As the traditional recording industry continues to crumble under a mountain of its own mistakes, quick-thinking individuals and progressive companies are pressing onward.
The Deciblog has a cynical take on Universal's marketing strategies for The Mars Volta's forthcoming album, The Bedlam in Goliath. They take potshots at the promotional "Goliath the Soothsayer" webgame (while defending a similar effort on behalf of Mastodon):
Hey, let’s hire a company to develop a text-based game based on the concepts of The Bedlam in Goliath, but make it so impossible to play that you’ll lose interest after approximately three minutes.Deciblog continues, attacking added-value packaging:
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Say what you will about the goofy Blood Mountain video game (aka Super Mario Bros. level 1-1 with one of the trolls from Golden Axe) that Warner Bros put together for Mastodon, but at least it wasn’t oozing with pretention.
Hey, if we put the record on a USB key and include some bonus content, people will pay twice as much for it, riiiight? The current Amazon product listing for the deluxe edition of The Bedlam in Goliath promises “monthly content updates through 2008.” Like b-sides and live videos. Aka the reason you go to YouTube every day. Or — get this — “exclusive wallpaper.” Translation: Free napkins with every Wendy’s purchase!While Universal fumbles around with outdated marketing strategies and out-of-touch promotional concepts, EMI is set to cut a full 1/3 of their work force (2,000 jobs), and at the same time they've announced plans to allow, for the first time ever, brands and corporations to sponsor their artists. From Stereogum:
[EMI artist] Robbie Williams is already boycotting [EMI], and the Verve is threatening to do the same. And now today the Rolling Stones announce they're fleeing the sinking ship for a one-album deal with Universal.Meanwhile, online advertising has never been stronger, and forward-thinking music outlets such as Sean Moeller's Daytrotter and Peter Rojas' RCRD LBL are making the most of it. Both sites offer exclusive content in the form of mp3's, which are freely available for fans to download and share and both are entirely ad-supported, with part of the advertising dollars going to contributing artists.
The big labels used to have power. They had power for one reason: capitol. Albums used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce, duplicate, and distribute. At the same time, potential fans and consumers could only be reached via outlets such as radio, television, and print magazines.
Now, thanks to the internet and advances in recording technology, albums can be produced for a couple thousand bucks (or less) and digitally distributed virtually for free. Consumers are no longer unreachable either-- unlike television or radio, which by their very nature are one-way conduits of information, the internet is, well, a network. It's a two-way street, an open forum, the world's largest community.
The playing field has been leveled and the major labels are quickly becoming irrelevant (or at least less relevant) and they're not doing much to counter that trend. More people are listening to more music than ever-- for labels, managers, and other industry types, staying in the game is just a matter of being nimble, progressive, and open-minded.
As for the musicians? The best advice a band can take is to work hard, tour tour tour, and just to be really fucking good. Do those things, and the fans will follow. And with fans come ticket sales, merch sales, and more fans. Musicians win, fans win, and enterprising folk like Sean Moeller and Peter Rojas win. It's a win, win, win situation.
5 hollers:
Finally!........the revolution begins!.......put the power back in the artist's hands!!!!!
But that Mastodon game oozed with suckiness! Nearly impossible to play, and enjoyment level low.
the labels dropped the ball big time, and the mass media outlets are starving for creative content. but here's my concern: critical mass.
if there was one thing the labels were good for, it was building mass awareness for their artists. the good news is that we now have direct access to the bands we love, without the labels interfering. the art isn't watered down. the artists get to keep their souls. and we get great music.
but...
without these traditional mechanisms in place, at what point do the masses get so fragmented in terms of the art we consume that the bands we love can't reach critical mass to sustain operations for the long haul? how long can the love of a loyal, but relatively small, fan base sustain a band's operating budget? How do you mount a tour when your fan base isn't concentrated in dense metro areas, but spread out in small pockets over the globe?
True story. Several years ago I walked into a MacDonalds in upstate NY and was served a hamburger by a former pro-bowl football player. Now the reason he couldn't 'sustain operations' had mostly to do with his age, but I wanted to cry nonetheless. A great football talent. Serving me burgers.
My recurring nightmare involves me walking into a Taco Bell circa 2018 and being served a burrito by a truly talented, perpetually 'on the cusp' musician who couldn't sustain operations.
i obviously haven't thought this through enough, and i certainly don't claim to have the answers. But I'm concerned.
i got into many a LA coffee shop and get handed my muffin by an amazing musician daily.... there are quit a few 'blabbermouth' buzz worthy bands that are serving up jamba juices and taking off on two week tours
Colin, in the future musical landscape there will be fewer millionaire rock stars, but far, far more 'middle class' musicians.
Gone are the days of blowing a $500,000 advance on hookers and coke, and coming are the days when more musicians than ever are making a living-- if a modest one-- doing what they love to do.
The changes that are uprooting the traditional recording industry these days are bad for a few, but good for many. It's a net gain for the musicians and artists, for the aforementioned entrepreneurs, for the fans, and for culture.
I, for one, am excited to see what the future holds.
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