Record Labels Are Dead
It’s no secret to the public that the recording industry is on its last set of legs. Sales of Physical CD’s have been on a constant decline since 2001 and show no signs at all of letting up. The public have realized this, the press has realized this and the artists have realized this. Earlier this month on October 10th, Radiohead released their new album “In Rainbows” exclusively on their website, allowing their fans to pay whatever price they want, even nothing. Reports have shown that this business model has proven successful for the band (who are not signed on a label), and other top acts such as Jamiroquai and Oasis are reported to be following. Who is to blame though? is it the rising sales of dvds? or piracy? The RIAA would like you to believe its the latter and have been ignorant to come up with any sort of solution to defend the slumping sales. I personally blame the lack of quality music to purchase for the decline in sales. Take a look at what is on top of the charts right now, Soulja Boys Crank that tell em. How on earth did such a horrible song top the charts? Only god knows..
The days of the album are apparently dead, as is evident by the rise of the Itunes music store. Companies are spending more and more advertising money on single songs than albums than ever before. The bands do not even have much creative emphasis anymore, they are constantly being pressured to create more mainstream music that sells, because they are signed onto big labels. I like to call this the Nickelback effect. Which brings me back to my original question, Who is to blame? I think it is quite clear that the record labels are to blame and are the sole reason for Musics decline in quality and sales over the years. There needs to be a new business model to sell music and make it accessible to younger, less tech-savvy people. If Soulja boy is on top of the charts right now, who will be on top 5 years from now? Something needs to be done! And until that happens, DOWNLOAD AWAY!
-Bmo
I couldnt agree more. Record companies have been championing the “triumph of style over content” mantra for too long, and ultimately at their peril. Regardless of what music you like, the acts of old still sell bucketloads: Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Led Zep etc. They were nurtured by labels, and still sell because THEY HAVE TALENT. No, they dont dance, they werEn’t particularly pretty, and they hadnt appeared in Australian soap operas, but they had a radical approach, THEY MADE GREAT MUSIC.
Just imagine if the record labels went with that approach now, dangerous, eh?