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Top 10 Reasons the Music Industry is failing

I think there was a slight mischaracterization with regard to MP3s. The problem isn't the format, but rather the low bit-rates many people employ to cram as much music onto a device as possible. 320kb MP3 files are damned near indistinguishable from CD. Ditto for high quality 256kb AAC files. It is the 128kb MP3 that is the scourge.
 
Some of those are hard for a non-musician to judge (numbers 4, 9, 10), but some of the others are not wrong. The one about fan abuse is spot-on... those who appreciate music (the consumers of the product) have been viewed as fountains of cash and pretty well ignored when we aren't actively whipping out our wallets. It just doesn't seem like most of the industry (basically everybody but the artists themselves, who unfortunately matter only slightly more than the fans where the record companies are concerned) really cares about giving the fans a pleasurable experience that is a value for the entertainment dollar.
 
During the Napster era (1999, 2000, 2001) the music industry sold/shipped more units (CD's) than anytime before or since.

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

Rope
 
The only one I agree with is #8: Too Many Choices and Not Enough Filters.

I disagree with every single other argument he makes. In every case, he is either flat out wrong or he blames the music industry for the actions of the consumer. If the consumer wants low quality MP3, why is that the labels fault? What is the industry supposed to do, sue the encoder companies to only offer MP3 rippers which operate at high bit rates? Seriously! Same goes for the lack of interesting music - if consumers want to buy shit, the industry in kinda forced to sell shit. Heck, some amazing labels with extremely high character tastes in talent went out of business while the shit-makers sold millions of (s)hits. How is that the industry's fault?

There is plenty of talent, great music, and amazing stuff still being produced today. In fact, there is more great music available to consumers who want great music than at any time in the history of the music industry as we know it, so in general I get the impression he is lamenting something which doesn't exist and hasn't happened.

Think of it this way: When I was first buying LPs from a local music store in 1980 every Wednesday the new releases arrived and I was always there to see what just came out. At no point where there more than two or three dozen new releases for the several years I was sitting in the shop waiting for the delivery to arrive. Today, on any given day, there are hundreds of new releases put out. The scale of new music being produced is staggering!!!

Also, consider this... at one time a label, the artist, and all involved in creating a new album could all pretty much count in a first year profit from sales of that album, assuming it wasn't a flop. Today it is pretty rare for anyone to make money on a recording. The prevalence of people willing to steal or acquire music without it being paid for has changed the economics of making music. If you want to make money as an artist you need to be a writer and get your songs on the radio (including internet radio), TV shows, movies, and commercials as well as play live. If you want to make money on performing, you pretty much have no other choice but to play live all the time OR work for an artist who makes money selling recordings.

So, the world changed and the industry changed. Some of that change was from the labels being stupid, but I believe most of it came from the consumer being greedy, the ease of self-publishing massively increasing the choices, and the desire to cater to the masses made shit all too common and we consumed all the shit we could get.

Frank Zappa once wrote an analogy of consumers buying and eating bad cheese which is similar to my views on our desire to eat tons of shit.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I thought that was a terrible article. I don't agree with any of his/her points.
 
I felt like I knew where he was coming from after reading his first reason. In it, I don't think he conveyed his point the way he should have though. He's not wrong in citing that it's become more about a "formula" than actually finding the "next new and amazing thing". However, I can't say that I'd fault the labels for doing that. They're out to make money. They do what they gotta do. Regardless, I read on. And after reading his 5th reason, he lost all credibility with me.

His "signature" states he's a singer/songwriter and entrepreneur. I think he's just an idiot!
 
Zing said:
His "signature" states he's a singer/songwriter and entrepreneur.
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We may get more objective list from a market researcher. Just a thought... :think:
 
Zing said:
I felt like I knew where he was coming from after reading his first reason. In it, I don't think he conveyed his point the way he should have though. He's not wrong in citing that it's become more about a "formula" than actually finding the "next new and amazing thing". However, I can't say that I'd fault the labels for doing that. They're out to make money. They do what they gotta do. Regardless, I read on. And after reading his 5th reason, he lost all credibility with me.

His "signature" states he's a singer/songwriter and entrepreneur. I think he's just an idiot!
Click to expand...

