The New Way?

[Deluge Of Sound]

I'm very curious about TB's thoughts on the "digital revolution" and everything that entails.

Nowadays, with downloading, piracy, and other "label unfriendly" activities being about as rampant as a hottie with the herp, what does the future hold? Nine Inch Nails recently released their album Ghosts I-IV online, doing all the distribution themselves, and netted a pretty penny in the process. However, as much as Trent Reznor wishes it wasn't so, Radiohead pioneered the way of the digital album on a major-label scale with the release of In Rainbows, and while we're not privy to the financial success of that experiment, we do know that a massive amount of albums were downloaded in a very short amount of time.

But, and this is the caveat, both of these bands made their fame and fortune in the old system, getting singles on the radio and selling millions of records after people heard them on the radio. So how do up-and-coming acts ape this success? Do they tour their balls off? Do they send their music to radio stations, desperately hoping to ignite a firestorm of requests? How on earth is "Frozen Beer Bottle" from Flatground, Midwest supposed to hope for anything other than a handful of fans and the occasional supporting tour for some band that had the good fortune to have been around when the labels still had control?

I realize this is a "crystal-ball" type question, but I'm curious to hear some best guesses from people who have much more of a clue than I do.

[baalroo]

Well, the prediction I have is that we'll see a LOT more advertising for big label bands in the future... both traditional and through licensing agreements in movies/television and especially videogames. One of the advantages that the big labels had to indie outfits before the digital revolution (DR) was the distribution, as the DR continues to level the playing field the labels will begin to look for other advantages to use as leverage.

I also think we'll see a lot of activity in regards to media outlets merging with major labels in an attempt to get exclusive deals with the talent (from the media's perspective) and corner the market (from the labels perspective).

On the otherhand, the DV is slowly rendering the idea of "getting signed" as obsolete. Since it is now actually EASIER for a band to record, promote, sell, and support w/tour an album than it is to try and find a good label. You can book a 2-week tour in a matter of days and never leave MYSPACE let alone your house. In my father's day you had to hire a booking agent, mail out cassettes, wait for phone calls etc etc. So, when I say "big label bands" I guess I really mean "talentless pop acts(read as: britney spears, simple plan, etc)"... and this implies even worse one-hit-esque music on the radio and mtv in the future than we have now (hard to imagine, but I stand by it)

(btw) - The DV is not here yet. As long as Best Buy still dedicates 1/2 of it's floor space to physical CDs, DVDs, and videogames the labels are safe. I think in 10 years the concept of have a disc with only 45 minutes of music on it that is ruined by scratching it with your fingernail will be LAUGHABLE at best. You can already buy 1 gig SD cards for the same price as most CDs.

The last thing to consider is that sooner or later the big labels are going to realize that they don't NEED to pay their acts large sums of money because the general public will listen to whatever you tell them to. Thus, the glamorous "rock star" and "diva" concept will come to an end.