, and market or distribute it as you want. Nobody’s ‘forcing’ you or any other band for that matter to sign with a major label. If you want ‘full control’ over your songs & the way you market or distribute them, then simply don’t sign with them and do it ‘your way’. That’s the way it’s been since recorded music began. And that’s pretty much always been what’s mainly separated the ‘Indie’ artists, from the ‘commercialized’ artists out there. Again, if you’re looking for all of that type of major ’success’, and all of the glam & glory that goes along with it – fine, that’s your choice – but just be prepared to pay those ‘major’ prices for it. But I’m still a bit confused on what point you’re exactly trying to make here.

What exactly are the record companies doing to either ‘prevent’ or ‘weaken’ your chances of ’success’ in the music industry?

You mentioned that ‘the independent scene is playing along just fine’ – so what or where’s the problem then? If you’re saying that the record companies ‘ignored the web’ & missed a great opportunity – then by extension, it looks like ‘you’ (or any other band or artist) should be able to have more control then ever in regards to their own careers in the industry. (again, don’t see where record companies have anything to do with ‘hurting’ anyone’s chances of success or control over what they do.)

But I will say this (and this is just one man’s opinion here) – but in years past (before the internet explosion, and companies like ‘Napster’ took off) – record companies at least did a decent job of ‘protecting’ artists music from things like piracy, and did the best they could to make sure that these same artists got paid for their music & hard work. (also by doing this, they allowed these great artists to be able to ‘afford’ to make even more great songs & records for us to hear & enjoy, years to come.)

Nowadays, this almost seems like a thing of the past. More music than ever before is being ’stolen’, copied, downloaded for ‘free’, etc, etc – how is this exactly supposed to ‘help’ the bands or artists of today? It may be great for the listener or consumer – but for the actual bands themselves? – I don’t see it.

Don’t get me wrong here, I mean if that’s what any band or artist wishes to do or allow to happen with their own songs, than by all means – give it away for ‘free’ (that’s what I personally do:) But I do NOT agree with ‘piracy’ or allowing just anyone to come along and download someone else’s music for ‘free’ if that’s ‘not’ what the band or artist originally intended. Taking someone else’s music away for ‘free’ is NOT someone’s legal ‘right’. Never has been, never should be. That decision should be completely left up to the artist themselves to make – NOT the consumer. If this is the ‘new way’ of the future for music in general – I don’t see where or ‘how’ this is going to allow bands or artists to become ’successful’ or be able to make profiting careers out of it, and in order to make a true living out of it.

So again, and with all due respect (unless I’m ‘missing’ something) I’m not exactly sure as to what ‘point’ or argument you’re trying to make in regards to major labels or companies ‘harming’ the artist themselves, restricting their ‘control’, or preventing artists from achieving their own ’success’. But I do agree with David King (above) when he mentioned “the ease and proliferation of music today has created a diminished return on what is being created.” – I think that’s right on the money. Not only is the music market getting ‘flooded’ (and ‘fast’) – but with more & more people everyday trying to do the EXACT same thing as the next person, try to sell their individual songs for a buck, getting their ‘name’ & photos out there, and wishing to become these rich, overnight ‘music sensations’ – then isn’t it possible, that just maybe ‘this’ is the reason why the overall music scene (and industry) is ‘hurting’ so badly and starting to diminish itself?

Are you really trying to say that this is all of the record companies fault?

- Or is it just possible that there are just SO MANY bands and artists alike (again, regardless of any talent or originality), trying to throw themselves out there onto the fish market each day, (and all at the ’same time’ no less), just in hopes of becoming huge, wealthy, popular, real-life ‘guitar hero/rockbands’ – and possibly even being able to make somewhat ‘careers’ out it all?

- (but then again, maybe I’m just missing your point, or not truly ‘understanding’ what point it is you’re trying to make – that’s all.)

- BM

I work primarily with Blues artists. Since the ’60s, Blues music has proliferated globally touching every corner of the world. As a result, there are more Blues artists than ever before, each producing their own music, etc. The International Blues Challenge will take place next month in Memphis, and it will host the largest number of musicians (solo/duo/bands) ever assembled from around the world, each selected to represent a city somewhere, each vying for the right to be called “ready for the world stage.”

I recently queried “(With the end of the decade drawing to a close), What were the 50 most important, most influential Blues songs recorded within the past ten years?”

Despite the fact that we are now awarded Grammy nods, and Blues artists are recognized within the Blues music industry on so many levels, despite the numbers of Blues musicians out there each writing and recording their own songs, we have still not arrived at a full 50 songs. This is 5 songs a year x ten, a small number.

