So What Does The Music World Need Right Now?

[fazendeiro]

The world needs Frank Zappa to rise from the grave.

We could get some kids to just bit torrent him back from the grave, couldn't we?

 

[Wooley]

Was the middle-man under the current (old) model really taking the lion's share? Maybe they were taking a lion's share of a market or revenue stream that would not have existed but for them and their work. Nothing wrong with that just as there is nothing wrong with an artist achieving great commercial success.

I'm not sure I understand you, but what I'm saying is that in a perfect world, all music will be artist direct and it will be up to the listener to decide what is good and what is not. Greatness will travel by word of mouth, not by spoon-feeding from Sony Music via MTV (or whatever), and musicians will have to generate buzz with their music.

Those who do will be the success stories.

And for once, they will deserve it.

 

[Solomon]

I'm not sure I understand you, but what I'm saying is that in a perfect world, all music will be artist direct and it will be up to the listener to decide what is good and what is not. Greatness will travel by word of mouth, not by spoon-feeding from Sony Music via MTV (or whatever), and musicians will have to generate buzz with their music.

Those who do will be the success stories.

And for once, they will deserve it.

The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, etc. might have only sold a fraction of the music they did were it not for the record companies. So while the merits of the music still stands, the truth is the companies made the pie bigger and rightfully profited from that. They added value.

 

[Elias Graves]

The record companies did add value. They learned how to package and market a product.

Sadly, the record companies rely on formula now and they are dying. Who will be the next to learn to do that in the new realities? Will it be the artist? Will a new "authority" emerge that will become the arbiter of what is hot and what is not?

If album sales as a revenue stream are dead, is the Disney technique of marketing an act like Hannah Montana around a show and merchandising the new model? Will there be more than one model?

 

[Flyin' Brian]

I was a very close one step removed from the process in 1999.

My son was in a band that had a great grass roots following and had sold as many as 80,000 CDs just at shows. Their music was good and they signed with a major label.
The president of the label loved the band and with the label behind them, they ended up with a double platinum album, a single that charted for weeks and made it to Billboard #1, two videos on VH-1, one of which was rated #4 for the year. Great stuff I'd say.
Then they did a second album. It was musically better than the first in most opinions, but the management at the major label changed and they no longer had the push. The album went nowhere, touring support was gone, and the group disbanded.
That's the way the music cookie crumbles. Fortunately the members are doing pretty well and the guy who wrote the major hits is wealthy and living in Hollywood.

 

[redpill]

Adapt. There needs to be a return to the thinking that seeing live music is the ultimate way to expirience music. It needs as much about being at the show/event as it is about the music. You cannot digitally copy the feeling of being in a room with 4000 like minded people listening to something awesome.

And step A#1 on that path is to STOP making the live music experience what musicians think it ought to be, and make it what likely audiences want it to be. No more death dealing decibels. More focus on truly great sound and pleasant environs. People can listen to music all day long on their iPods. They need a reason to go spend money. If live music is an assault that requires earplugs (at the very least), they'll stay away.

 

[Elias Graves]

And step A#1 on that path is to STOP making the live music experience what musicians think it ought to be, and make it what likely audiences want it to be. No more death dealing decibels. More focus on truly great sound and pleasant environs. People can listen to music all day long on their iPods. They need a reason to go spend money. If live music is an assault that requires earplugs (at the very least), they'll stay away.

I can agree with this. I do not go to bars to hear music. I hate bars. Don't like being around a bunch of rowdy drunks and I don't like having my ears split open.

Now the people in Branson, MO are doing pretty well. They pack their nice theaters with paying patrons who are there for the experience. The music doesn't assault your ears. The bands make a nice payday without touring around. They don't get the publicity that Hannah Montana does but they play to big audiences, sell cd's and t shirts and have a nice bank.

 

[Celticdave]

Less posers.

 

[DrSax]

Seems to me the only thing that's broken is the business model. There's plenty of good music being made right now.

I don't know the answer to the business model question. Maybe we were living in a fantasy world before the internet.* Maybe we're back to the travelling troubador era where you make money primarily from the crowd that's in front of you at the moment.

*tons of irony in that statement!

 

[joemesser]

More focus on kick ass live music. Less focus on image and stardom. These days, so many people get into music just to be a star and end up making some pretty yucky stuff. There's a lot of that in our culture. I suspect the false wealth bursting all around should help us find our way back to something more.......real?

To the Biz, it's all about selling those units. I just don't think that's the real purpose of music. To me, it's all about the live experience. That's where the real music and magic is. Of course, I love studio recordings too. But when hundreds or thousands of people get together to share the same music, and it's ON, something can really happen. Something important. Something you can't capture, package, and sell on a shelf. It is of the moment and if you're not there it's gone forever. Phish is a great example of a band who did it their way....LIVE. They completely eschewed the music business' normal channels and ways. They became the biggest live draw of the 90's through word of mouth, live shows and tape trading. They blew up in the biggest way possible without any companies or corporations. They were already huge when they finally signed to Elektra. They refused to do videos and if they knew they had a hit, they took it off the record. The excitement was in the music and it spread like wildfire.

There's a great Pat Metheny speech where he tells the graduating class at Berklee to (paraphrase) "Stop worrying about and looking for a manager or record deal. Good music has a way of getting out and your connections will come through your musical ability" and that "The biggest reward you can get out of music is EMBEDDED IN THE MUSIC ITSELF" Very inspiring words for me. With that, I'm off to play and practice.

