The major labels are not interested in building careers.
The goal of the major label is to sell product. Plain and simple. They don't give a shit what's on the CD, they don't care if it's BLANK, as long as people BUY IT! As to whether people continue to buy the product of ONE band, or buy the product of a ZILLION different bands, they don't give a shit about that either. Oh, if it's CHEAPER to market an already existing act, then so be it. But there's no PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTMENT in an act's career. If ANYTHING, there's only an interest in the EXECUTIVE'S career.
But that paradigm is FINISHED!
In the nineties, the major labels established a STRANGLEHOLD over the marketing and distribution of music. Unless you were aligned with them, you couldn't get your video on MTV, you couldn't get heard on commercial radio, you couldn't get your records in the STORE! Furthermore, the major labels had the rest of the media BRAINWASHED! That if it wasn't on one of THEIR labels, it wasn't worth listening to, wasn't worth reporting on, wasn't going to HAPPEN!
The only people left out of the above equation were the CUSTOMERS! In the above equation the customers DON'T MATTER! Music is seen as food, something people MUST buy, and if it's crap, they'll buy it anyway.
But the public wasn't happy.
Took a decade for people's unhappiness to manifest itself, but then the major label business TANKED! Oh, the major labels blamed it on FILE-TRADING! That's like blaming the failure of GM on HEALTH CARE COSTS! It doesn't speak to the underlying ISSUES! GM made shitty cars in quantities not aligned with demand. They churned out ancient gas-guzzling SUVs when the public was suddenly infatuated with HYBRIDS! But GM didn't BELIEVE in hybrids. It thought its paradigm was FOOLPROOF! But, it turned out the COMPANY was run by fools. They didn't prepare the corporation for the future WHATSOEVER!
Whilst major labels were flying stylists cross-country to perfect the video look of attractive people who couldn't sing, the public stopped believing in MTV. Somehow, the major labels failed to believe their customers could THINK! And that they could observe that MTV hardly PLAYED any videos. And that most of those aired were by vapid overhyped acts. Oh, the major labels thought it was a problem between the Viacom outlet and THEM! They kept imploring MTV to air more videos, and MTV would give lip service to acquiescing, when really, the public was DONE! Video ITSELF has been burned out. MTV KNOWS this, which is why they air reality shows. But the major labels, like buggy-whip manufacturers at the turn of the century, don't want to believe this. It was so much EASIER when MTV was king. We got a clip on the service and we sold MILLIONS OF ALBUMS!
And then there's radio.
Radio is MTV junior. Since there are so many stations, ONE can't insure platinum status for an album. But, get a track on a MULTITUDE of radio stations and you WILL sell a lot of copies. USED to be FOOLPROOF! Hell, other than video, it's the easiest way to expose PRODUCT! Just one problem, the audience TUNED OUT! Radio aired too many commercials, and too little adventurous new stuff, so the customer STOPPED LISTENING!
All of the above is OBVIOUS to ANY music fan. But it's somehow INCOMPREHENSIBLE to major label majordomos. They just can't BELIEVE the old paradigm is finished. Can't everybody COME BACK?? Can't it be like the twentieth century ONCE AGAIN??
No.
Now, it's about the music being REAL!
And the gatekeepers aren't the insiders, but the PUBLIC!
The public made Arcade Fire. Sure, pitchforkmedia.com helped, but isn't that Website just EVIDENCE of the new world??
To make it today, the ACT must be first. Not the label, not the INFRASTRUCTURE! The label must be in the deep background, unless, of course, the label ITSELF is credible, known for only selling good stuff. EVERYTHING must be in service to the act. And since people will only sell what's GOOD, only tell their peeps about what's GOOD, and everybody knows INSTANTLY if something is bad, then you MUST BE SELLING GOOD, CREDIBLE STUFF!
And good credible stuff is not necessarily hooky, not necessarily catchy.
But to start the fire, you've got to make the product available, you've got to GIVE IT AWAY!
I know, this is ANATHEMA to the major labels. But this is the new EXPOSURE game. THIS is how people get turned on to bands. NOT by MTV. NOT by radio. If you can't hear the band's music on its Website, if you can't e-mail the track, then the act just ain't gonna make it.
Think about that. The act is now IN BED with the audience. The act must CONSTANTLY SERVE THE AUDIENCE! It's not about PUSHING stuff on the audience, rather the audience PULLS WHAT IT WANTS! Make everything AVAILABLE, and HOPEFULLY the audience WANTS IT! This is the EXACT OPPOSITE of the major label philosophy. TRULY!
Think about it. Sony BMG is now copy-protecting their disks. In addition to pissing purchasers off, the company is now stunting success at the ADVENT! By making it DIFFICULT to acquire, you're KILLING THE ACT!
