The state of the music industry
How it was for a very long time
How it was in 1999
How it is now
Where it needs to go from here
Brilliant portrayal of the state of the music industry by The Oatmeal.
The future has arrived but many are still stuck in the past.
The major record labels are dead but do not realise they are dead. They try self-resuscitation by criminalising those who love music, who wish to listen to and share music.
The abysmal failure of NBC in covering the London 2012 Olympics, putting profit before viewers, is a classic example of the contempt old media has for its users.
There are still apologists for the record labels, an example of which was a recent article in The Guardian, its author spouting nonsense.
Who needs a record label? A twitter account is of more us than a record label. On offer is distribution. When did you last see a record shop?
Napster was a step in the right direction only it led off down a side alley. Yes, it bypassed the greedy record labels, but it failed to put money into the pockets of creative artists, though it did lead to greater exposure by making sharing easier.
I have yet to understand why anyone uses iTunes or spotify.
iTunes take a big cut, you cannot appreciate music from a few seconds lofi sample.
————— ditto Amazon —————
Spotify pays a pittance, it pays money to the major record labels, but worse of all it follows the facebook model, it steals personal data either through spotify or through facebook apps.
Bandcamp is the future. It makes it easy to listen, to share, to download music. The downloads are available in high quality flac, should you require better quality than lofi mp3. Should you wish to download and buy or order an album, bandcamp takes 15%. Bandcamp only does well if the creative artists do well. They have a mutually shared interest. For the music lover, they can listen, they can share, and if they wish to buy they can do so with the reassurance the money they pay is going straight into the pocket of musicians, not to a record label. [see mp3 v FLAC]
Last month bandcamp passed the amazing milestone of $20 million direct into the pockets of bandcamp musicians.
I am baffled why so few musicians are on bandcamp, still put their music on iTunes and spotify, when bandcamp offers a much better deal. Or why they try and reinvent the wheel and offer a cumbersome process on their own websites.
A couple of weeks ago I checked out a few of the artists due to appear at the Wimbledon Music Festival. None were on bandcamp. A few let you listen to a few seconds of lofi. Others no ability to listen. Why would I buy or go to a concert when I have no idea what their music is like? For those where you could by it was cumbersome and not worth the effort unless what you were buying was an absolute must.
It is shocking how many musicians are still stuck in an era that no longer exists and has failed them.
Tags: bandcamp, future of music, music, music business, music industry, The Oatmeal
Keithpp's Blog 
Leave a comment