Formulaic musical choices go all the way back to the 1940s - even to the very beginning of recorded and sold music. The entire industry was based on formulas. Hell, look at the weekly top ten lists from the 1960s to today. You'd be hard pressed to remember any of those songs or artists because, well, they were formulaic and forgotten. Some of the most popular classic artists, songs, and albums never hit the top 50 at any given time, but they remained on the top 100 for years and thus became classics.

He is a moron.
 
Speaking of formula, I've been noticing this for years. Check out first 3 seconds of these 3 songs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMG7b3LYaAM[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGxDsaTHjrQ[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOqk_q4NLLI[/youtube]
 
So any song which starts with the drummer playing the beat from the song is formulaic? What about all the songs that start with a guitar?
 
I was referring to the similarity of the drumming. If the guitar playing is similar, then that could be a formula, no? :confusion-shrug:

For example, Led Zeppelin's Over The Hills And Far Away and Stairway to Heaven both start with guitar but they have different tempo so I wouldn't say those two belong in the same formula.
 
I don't think that counts as a formula. Playing any two or three Nickleback songs at the same time shows you a formula.

Music composition and arrangement similarities do not define a formula. Take the Fugue: Thousands of Fugues were written by great composers over that past 400 years and while they are similar in the way they function (thus are called "fugues"), the enjoyment of each fugue will be different.

To me a formula in pop music is like the dozens of Lady Gaga hits which all follow similar musical arrangements, lyrical content, vocal styles, rhythms & tempos, instruments used, and even pauses and starts of the music. That is formula. You could play every Lady Gaga hit along with nearly every later Madonna and Christina Aguilera hit from the same period and realize they follow the same formula for a popular song of the period. You could say the same thing about the post-Beatles British invasion pop songs in the mid-60s. They all sound practically the same. Same song progressions, lyrical content, melodies, style, playing time, verse-chorus-bridge structure, and so on. That's why we have forgotten most of them.
 
Flint said:
To me a formula in pop music is like the dozens of Lady Gaga hits which all follow similar musical arrangements, lyrical content, vocal styles, rhythms & tempos, instruments used, and even pauses and starts of the music. That is formula.
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Isn't that what's noticeable in those 3 videos?
 
Fixate much?

For the record, I don't think that's the type of formula the blogger was referring to and it certainly wasn't the type I was referring to.

I was talking about the formula of musical acts. As an example, Label A introduces us to Britney Spears. Pretty soon Label B gives us Christina and Label C gives us Jessica. Another example: someone gathers a bunch of young, cute boys that can sing and dance, and the Backstreet Boys are born. Not long after it's learned they're successful, here comes n'sync. The list is endless. First Brandy, then Monica; etc., etc., etc.

The point being, musical acts seem to come in mirror-copy waves rather than being individual and distinctly different. If Label A came out with Act 1, Label B should come out with B2, not A1.1. Capice?
 
Zing said:
Fixate much?

For the record, I don't think that's the type of formula the blogger was referring to and it certainly wasn't the type I was referring to.

I was talking about the formula of musical acts. As an example, Label A introduces us to Britney Spears. Pretty soon Label B gives us Christina and Label C gives us Jessica. Another example: someone gathers a bunch of young, cute boys that can sing and dance, and the Backstreet Boys are born. Not long after it's learned they're successful, here comes n'sync. The list is endless. First Brandy, then Monica; etc., etc., etc.

The point being, musical acts seem to come in mirror-copy waves rather than being individual and distinctly different. If Label A came out with Act 1, Label B should come out with B2, not A1.1. Capice?
Click to expand...

We see that in most forms of entertainment. You can't hardly swing a dead cat without hitting some kind of superhero movie right now... because that's what is making money. Every time somebody hits some kind of success with a given format it will spawn copycats.

I'm not sure that's "killing" music right now... it's always been. Alongside the flavor of the month pop acts has been all kinds of other acts too for those who seek something else.
 
Zing said:
The point being, musical acts seem to come in mirror-copy waves rather than being individual and distinctly different. If Label A came out with Act 1, Label B should come out with B2, not A1.1. Capice?
Click to expand...
Oh, that formula. Well, as I've noted before, internet forum communication isn't the most efficient one. Yeah, that's not exclusive to music industry and it's no news.
 
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