Music Banter - View Single Post - The financial decline of the music industry and two possible consequences

Screen13 · 03-31-2013, 05:21 PM

I'm not certainly crying. There's a lot of great music being made, but I understand where you're getting at. It's great to see the excellent music make it out in the public, but it's not going to be that way much now. I'm happy about that in a good way - at least the real listeners will get it.

I'm tired of seeing great musicians get wither forced to make a Corporate album or get treated like crap from the industry for not going along with the game. True, there were a few good big budget albums through the years, but most of them were pure product. I don't really want to see a return to the days seeing a good band forced to play the mega-bucks game and winding up owing a ton of money in the end with the label possibly blaming the musicians as they go on their next star search for their next Bieber Boy.

If the majors would have not spent so much on mega-priced and over-produced videos back when they were an ongoing thing, there possibly might have not been a major financial decline. That and all of the over-hype and promotion they did for their mega-stars and those they felt deserved that hype. They built their Rome, and it fell, and now they have to make sure that it stays afloat.

This is from a US perspective, but I'm sure that it actually effects a number of other markets.

A lot of the major business is possibly ran more by bean-counters than anyone really interested in music. They possibly threw out the concept of the "Company Freak" that let in the interesting sounds. No room for alternatives, just the hits and the Idols.

Up until The Late 90's, there used to be a feeling of something of a "three-album wait" going on until the label decides to drop them. Today, everything has to be a mega-hit or it's gone. The concept of the "Regional Hit" was long gone when MTV was at it's height. Soundscan possibly has it's crap that would possibly never be corrected as long as it's in the major company's favor - The higher ups love to look at the numbers, after all.

My opinion of today's music industry it this: throw out all of the originals, rip off and neuter whatever is hip and new (This goes for the tech as well), and see to it that everything is all a tight fit with what the higher ups want, and leave out anything seriously subversive and interesting. If it's a band, make sure that they will not cause a serious stink - maybe a little trendy eye opener now and then, but certainly nothing left of center.

It all goes down to the connections, who's in charge, and the hype available to make things work...if they are interested and know that they could get you to work for them.

Music is now more of an Independent thing. It's possibly not going to go into the mega-million world again with the occasional exception, but I'm sure that there will be a lot of great albums around. Sadly, many of them will possibly not be a part of the Pop Culture. I'm from The Late 70's-Mid 80's, and I saw the signs even then in the Post-Disco/Early MTV era. (I'm a Music Fan from way back when.)

A bit of trivia for you...

The saddest thing about the Beastie Boys album (apart from the troubles with all of the samples crammed into the album. The album's great and the samples were well-placed, of course, but you know what I mean) was that 1) The President of Capitol when they signed up got fired shortly after the album's release and 2) The new President of the label wanted to push Donny Osmond's return. Reading I Want My MTV, the updated edition (P. 424, Adam's own words) seriously fills in a lot of gaps of that time when it comes to the facts. The lucky thing was that it was respected enough that another chance was given, after Mr. Osmond went into the cut outs for a second time in his career. Another lucky thing was that it was at that time more second chances were given.

If the Early 90's had 2013 standards, I don't think that The Beasties would have been given a push with their second chance with Capitol unless if someone in the media likes them (you know how the companies hold back records they feel is not in their priority), although Donny O. would have had a couple of more chances - talented as he is, you know where his entertainment stands.

(Trivia Fact: The Donny Osmond video to "Soldier of Love" was Directed by Michael Bay. No opinions, just the fact.)

03-31-2013, 05:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
Screen13 Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 1,388	I'm not certainly crying. There's a lot of great music being made, but I understand where you're getting at. It's great to see the excellent music make it out in the public, but it's not going to be that way much now. I'm happy about that in a good way - at least the real listeners will get it. I'm tired of seeing great musicians get wither forced to make a Corporate album or get treated like crap from the industry for not going along with the game. True, there were a few good big budget albums through the years, but most of them were pure product. I don't really want to see a return to the days seeing a good band forced to play the mega-bucks game and winding up owing a ton of money in the end with the label possibly blaming the musicians as they go on their next star search for their next Bieber Boy. If the majors would have not spent so much on mega-priced and over-produced videos back when they were an ongoing thing, there possibly might have not been a major financial decline. That and all of the over-hype and promotion they did for their mega-stars and those they felt deserved that hype. They built their Rome, and it fell, and now they have to make sure that it stays afloat. This is from a US perspective, but I'm sure that it actually effects a number of other markets. A lot of the major business is possibly ran more by bean-counters than anyone really interested in music. They possibly threw out the concept of the "Company Freak" that let in the interesting sounds. No room for alternatives, just the hits and the Idols. Up until The Late 90's, there used to be a feeling of something of a "three-album wait" going on until the label decides to drop them. Today, everything has to be a mega-hit or it's gone. The concept of the "Regional Hit" was long gone when MTV was at it's height. Soundscan possibly has it's crap that would possibly never be corrected as long as it's in the major company's favor - The higher ups love to look at the numbers, after all. My opinion of today's music industry it this: throw out all of the originals, rip off and neuter whatever is hip and new (This goes for the tech as well), and see to it that everything is all a tight fit with what the higher ups want, and leave out anything seriously subversive and interesting. If it's a band, make sure that they will not cause a serious stink - maybe a little trendy eye opener now and then, but certainly nothing left of center. It all goes down to the connections, who's in charge, and the hype available to make things work...if they are interested and know that they could get you to work for them. Music is now more of an Independent thing. It's possibly not going to go into the mega-million world again with the occasional exception, but I'm sure that there will be a lot of great albums around. Sadly, many of them will possibly not be a part of the Pop Culture. I'm from The Late 70's-Mid 80's, and I saw the signs even then in the Post-Disco/Early MTV era. (I'm a Music Fan from way back when.) A bit of trivia for you... The saddest thing about the Beastie Boys album (apart from the troubles with all of the samples crammed into the album. The album's great and the samples were well-placed, of course, but you know what I mean) was that 1) The President of Capitol when they signed up got fired shortly after the album's release and 2) The new President of the label wanted to push Donny Osmond's return. Reading I Want My MTV, the updated edition (P. 424, Adam's own words) seriously fills in a lot of gaps of that time when it comes to the facts. The lucky thing was that it was respected enough that another chance was given, after Mr. Osmond went into the cut outs for a second time in his career. Another lucky thing was that it was at that time more second chances were given. If the Early 90's had 2013 standards, I don't think that The Beasties would have been given a push with their second chance with Capitol unless if someone in the media likes them (you know how the companies hold back records they feel is not in their priority), although Donny O. would have had a couple of more chances - talented as he is, you know where his entertainment stands. (Trivia Fact: The Donny Osmond video to "Soldier of Love" was Directed by Michael Bay. No opinions, just the fact.) Last edited by Screen13; 03-31-2013 at 05:40 PM.