The music industry

[floydfanatic111]

QUOTE (PW_Guitarist @ Feb 12 2007, 11:08 AM)

Agreed 100%. I think the problem with the music industry is just that - it's become an INDUSTRY, greedy and exploitive. Like any other revenue-generating business, it is ruled by profits and the almighty dollar: maximum return for minimum investment. Don't get me wrong, like any North American Capitalist, I don't have anything against making a buck, but it is possible to take it too far, at the expense of original musical expression and creative diversity. I see this at all levels - record sales, radio airplay, concerts. I couldn't find a single copy of the new Spock's Beard at any area HMV, but at each store they had life-size cardboard cutout displays filled with hundreds of copies of the latest CD by the flavor of the day, be it Shakira, Beyonce or Aguilera. As far as radio goes, they only seem to play the same handful of songs from the same handful of artists. Up and coming bands can't get a foot in the door unless they fit in the mold determined by record companies, and image marketing becomes the most important element. There is hope with independent labels and retailers, but they are becoming a rare breed. I think the biggest failure and scariest trend in the current state of the music industry is the "reality" shows. Let's create a huge media hype, manufacture the stars, create the image that will sell the most, then throw them out when the next season rolls in. Don't bother developing an artist over time, it's cheaper to create and market a new Idol. Even us jaded old cynics can't find solace in the old "back in the day, things were different!" attitude because even the trailblazing artists of yesterday have fallen into these mega-profit-generating reunion tours long on nostalgia but short on new material. How much do you think the Police tickets are going to go for? As high as the market will bear. However, I won't be paying $150 to be reminded of how great it used to be. Listen to the lyrics to Tom Petty's "Last DJ": "As we celebrate mediocrity all the boys upstairs want to see, How much you’ll pay for what you used to get for free". Truer words never spoken about the current muysic industry. One of our local DJ's went nuts on the air a few months ago and started playing that song over and over again, and got suspended for it. Probably a publicity stunt, but it was a great moment on Radio!

Back in 1994, three classic rock bands toured which were Pink Floyd, The Eagles and The Rolling Stones.

 

Pink Floyd were the only ones who played more than four new songs on their tour that year. While touring in support of their chart-topping The Division Bell album (which sold 4 million copies in the US). Floyd played What Do You Want From Me, Take it Back, Keep Talking and High Hopes at all non-DSotM shows. Lost For Words was played twice in the US and replaced by On the Turning Away from AMLoR. Then Poles Apart, Coming Back to Life and A Great Day For Freedom all traded places with one another on all shows where DSotM was not played start to finish. Marooned was only played in Norway. Cluster One was not played and Wearing the Inside Out was not played by PF.

 

The Eagles played all four new Hell Freezes Over tracks on their 1994 tour.

 

The Rolling Stones only played FIVE out of the SIXTEEN or so tracks that were on Voodoo Lounge (Love is Strong, Sparks Will Fly, You Got Me Rockin' and Out of Tears). The Worst was played occasionally.

 

Also, Pink Floyd had the cheapest tickets of the three bands (PF's ranged from $35 to $75) whereas The Eagles and The Rolling Stones were both charging over $50 to $100 plus (some Stones tickets went for $200 to $300 a pop). The Eagles at least donated all the proceeds from the expensive seat ticket sales to charities like Walden Woods and so on whilst The Stones were Hell bent on having most lucrative tour despite the fact not all Stones shows sold out in 1994 and Pink Floyd sold out every show in 1994. Rick Wright of Pink Floyd said and I quote "who wants to pay $100 plus for nostalgia whereas we are on the road in support of a new album and tickets are reasonable".

[Snowman]

There's always the opportunity to sell the CD's via your band's website and take all the money yourself. With Paypal easily available for everybody there should not be an issue. You can even start your own label and ship to the webshops.

 

PR can be solved through free cd's to webzines that make reviews and to radiostations that play rockmusic. A lot of people read reviews and if you have a good product and score high on the reviews people will get interested and read it and if they get more interested they check out the music and then either dowload or buy.

 

Let's face it, the only chance of getting big in the music industry nowadays is by playing music like Justin Timberlake, Shakira, Green Day and the like.

