Music Industry Discussion

this is a subject i have always wanted to hear other musicians opinions on.

the way i see it the internet has its ups and downs when it comes to the music industry as a whole. social media and all that can be a great way to get your music out to other people. although I believe back in the myspace days and glory days of youtube were way better times to grow your audience quickly, successfully and legitimately. not that i dont think facebook and new youtube and other sites are not useful but i feel like social media is taking advantage and capitalizing on a musicians needs to promote via social media or internet as a whole by restricting posts, advertisements, ect. facebook, has definitely been making it harder and harder for artists to get out there for sure. but the thing i hear most complaints about is musicians do not make money anymore off there music due to the excessive amount of illegal downloading that goes on all over the world. unfortunately the internet is here to stay which in case illegal downloading will probably continue unless somehow something is done to make files unpirateable which i think with how much the i.t. industry is growing, it could be possible one day, not likely but we can all hope. do you think we should try reverting back to the old ways of promoting in a more hands on old school sense instead of social media? should artists forget about labels and be independent to collect the maximum amount of profit they can out of there record sales along with there merch sales? thoughts? advice? opinions?

I believe you have brought up very valid points, about social media helping give exposure and all, but what I hear from acquaintances and friends still playing live gigs, is that the economy has no money in it, instead of 4 piece bands or larger, it is comprised of duets and trios more so these days.. although the stock market is up, and generally the stock market is a good barometer of the robustness of the economy, you would never know the depression and/or recession is over in many more rural areas like the one I live in.. the corporations have moved overseas for many years and that took away the higher paying jobs for people not necessarily educated beyond a high school degree.. less money, means less people that can afford to go watch a good musical act at the local nightclub.. I am sure more urban areas have not been effected like around here ..

Except for the truly BIG artists, no one is making any money off of CD/download selling any more - that's why U2 is giving away their new album (besides that it is not very good). Unfortunately, it's been that way for some time - more money is made by playing gigs than selling copies of the music in any form.
Think about the band selling a tune on iTunes for $0.99.
They're 'big' (not "BIG") and sell 100,000 downloads in a couple of weeks . Alright! $99,000.00! Oops, iTunes takes a bigg chunk, the band gets $67,000.00. Oops, the 'record company' takes their share', the band gets $33,500.00. Oops, manager gets his 15% - of the $99,000. Great, the band still gets $18650.00. Oh, wait, the band had to pay their own expenses while recording the song (the record company paid for the studio). That cost them $8000 out of pocket during the 3 weeks they were recording. $10650. Split between the the 4 guys in the band for 3 weeks' work. $887.50 each per week. Nice pay if you get it every week, but who sells that many downloads on a continuing basis? ANd that only pays them for the work done 4 months before in the studio, they weren't getting paid at the time.
On the other hand, the band can go out on mini tours, play 4-5 nights a week for $5000/night average (less manager % and expenses) and make 3 times as much money as from the download sales.
(All numbers above are made up, just an example!)

In the 'old days' - before the internet, even before CDs, bands could sell an album, get a gold record - a million dollars of sales (meaning about 150,000 copies) and make about $1 an sale - $150,000. The record companies sponsored the tours (paid expenses and took profits) but the band payouts were much smaller per gig, still, for most bands the bulk of the band's income came from touring over the long term.

Wow awesome question. I would say the internet has changed the industry. If you look as musicians that are not huge and still making money, you look at what they are doing. Most people don't understand how to use the internet and therefore are properly using it to their advantage.

Also it really depends on the business model. Some bands like to release their music for free then grow their audience and are able to tour huge shows and make money touring, as apposed to record sales. It is an interesting model, and as you can see bands that put on terrific shows and have great showmanship can get people to pay for their shows.

On the other hand many artists try to get mp3 sales by putting their music up on itunes or others and don't seem to sell very much. The trick is to balance both and understand how to use the internet as a tool.

The main thing the internet has allowed it for artists to connect with and build fan basses much quicker than in the past. You either had to listen to a record, or go see a show in order to find out about a band. But now you can have friend liking the music and you learning about it through social media, thus allowing you to find out who your fans are and engage them in a conversation.

Smaller acts are now able to build closer connections with fans and this allows these bands to sell out larger venues, either promoting themselves and cutting out the middle man of concert promoters and record labels. No, this does not happen overnight, and does take time. But what you are seeing now is that smart business savvy musicians are able to brand themselves much easier and sell merchandise, and music via online stores.

This is really an interesting topic that you brought up, but really it has changed the fabric of the industry, instead of made it worse or better. If you can learn internet marketing than you can learn how to use the internet as a tool.

Cheers

1. do you think we should try reverting back to the old ways of promoting in a more hands on old school sense instead of social media?


2 should artists forget about labels and be independent to collect the maximum amount of profit they can out of there record sales along with there merch sales?

1. That has never changed. Both are important but word of mouth sells 10x better than any other way

2. The "Big 3" labels can make their artists ubiquitous. They still own radio and the distro chains. Being funded and promoted by them is how one becomes a major star. All else is niche.

That said, they don't sign bands who won't give them ownership of every copyright and squeeze every profit that will come from that investment. So it may be cool to be a huge star for several years, but ultimately you're getting screwed out of the future when you dance with them. On the other hand, you might own 100% of something with a brief shelf-life because it's underfunded. Which is better? To find out that you own nothing down the road, or to have a smaller inconsistent income but own your rights and still have some artistic integrity?

I'd say go with a record label, if they truly have a major distributor and commit to funding you large. Otherwise, take your chances as an indie. There are lots of indie groups prospering in todays music economy who will never be world-famous.