It's Time!
Independent Music on the Rise
By Lara Karuna
Everyone’s been talking about it: The music
industry is down 7% and falling. World record sales
are at a new low, Sony and BMG, the #2 and the #5
companies have merged; record companies are
firing employees left and right, 12 inch singles are
the only contracts being handed out, etc… etc…
The Record Industry is blaming the Internet and a
rise in piracy due to CD burning. Some are saying
the overhead is too high because of the legal
bribery necessary to get singles on play lists at
radio stations. The Industry is crying, but frankly,
for all you Indies out there; we should be rejoicing.
The fall of majors means the rise of minors and
perhaps an end to the strong hold of corporate
music.
So, why is the music industry floundering? There is
no doubt that the above named factors have had an
impact on sales, but I think we’re ignoring the
obvious, people aren’t buying CD’s because, well,
music sucks. It’s the inevitable result of mixing
commerce with art. You get a bunch of executives,
clutching their business analysis sheets trying to
find hard numbers for something that cannot be
quantified. I still recall a friend saying to me, in
response to my comment about her plethora of
pirated CD’s, "I’ll buy a CD when there’s something
worth buying."
How many times can you hear about Hummers and
Dom? How many lithe voices, pro-tooled to
perfection, singing about heartbreak will we accept?
How many live performances that don’t sound like
the record will we watch? In essence, there is a limit
to what the public will swallow, and I think we’ve
had our fill.
Why there’s so much bad music?
The record industry is one of the most competitive
industries. In it, are some of the most amazing
talents. So with all this competition, why is the
music still so bad? There are many contributing
factors that go into making bad music and
Independents are not immune to them. The only
difference is that while majors need to sell millions,
Indies only need to sell a few thousand. Because of
this, Indies can fill niche markets, develop artists,
and take risks that majors are not willing and
perhaps cannot make.
The so-called "music market"
If you ask any record executive about who buys
records, he will quickly say teenagers do. So, they
gear everything towards the tumultuous hormones
of kids. This means the singers have to be young
(often with nothing very important to say), the
music, easy to sing, the hook, easy to remember
and the video A.D.D (Attention Deficit Disorder)
proof. Artists with a teenage fan base, like Britney
Spears, must constantly reinvent and reintroduce
themselves in order to continue selling records. If
they’re gone for any longer than 6-months, we will
forget about them. As one middle school kid told
me in ’99 when I asked about her favorite artists,
"Britney Spears is soooo ’98, we like Nelly and
Eminem."
On the other hand, Independents are not beholden
to the same fickle market. Successful independents
are structured around quality rather than quantity.
Unlike Majors, that continue to up the ante on their
definition of a hit record, Independents can ignore
the whims of teenage girls. Appealing to the lowest
common denominator does not dictate their music.
Lack of development
Aretha Franklin was signed to Columbia from
1960-1966. For six years the A&R worked closely
with her trying to find a suitable sound. Let me
reiterate, six years with no hits! That sort of
development is unheard of now. If you don’t come
ready made, well, you better have a damn catchy
song like Ashanti, or have been a Mousketeer. An
artist like Aretha Franklin, if signed today, would
have faded into oblivion, her amazing talent left
undiscovered. In contrast, Independent labels
develop artists. Generally, the artist grows along
with their fan base, a fan base that’s usually very
loyal. This loyalty gives the artist freedom for
experimentation and more time in between projects
to grow in new directions.
Won’t take risks
Executives at majors tend to be safe. Like any
corporate enterprise they need numbers to justify
actions. Of course what makes good music is
innovation. They are not totally at fault, though.
There is no job security at record companies;
someone’s head is always rolling. This sort of
atmosphere makes taking on innovative projects
understandably difficult. It also makes music bland
and generic. For every multi-platinum artist there
are a string of copycats that appear within the year.
After the Backstreet Boys we had N’Sync, 98
degrees, LFO, etc.. Major record companies across
the board turned down super producer Timbaland
unsure of what genre he fell under, scared to invest
in his new strange sound. Finally, Blackground, a
small label, took the risk and look what happened-
Timbaland’s unique sound has become an R&B
standard, and of course, everyone now uses
Timbaland-esk drum patterns.
The majors are tied up with profits and ways to
manufacture hits. This preoccupation has left a void
in the music industry. That void is quality music. If
your music is good, people will buy it, word of
mouth will get your sound out. Everyone likes to be
the first to know about a great new artist -
especially music lovers. If you have a little business
sense and a great work ethic, you can fill this void.
Let’s stop mourning over the losses in the industry
and start providing that long ignored cry for quality
music.