 

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Finbar @ Feb 12 2007, 02:00 PM)

QUOTE (lerxt1990 @ Feb 12 2007, 04:12 PM) QUOTE (rushgoober @ Feb 12 2007, 04:04 PM) The sad thing is, as a young and mid-teen in the early/mid-80's, I could pretty much afford to go to as many shows as I reasonably wanted to.  At $12-$15 a pop, if my parents couldn't pay for it, it wasn't a tremendous amount of money to earn.  The same could hardly be said today.  Even as an adult now, I'd have to REALLY want to see a band to pay the prices that get charged today.  No more casually seeing a band that wasn't really your favorite, but you liked ok.  It's much more of a financial commitment now...   Parking at VT was more than my ticket for Signals. Times, they are a-changin'. Jeez, when you put it that way...... Jeez. :S Another thing I've noticed:   Back when I was seeing bands, I generally saw them at the two major venues in Connecticut in New Haven and Hartford.   The prices for shows were ONE PRICE. If you slept out for tickets and were near the front of the line, you'd get the best seats at the same price people paid for the nosebleed seats way at the top of the auditoriums. This always seemed really fair to me. It was never about who could afford better tickets, but about who was the most dedicated.   Of course there were still ticket agencies that sold great tickets at a premium for those with funds who didn't want to wait in line for hours or whatever. I used their services once for a primo ticket to the HYF tour. I think I paid $30 or $35. That wouldn't even get you a nosebleed seat these days.   Now if you want good, quality seats (and of course, who wouldn't), you have to shell out a huge amount of money for them as they sell them in levels with the best seats going for a small fortune. Maybe it was always this way, just not at the venues I used to attend?

[Slime]

Concert prices plus the sheer quality of acts is one reasin I'm jealous of the older generation

[lerxt1990]

QUOTE (Finbar @ Feb 12 2007, 05:00 PM)

QUOTE (lerxt1990 @ Feb 12 2007, 04:12 PM) QUOTE (rushgoober @ Feb 12 2007, 04:04 PM) The sad thing is, as a young and mid-teen in the early/mid-80's, I could pretty much afford to go to as many shows as I reasonably wanted to.  At $12-$15 a pop, if my parents couldn't pay for it, it wasn't a tremendous amount of money to earn.  The same could hardly be said today.  Even as an adult now, I'd have to REALLY want to see a band to pay the prices that get charged today.  No more casually seeing a band that wasn't really your favorite, but you liked ok.  It's much more of a financial commitment now...   Parking at VT was more than my ticket for Signals. Times, they are a-changin'. Jeez, when you put it that way...... Jeez. :S Sad it is....   This is why (coupled with not wanting to sit in bad seats) I can only go to one or two (rock) shows a year....

[Atomic.Feedback!]

QUOTE (Snowman @ Feb 13 2007, 02:18 AM)

There's always the opportunity to sell the CD's via your band's website and take all the money yourself. With Paypal easily available for everybody there should not be an issue. You can even start your own label and ship to the webshops. PR can be solved through free cd's to webzines that make reviews and to radiostations that play rockmusic. A lot of people read reviews and if you have a good product and score high on the reviews people will get interested and read it and if they get more interested they check out the music and then either dowload or buy. Let's face it, the only chance of getting big in the music industry nowadays is by playing music like Justin Timberlake, Shakira, Green Day and the like.

 

I'm a huge fan of local music of any kind, not just what I like. It's just not worth it to pay buku cash to see some concert, when I could pay like $5 and try out new stuff. A lot of them aren't half bad, they'll just never be heard. It's depressing if you think too long about it... how much time some of them put into writing songs and playing shows, and they have a big fat empty wallet to show for it.

 

As for prices and quantity? I've seen 7 shows already this year, and not spent more than $40. I wouldn't trade twice that to see some huge concert with terrible seats for anything.

 

The industry is dead to me.

[Snowman]

They put time and money in it because they love what they do. Working with music is probably their greatest joy in life!

 

 

[launchpad67a]

Anyone want to join my record label?

Send your promo kits to:

 

Dig Me Digging Me Records

666 Get Some Tone Ave.

No One Cares, Az

90125

 

 

Seriously though.