Comment Re:So long Music Industry... (Score 1) 401
When a band can distribute its albums by posting a zip file on a web site, there's a lot less incentive to turn to labels.
I used to think it was the musicians that made the money and it was the record companies that took their share. But now I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. Most music is almost entirely indistiguishable from each other. Big bands become big because good marketing makes people think it's better than the rest of the crap. Or said another way - there are a million people who can play music at a high level and they would all do most anything to become rich and famous. This puts them in the same bargaining position as, say, a McDonald's employee. When there are more people willing and capable of doing what you do than others are willing to pay for, you're never going to get rich.
If you want proof, think of this - how many super rich Indie artists are there? Now, how many super rich artists are there who are represented by major labels? Who is creating value for whom?
For me as a music consumer, I think it would be great to get the music direct from the artist. But to think that the artists will somehow come out better without record companies seems to be unsupported by the evidence.
I used to think it was the musicians that made the money and it was the record companies that took their share. But now I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. Most music is almost entirely indistiguishable from each other. Big bands become big because good marketing makes people think it's better than the rest of the crap. Or said another way - there are a million people who can play music at a high level and they would all do most anything to become rich and famous. This puts them in the same bargaining position as, say, a McDonald's employee. When there are more people willing and capable of doing what you do than others are willing to pay for, you're never going to get rich.
If you want proof, think of this - how many super rich Indie artists are there? Now, how many super rich artists are there who are represented by major labels? Who is creating value for whom?
For me as a music consumer, I think it would be great to get the music direct from the artist. But to think that the artists will somehow come out better without record companies seems to be unsupported by the evidence.
