I read that article a few years ago, and yes record companies usually tend to give artists a raw deal. For them it's just business.
However once I also read an old sonic youth interview where they stated that they decided to move to a major label because indie labels had difficulty offering them adequate promotion and getting money from them was always problematic. Plus for the first time in their lives they now had health insurance.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Steve Albini, and I admire the people that he worked with (The Jesus lizard, Zeni Geva, Slint) but commercially wise we are talking small numbers.
Back in the old days if you wished for success and big financial rewards probably major labels were almost your only option.
However that wasn’t my point, my point is that if you have big ideas in music nowadays, it will be difficult to turn them into reality because simply there is no money out there for big risky projects.

I do remember that. They joined the majors at the right time and place, when there was room. but were also lucky to create good music that attracted listeners as well - a couple of major flop albums and it could have been goodbye.

In a way, I feel that what the majors did with expensive videos, pipe dreams, sub-labels/faux-Indies that failed, very little support for the alternative after a fashion, signing who they felt to be mega stars, and other high expenses was what made the majors fall.

On the other side of things, there was a lot of crap going on at the Indies, I will agree. I remember a number of important labels going under in the 80's and 90's, and heard a lot of those "Where's my money?!!!" tales. Big Black also had some major crap from their Distribution with Homestead if I'm correct. (Our Band Could Be Your Life, p. 335) A read through a great book, Alex Ogg's recommended Independence Days, also has quite a few horror stories.

I just hope that the Indie side of things has learned from it's mistakes. If there's any time that they're needed it's now. Maybe what I'm trying to say is that it's not really a time for Big Ideas, but a time to seriously re-evaluate what's going on at this moment. Let's hope I'm proven wrong in that there will be a time when taking risks will be great in the near future. I'd like to see a return when that can happen, but maybe if the Indie world shapes up, there will be a true adventurousness with that way of thinking with people who seriously like music running the show. I still don't see a day that anything will be changed with the majors.

There will be some successes, mainly from bands and musicians who already have an audience, but for new musicians, it's possibly a time to actually think about a making an impact without playing the big games. A few bands played very smart when they joined the majors (Re: Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, REM, a few others), and I'm sure a lot of it was with a lot of experience, know-how, and the ability to create good music that actually crossed into the mainstream, but not many do. Still, with the mentality of those at the top wanting the bottom line, I still say that those days are over.

True indeed.

The times they are a-changin'

There is this nifty thing called the internet where artists are now in control of their promotion and if they have a big project that needs funding they can turn to donation sites for that. Yes, it takes work to get it out there but it's being done. This is the best time to be an artist with the amount of control you can have. Sure on the corporate side, they arE being a bit tight but if a quality album is released people will still flock in droves to buy it. Look at the first week sales for JT's new album.

I'm not too sure that Justin Timberlake makes quality albums.

That's just like your opinion man.

The point I was making by using him as an example that people are still willing to go out and purchase physical copies so the money IS out there.

i agree with djchameleon. as far as i can tell, there are now actually fewer walls between a band and getting the recognition they want/deserve.

a major factor in this is that the equipment being used to record albums back in the day was cumbersome to the highest order, and thus very expensive to hire out. now anyone with a decent laptop, some ripped software and some rented high quality microphones can make a professional-sounding album, given they find someone to master it for cheap or for free. great albums aren't the result of time spent in the studio necessarily (if at all). they are the result of great minds and good musicians. obviously this is just my opinion. i just don't hear money when i hear a good album. i hear music. and it's just way easier to record music now than it's ever been.

Thanks hun, it looks way better. :)

In terms of financial decline, I think the record companies are beginning to to use internet outlets like Youtube as a way to make up money that doesn't get made from record sales. Just a theory however.

Screen 13 can I just say I am incredibly impressed by your detailed and informed replies. Just what we need here, some people could learn from you. You certainly know your stuff.

Vanilla, great new avatar, but you do realise everyone is now going to be trying to photoshop their head onto the guy's shoulders and yours onto the girl's --- how do you reduce the image size to --- er, I mean, nothing, nothing... :laughing:

:laughing:

It was the picture that stood out to me the most and it represents the chemistry between the characters who I adore! I'm not sure about everyone wanting my face on there but it certainly sounds like a nice fantasy! :D