 

[loudboy]

More focus on kick ass live music. Less focus on image and stardom. These days, so many people get into music just to be a star and end up making some pretty yucky stuff. There's a lot of that in our culture.

A majority of the biggest celebrities in the present culture are famous just for being famous. Unlike in the past, they have no discernable skills, other than being famous.

Britney, Anna-Nicole, Paris Hilton, etc. Seriously, what have they DONE? Nothing, yet they're worth millions...

 

[Elias Graves]

Seems to me the only thing that's broken is the business model. There's plenty of good music being made right now.

I don't know the answer to the business model question. Maybe we were living in a fantasy world before the internet.* Maybe we're back to the travelling troubador era where you make money primarily from the crowd that's in front of you at the moment.

*tons of irony in that statement!

The business model is certainly in a state. Itunes isn't really a solution. It is merely a delivery system.

So it seems that good material and creative ways of marketing yourself are keys. Places like Myspace and Soundclick offer ways to put your material out there but they don't help with exposure unless the artist does something to promote. It seems that there is an unending stream of junk on Myspace and a lot of listeners shy away from Myspace music because they don't have the patience to sort through the garbage. Many casual listeners like going to a trusted source that recommends music they might like.

Marketing. Something many artists can't or won't do. A lot of great bands had shrewd managers who made the deals and did the promotion that pushed them to the forefront. Some bands have had a member with the savvy to do that. Very few have made it solely on the quality of their music.

 

[Julia343]

Enforce the anti-trust laws and break up the media conglomerates. But then there's the internet, and you get 10000 hits on a particular search, and sometimes the link you really want isn't on the first two pages.

Marketing.... yeah this is a biggie. I have a couple friends who are really good artists, but don't have a clue about marketing their art. One makes jewelry and is very very good at it, and far better at designing stuff than what you see way overpriced at Tiffany's. It's marketing.

I'm lousy at marketing. I agree about the need for a good manager. Let the managers handle the bookings and stuff and leave it for the band members to create.

I have sorted through the garbage on Myspace and found some very good bands. I quickly add to my friends just for my own reference. Some of the bands are very well known, but others are not. Then sometimes a particular band member has their own page, so if I like that particular member I'll add them because as we all know bands do break up and this is a way of following a career. But then this is what I do.

Radio sucks. Everything is so bloody compressed sounding. They all play the same commercial stuff over and over again. The non-commercial stations have their noses up in the air like they're too good to play anything with a beat.

 

[Elias Graves]

Radio sucks. Everything is so bloody compressed sounding. They all play the same commercial stuff over and over again. The non-commercial stations have their noses up in the air like they're too good to play anything with a beat.

My music loosely fits into a country genre. Very loosely. But I tune into country radio from time to time to keep up with what's up. Ugh. I call it "songs of the mundane." Nashville is in a serious rut. They are still living on the success of Garth Brooks. Talk about marketing.

We have one good listener supported station here that has some good programs but it's hit or miss. Mostly old blues and old country. Nothing new at all.

 

[DC1]

The "Music World" needs for the business to be taken out of it.

When artists are rewarded directly for the music they make and there is no middle-man taking the lion's share and deciding what is a safe investment for them, then art will return to music and even the masses will have good taste.

If musicians are being paid, that is business.

Why is this so difficult for us to understand??


dc

 

[DC1]

I'm doing a piece with the Hollywood Master Chorale over the next two weeks and I believe Lauridsen is attending as some of his music is on the program. I'm really looking forward to meeting him - he's terrific

Fantastic! Good for you. The chorale is wonderful. I have recorded Grant Gershon conducting; he is a good guy and very talented.

I wish I could hear these concerts you are doing with them. Where will they be?

dc

 

[DC1]

And step A#1 on that path is to STOP making the live music experience what musicians think it ought to be, and make it what likely audiences want it to be. No more death dealing decibels. More focus on truly great sound and pleasant environs. People can listen to music all day long on their iPods. They need a reason to go spend money. If live music is an assault that requires earplugs (at the very least), they'll stay away.

Wonderful. I hope someone is listening. Of course, they may be deaf...


dc

 

[rob2001]

If musicians are being paid, that is business.

Why is this so difficult for us to understand??


dc

Why can't you concede that the music "business" is broken and it needs fixing?

 

[DC1]

Why can't you concede that the music "business" is broken and it needs fixing?

But whatever replaces it will still be a business.

As far as being broken, in some senses it is and always has been. So is Banking and Car-building apparently.

The idea that the "business" as you put it, is somehow shoveling bad music into peoples ears, and all we need do is remove the money or the business aspects, is absurd and worse, it is counterproductive; working against the very thing you want to happen.

Here is a statement we see often:

"What's wrong with the music scene is we need to get money and greed out of it, and go back to doing it for art's sake"

Here's the English translation:

"We musicians are still refusing to take charge of our own business affairs and take our careers seriously. Being that we do that, in the name of a fantasy we won't let go of, would you business folks please come in and take advantage of us? Take our money? Treat us like servants?"

Why?

Because there is NO avoiding business. Once you wish to be paid for your work it becomes, at least in part, a business. Do it well, or do it poorly, a business it shall remain. Choosing "Art for art's sake" is choosing to be taken advantage of by those who are not willing to delude themselves.

This is important, and failing at it ruins careers.

Doing art, concentrating on art, making the best music you can, REQUIRES careful attention to ones business affairs so that one can have the safety, security, serenity, and time to do so.

Win or lose, everyone plays.

dc

 

[WAH-WAH MCFUZZ]

Retirement of Timbaland.