10 comments

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  Karoli

  1 year ago

  This is such a two-edged sword. I've said before that as the parent of one who aspires to the music business, I hope for many (profitable) opportunities for him, so I'm not interested in seeing the music industry collapse at all. On the other hand, the recording industry has so badly bungled their approach to electronic music and so badly alienated their customers that it may well be too late to recover.
  
  I'm not sure what they can do to turn it around, but disbanding the RIAA may well be a worthy start.
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  mathewi

  1 year ago

  I agree, Karoli. For what it's worth, I think creative artists will
  always be able to find ways to pursue their art and get compensated
  for it. Who knows -- they may even be better off without the major
  labels.
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  tomreeves

  1 year ago

  Love the work you put on the blog. Thanks.
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  mathewi

  1 year ago

  Thanks, Tom. I appreciate the comments.
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  the tequilla man

  1 year ago

  Its all unravelling fast and it looks like EMI are about to blow up now!
  
  Downloads have changed the market dynamics for the music industry. What used to make commercial sense,(i.e CD Sales) no longer works.
  Peoples spending patterns have moved on and there is little if any perceived value left in the CD format. Music is now instant and disposable.
  When the dynamics change so radically, everyone needs to adapt or die.
  
  EMI as a business is doing all it can to ensure its own survival. But by asking Artists to adapt to their survival model, the artists will be putting all their fate in the hands of the label as it navigates uncharted waters.
  
  Should anyone trust that a Record Label run by a Venture Capitalist would have the Artists commercial interests at heart??
  
  For once the Artists have the upper hand and they are right to vote with their feet.
  
  The future of the music industry has to be be very different form where it has been up till now.
  For me its very simple.
  There is money in the Live events, ticket sales, Merchandise, Sponsorship, Brand extensions (fashion labels etc).
  Record Lables who only distribute music will fail as revenues diminish.
  
  Livenation.com (a live events company) signed Madonna in a $120m unified rights deal that makes sense for all parties.
  If EMI want a piece of the artists other revenue streams, then they will have to prove they can add value and throw their weight behind and embrace the new dynamic in the same way.
  Right now few Labels can do what livenation.com can.
  
  In some respects this reminds me of 1978 and the commercial birth of Punk and I think something good will eventually come out of all this.
  
  I’ve been watch these guys at www.ebtm.com, & www.atticusclothing.com, – These kind of ventures could offer Artists the kind of Brand Extensions to pay the bills in the future. I expect more of innovative stuff like these sites springing up.
  The Tequilla Man
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  tomreeves

  1 year ago

  Thanks for the link to the Economist article. I also posted on it (pwnership.com), and linked to this blog. My thoughts are that yes, the labels ran their business horribly. That fact doesn't artists from abdicating the responsibility to change and adapt to the disintermediation cause by the internet.
  
  It's simple to suggest, 'well if the record labels get torn apart, what's a poor little band to do?' That mindset isn't directly discussed, and perhaps should be.
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  Yvonne

  1 year ago

  It is a very interesting and also very fast development. Where will it all end?
  And the thing is: musicians keep on recording cd's, if not published by a major company, they do it themselves, with a lot of investments. The consumer may stick to his/her iPod, many musicians don't think in terms of MP3's only. They want to make a cd, a complete creation, with a fitting art work. The real thing.
  Here in Holland we run a webstore with cd's brought out by independent artists (www.toonbankrecords.com), trying to get all this high quality music to the audience. Will there remain a market for CD's in the end? I am curious!
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  kjx

  1 year ago

  I want to ask a question rather than to make comment.
  
  Would someone commit copyright infringement by broadcasting music on a personal blog?
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  mathewi

  1 year ago

  That's a tough one, kjx, but I would guess that most lawyers would say the
  answer is yes. If you're streaming, then that's broadcasting and you need a
  license.
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  kjx

  1 year ago

  Thank You.
  reply