God are the majors' heads up their asses. They think the Net is just like physical retail. Maybe BETTER! You charge a buck a track at the iTunes Music Store and the physical CD is replaced without any MANUFACTURING COSTS!
But that's not it WHATSOEVER!
The Net is about constant experimentation, about acquiring A LOT OF STUFF!
Think about that. That's REALITY! Presently people aren't PAYING for this reality. But the majors SHOULD charge them for it.
Napster To Go is a sham. It's not what people WANT! And NO BUSINESS HAS EVER SUCCEEDED BY NOT GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!
You've got to give the public unprotected MP3s.
Oh, don't worry about giving away the history of recorded music. Do you REALLY think people are going to be listening to MP3s in 2020??? God, the MP3 is going to be superseded just like the CD replaced the cassette. By a better-sounding, more convenient format. Probably delivery on demand, but it DOESN'T MATTER! Sell people what they want NOW! Didn't the CD prove that people will buy the same damn music over and over again ANYWAY???
Maybe the indies can afford to give away the music because oftentimes that's not their only revenue stream. Maybe the majors are right, they need to participate in other income from the act. But, in order to achieve this, the major must offer REASONABLE TERMS! Which, of course, it won't. So, why not go INDIE and HOLD ON TO EVERYTHING!
All of the above was inspired by trying to download the Kaiser Chiefs' track "I Predict A Riot". Oh, I've GOT the CD. But I heard a clip at the iTunes Music Store and wanted a copy IMMEDIATELY!
I fired up my file-trading application and I certainly found the title, but all I got was LOOPS!
So then I tried to download a track by a DIFFERENT band. One not quite as hot, one not quite as hyped. I found Pinback's "AFK" IMMEDIATELY, and it WASN'T A LOOP!
Then I went to the bands' Websites.
Pinback IS GIVING AWAY MP3s.
The Kaiser Chiefs will allow you to download their BIOGRAPHY! And they're asking you to JOIN THEIR STREET TEAM!
That's major labels for you. BEGGING people to do their work, when if they played by the new rules, people would do their work without even being ASKED TO!
Oh, if you go to the Kaiser Chiefs' UK site you can listen to one song. And watch a video for this same damn song.
Pinback's Website, of course, has no video. Since music is something YOU HEAR!
Furthermore, if you click on Pinback's site to hear music, you see a picture of their STUDIO! Can you imagine seeing a picture of Ashlee Simpson or J. Lo's STUDIO?? Laden with guitars, effects pedals...YEAH RIGHT!
Because, you see, Pinback is on an indie label. Touch & Go.
And indie labels care.
You know I MIGHT have written about the Kaiser Chiefs. If I could have DOWNLOADED THE DAMN SONG! But NO, Universal wants to take me back to the nineties. Wants me to BUY it before I can hear it. SO I'VE GOT NOTHING TO SAY!
But this Pinback song, "AFK", it's a KILLER!
Oh, don't judge it on the first thirty seconds. Wait until you hear that looping GROOVE! Which goes on and on, and then is followed by JUNGLE MUSIC!
Oh, "AFK" would NEVER make it on MTV. It's not that kind of music. It's HEAD TRIP MUSIC! And you WATCH MTV.
But if you're home alone. Maybe reading a magazine. Maybe even surfing the Web. Better yet, CLEANING THE HOUSE! "AFK" will put a BOUNCE IN YOUR STEP! It lodges itself in your brain, squeezes out all the crap ruminating there, and suddenly your COMPLETE MOOD HAS CHANGED! THIS IS THE EXPERIENCE! THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE WANT!
Oh, "AFK" isn't "Strawberry Fields Forever", not even "Free Bird", but hearing it gives you HOPE! THIS is why you wanted to work in the music business. You wanted to bring sounds like THIS to the public. You wanted to establish bands that BELIEVED IN THEIR ART! Who, after you gave them a platform, after they had a little success, would then experiment even MORE, branch out and SURPRISE YOU!
Think about this. This is the OPPOSITE of the major label philosophy. They want the same damn thing over and over again. If you take any chances, they won't even RELEASE IT!
Which is why everybody's gone indie. They want no restrictions. They're not corporate tools, they're MUSICIANS!!
Being a musician is a CALLING! You want to be ENABLED, not HINDERED! You want to work with people who BELIEVE IN YOU, who help you EXPRESS YOUR VISION, who aren't only interested in SELLING PRODUCT!
And, ironically, it's when you express your vision, let loose what's deep inside, that people resonate, that they not only buy your music, but give you ALL THEIR MONEY! For recorded music, concert tickets, t-shirts, YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR!
Subscribe to Feed
