The problem with the music industry is intrinsicly music ("the product") has
no value. It's transient, can be reproduced, mimiced, played, remade,
rewirtten, and performed by vast number of people. The music it self has no
intrinsic value. Anybody can make music, and even more can rip it off.Where value is derived from music is in distribution. That's why labels exist: they take a product that has no intrinsic value, packages it, enforce copyright to make the product exclusive, market to make it hot, and then perform distribution of the music to enough people to generate profits that support not only the band, but numerous other people and industries. Music turns obsolete faster than technology, and the machinery of the record label exist to take advantage of those burning few seconds and generate revenue. Sarah definitely won her suit against a previous band mate with the help of the labels, but I argue proving ownership of song concepts would have been much more difficult without the process the labels put in place. The difficulty arises for the labels now that the barrier to distribution no longer is as large as it used to be. Fans direct access to music means the primary stick record companies had (ability to flood a world with millions of CDs, and get them into the place people buy CDs) is disappearing. They are fighting to try to keep this barrier up (barrier to distribution) by enforcing copyright and digital right management. The smart record companies are taking this delaying action to prop up their other services: packaging, marketing, and the ability to recognize *hot moments* and get the right artist into the spot light at the right time. To do that you still need large monolithic organizations which have a roster of talent scouts and "consumer demand scouts" (and consumer demand creators) to make sure you can capitalize on every opportunity. And large means your bands will generate more of the revenue that smaller, independent bands. Large record companies don't have much worry about bands selling on their own. Indeed, it will reduce their cost to market, because the product has to support it self through the development and "no consumer demand phase". Bands will become more like tech start-ups: they're trying to verify a product or a demand for a product (their music) to a larger company that will buy them. With the records spending less in the most expensive and high risk start-up band phases, they have more money to "buy" them later. Small bands should be encouraged by large reps. to distribute on the net (I can only imagine that this is the ultimate let down: "we're interested in your band, but we would like to see what you self-promoted online sales are first".) It's the "we're not even going to front you money and tie you into a contract, you're just such a big risk. We USED to do that, but we've figured out how to remove that cost from our business and pass it to you, the band." What is awesome about this removal of any barrier to distribution is I can get the 2 albums from that esoteric band I like before they stop playing because being independent, even with iTunes distribution, pays for their beers, their equipment, and band space, and often not much more. Which means real life takes over and the components of the band often drop to the side. For those people that music really is a passion for, they'll now easily make the $96 that they should have, doing it on their own. This is especially tha case for artists that don't have the spotlight any more. To me it's awesome that I can get Judy Henske http://www.judyhenske.com/ still. There's no reason a label should still support these people (the costs are too high), but it's awesome they can still make a couple dollars. At some point the battle to maintain the barrier to distribution will become less of point as their own business models accept the change in the distribution process. And in that - the record companys will make more money: they'll have the opportunity to vet artists before they spend all the money they used to. Stephen Cassady ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:205846 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