I think the ease and proliferation of music today has created a diminished return on what is being created.

Somewhere I read, that of the 250,000 CDs recorded annually, only 1,000 of them will ever sell more than 1,000 copies. A shocking low number.

They’re simply not.

The internet can be a decent ‘tool’ at times, but it’s simply allowed the overall music scene of today to become FAR too big now, and extremely thronged with FAR too many so called ‘artists’ & bands, who want to become rich, overnight ‘rock-stars’.

Who CARES how much money record companies or corporations are actually making? What REAL difference does it make? They are providing a service aren’t they? They’ve been doing it since music was first introduced on the earliest of radio stations and it’s NEVER been a problem – up until supposedly ‘now’, when all of the sudden every greedy fan or artist thinks he or she is a ‘business expert’ and that these companies are ‘evil’ & don’t deserve to survive or succeed with anything!

Shouldn’t the music from the artist or band itself, come first? Shouldn’t the artist or band ‘focus’ more on things like, writing ‘good’ songs maybe? Actually record a record with integrity and ‘originality’ – and quit worrying so much on how ‘famous’ or ‘wealthy’ you can become from possibly making recordings & videos off your laptop?

It’s NOT the ‘big corporations’ who are acting greedy here – it’s the artists & bands themselves. Without these corporations – who’s going to pay for the tours? the traveling? pay for the marketing? pay for the roadies? pay for all of the road expenses? The studio costs? etc, etc, etc, etc……….

Again, who’s going to pay for all of these things?

The ‘internet-self-promoting’ bands themselves? By selling ’single’ songs for 99-cents here & there and feeding their egos with ‘web-hits’? Selling their t-shirts at local pub gigs? – Are you serious?

I’m sorry, but the entire world, including working moms, grandmothers, frat-boys, & your next-door neighbor, can’t ALL be rock, super-stars. (especially after getting the sudden-itch & confidence by wearing out endless games of Guitar Hero)

It takes a LOT of time, practice, talent, dedication, – and probably more than anything else – EXTREMELY, extremely good ‘luck’ & timing! (seriously, you’re chances are actually WAY better off in playing the lottery rather than with becoming an internet-megastar.) The music ‘industry/scene’ of today is simply far too inundated and with more & more bands/artists than EVER before, while marketing themselves all over the world-wide-web on a daily basis. There are FAR too many fish in this musical sea nowadays. We barely even have the time to ‘listen’ to records anymore, due to the fact that we have well over 68,000 songs crammed onto one, single ipod. The days of the great ‘albums’ are over. The days of the wonderful ‘covers’ and artwork that graced those same albums are over as well. (now we get to view it as a tiny little, 1-inch, 1-dimensional, grainy jpeg – if we’re lucky!)

The overall ’sound-quality’ has severely diminished as well. Vinyl & CD’s sounded absolutely blissful. Mp3’s sound just the opposite. We used to listen to these great songs on large, warm-sounding stereo systems. Now, we hear them through portable cell-phones and tiny little ‘earbuds’ while jogging. It seems like all of the great, hard work that sound pioneers such as George Martin, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Mutt Lange, and many, many others developed & created for the sole-purpose of ‘great music’ to be HEARD with – has greatly been tainted & fallen by the roadside – again, due to the ‘greed’ of either the ‘fans’ or the artists themselves, wanting cheap access to nearly every record in the world to fit into their pockets & played at a moments notice. this is NOT the fault of these ‘big’, corporations trying to line their pockets with money. If you’re fooled into thinking this – then that’s just it – you’re an absolute ‘fool’. (and a ‘greedy’ fool at that.)

Bottom line: Mp3’s & the massive amounts of today’s trendy, self-internet marketing, have been the true ‘death-nail’ of the music industry by a long-shot – NOT by record companies & managers trying their best to ‘get it all out there’, so that it can simply be bought, heard, seen, and enjoyed by ‘us’ – the people, the fans, and even the bands themselves.

Success in music should NOT be measured or judged by how many ‘hits’ you have on your little websites, or how many single-song, dollar-downloads you get each month – but by just writing a good song, getting it on tape, maybe playing out at some clubs here & there, and just see what happens from there. Basically, just ENJOY YOURSELF!!! It’s not that hard! Quit trying to make it a ‘business’ all of the time, or wasting your time always ‘blaming’ large companies & corporations for the lack of your success & all of the reasons why you can’t make or sell a good record.

- it’s only rock-n-roll folks………..

(not the stock-market.)

- BM

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