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Changes in the Music Industry
With record sales on the decline, there will
be major changes that need to happen in the
music industry. Here are a few of my ideas;
I think that a lot of independent studios
will hit the wall as the majority of
musicians, good and bad, will use more a
home studio. They will just use a recording
studio to put acoustic sounds that perhaps
they couldn't get at home. However, because
of this I can see the quality of
recording go down, not necessarily because
of the fault of adequate equipment, but
because the artist will not hear the
recording from a music producers' point of
view. See my article "Reasons for
Contracting a Music Producer" :
http://www.marketingyourmusic.net/mat107.htm
I think that with this, the quality in
general will decline and it will become more
difficult to find the good quality stuff
amongst the crud. I'm sure that you will
hear more bad recordings than clear ones as
time passes.
I don't believe that major recording
companies will not go under.
I think they will have to adjust their
business model to be more regional and have
local people on the ground.
Before, the concert was used to promote the
record, now the record will need to promote
the concert, so there will have to be a
shift in the focal point of the companies'
marketing from a mass globalized one to a
more fragmented one that will capture local
artists and use the weight of the recording
companies' assets to promote and control the
local music scene, wherever you are. In
other words, all the succesful local bands
in New York would be contracted by a major
recording company and all the successful
local bands in New Delhi would be contracted
by the same company.
It will be the investment of the company in
the artist that will get them the exposure
to make these artists "successful" and also
control the most important venues, so that
the majority of the return of investment
comes more from ticket sales, merchandizing
and even rentals of venues, than the sale of
actual records, even though
the records will still be sold in the
normal, albeit reduced number of, outlets.
I think that there will be a huge opening in
the management market as these changes take
place, initially as independent cells,
eventually forming larger groups in regions,
even countries.
I also think that as this moves forward,
there could be an opening for more diverse
types of band / artist as local people are
more diverse than a global market, in other
words the local markets will need to be
satisfied instead of a principal national
market for each country.
However, this shouldn't be seen as giving
the artists / bands a free reign to do
whatever they like, if they are wanting to
make music their career, they will have to
comply with what the management companies
need (will management companies receive the
same stigma as
record companies do now?).
But with all this said and done, musicians
who wish to become professional need to
understand the business side of their music
and not just the art side and understand how
to market their music, themselves and stand
out more in their local areas.
Best regards,
Steve Allen
Steve Allen is consultant and music producer.
Author of "Marketing Your Music – Success
Strategies", "Personal Management in the
Music Industry" and "Street Teams – Expand
your Fan Base"
http://www.marketingyourmusic.net
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