Musicians Don't Need Venture Capitalists Any More
from the do-it-yourself dept
I just heard Tyler Cowen, one of my favorite econobloggers, on the public radio program On the Media discussing Radiohead's name-your-own-price model for its latest album. (The segment starts around 38:20 in this MP3) He makes a number of good points, but I think he overestimates the importance of the recording industry in the coming years. He says: "When you go back to this core function of discovering new music, lending the money to the people who produce that music, taking the chance, and then getting the product out there and publicizing it, the labels offer very important value, and the Internet is not a substitute." In the pre-Internet world, this was a reasonable description of the recording industry's role. Publishing a new album was a risky endeavor because you had to cover the fixed costs of recording the album, pressing several thousand copies, shipping them to retail stores, and undertaking an expensive nationwide promotional campaign. If an album fell short, the label risked losing tens of thousands of dollars.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: business models, economics, music, venture capital
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Difficult to confront
"Oh well, whilst the new fangled internal combustion engine will prove very popular, there'll still be a big place for steam engines, such as for rolling tarmac. These new light and nimble vehicles are so pitiful when it comes to heavy duty traction."
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nine inch nails...
why bother
they are anything but music and creativity
check http://nin.com:
quote trent:
Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.
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Bye bye EMI
Now if American idol would go away, things would be good.
It is worth noting however, that most bands that are having some success as non-label bands, were a product of the media industry before striking out on their own.
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Re: Bye bye EMI
For every superstar made out of a mediocre artist, there are then more very skilled bands that make the cut and get their chance to achieve their dreams of making a living doing what they love.
Try not to universally dismiss music companies as evil. Theyre as crucial as immune system cells to the overall organism of music, and just as dangerous when a handful of them get out of control and metastasize.
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Everything is different now...
What took so long...good job Radiohead
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No cost?
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Producing isnt cheap
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In their living rooms.
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I took a quick peek at some 8 track recorders and with a 40 GB hard disk and 16 bit/44.1 khz... heck a sound blaster can record better quality :O
It's no big deal to pop in a few sound cards and the right software will do the trick. But if you like the traditional 8 track recording, you can get one for $400 or so.
A google search for 'PC Multitrack recording' gives quite a number of hits and a ton of information to any interested. The software available for PC's can do more than traditional recorders anyway... a lot more in many cases.
http://www.fasoft.com/download.shtm
The thing about this is that since it's done in your home using digital data, you can try and re-try it as many times as you want until you get the results you want. See then after that - once you do make a name for yourself, you can look into professional assistance with producing a recording. Any band now can risk very little to get their name out there. Heck - the instruments are more expensive now..
Then a P2P network and/or a Web Server...
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Here in Chicago, where there is enough of a "scene," there is at least one show every month of 5-10 bands held in someone's basement, kitchen, or backyard. It's hell in the summer, but these shows are always completely packed at $6 a head. A lot of these bands also appear at festivals and more "legitimate" venues. Many others are on tour from far and wide.
So to the doubters: It is 100% possible to work without a label. It may take a little more time, may not make as much money or get radio play on ClearChannel, but with knowledge it absolutely can be done. And if ClearChannel and big bucks are all a band cares about, well, who needs 'em?
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You missed the point Tic...
But on to your arguments of venture capitalism, I think your analysis is flawed on one critical point. Traditional music corporations would do three things;
1) Advertise and Promote Album
2) Manufacture and Distribute the Album
3) Fund the artist through the creative process along with the costs of production/recording
Now it should be clear to anyone who reads Techdirt that artists can now do the first two of those very well on their own. The third is not so easy.
Good quality musical instruments and equipment cost a lot of money. Booking a recording studio in London costs a stupid amount of money. Getting a good producer to master your albums is hardly cheap either, and while all of that is going on you need to feed and support yourself.
Now it may be fashionable to be ‘indie’, and do it all yourself by recording in your mums garage and mastering the album on the college desktops…but even the most ignorant of pop fans is going to be able to tell the difference between that and something done properly. You might be able to get so far by working out of your basement, but this is arguably just to gain enough of a following for a label to invest real money in you. Not everyone wants to spend half their adult life working in a bar while they wait to ‘make it’. Not only that, but the realities of working in a fast-moving industry like this is that you need good managers and producers to advise you on business and marketing. We can’t expect every future great artist to be an internet geek.
Like it or not, in the brave new world of the music industry venture capitalism remains a central pillar.
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Re: You missed the point Tic...
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He may be a smart person, but Tyler seems confused when it comes to the recording and music industries. He called Radiohead an indie band despite having several platinum and multi-platinum records in the UK and despite being on a major record label.
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Techdirt: still overestimating the practical reali
Still:
We are STRONGLY in an era of transition.
NONE of the historic recording industry value chain is as all-important as it was
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Techdirt: still overestimating the practical reali
Still:
We are STRONGLY in an era of transition.
NONE of the historic recording industry value chain is as all-important as it was
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Problem of discoverability
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