For years now, The Recording Industry Association of America has been trying to track down music lovers everywhere, who insist on obtaining free downloads. Making examples out of people with lawsuits involving hefty fines and shutting down file-sharing sites like Napster. Piracy through the use of the internet, has taken so much blame on declining sales in the music industry. But in reality who is all of this affecting? Is the big problem illegal downloads? Seems like the real suffers are actually the record labels who have not been doing much to change their outdated business models. Many artists and bands have chosen not to re-new contracts with record labels and others have opted out to do things on their own. One example is Radiohead, their last two albums were released independently after their contact with EMI finished in 2004. In 2008, they released the album "In Rainbows" as a downloadable version directly to fans allowing them to name their price for the album. Their latest album released this year "The King of Limbs" was also independent of any label. Another big name that decided to go solo is Madonna. After 25 years being with Warner Bros., she signed a touring and recording deal with LiveNation (concert promotor) estimated at $120 Mil. I believe big music names are paving the way for future business models in the music industry. By using the many facets such as the internet in this digital world, they're connecting directly with fans and cutting out the middle man record label that serves them no purpose. What could this mean for new upcoming artists? Well using the internet to increase their popularity among social media sites and music sites can possibly open their doors to new means of making it big without a label. What is means for record labels? Coming up with new strategies for acquiring new talent and holding on to recognized big names. Moral of the story: must maintain relevancy in the evolving digital world if you want to stay in the game.
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http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/60050.html?wlc=1315680724
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/60159.html
I agree with you, Claudia. Your blog also made thought about another issue that record labels have and this is the new spreading mentality of "musicians don't need a record label." That is a problem the record labels have because it's not only about sales but about the people's perspective about record labels and once a community has a mentality it costs a lot of time and money to change it.
ReplyDeleteClaudia, I think your post has a lot of valid points. I agree with your comment about how upcoming artists can use, "the internet to increase their popularity among social media sites and music sites can possibly open their doors to new means of making it big without a label". We have already seen many up and coming artists who have been discovered by their popularity in the internet world. One example is Justin Beiber, who was discovered through YouTube.
ReplyDeleteThere are some reasons, though, that artists might want to stick with their record labels, including the fact that record labels are geared to promote and market artists in a way that might be difficult for them to do independently. I guess time will tell what will be the future for record labels, but I don't see the switch to independent release for the majority of artists to happen too quickly.
Hey Claudia,
ReplyDeleteI think you were really onto something when you pointed out that Radiohead let fans name their price to download their album. In light of all the incidences of illegal downloading all across the globe I think it was a fantastic idea for Radiohead to give their fans such easy access to their music, and more importantly to let them decide how much they wanted to pay for it. I agree that traditional record labels have an outdated business model, and while i'm sure they have had increased success with recruiting thanks to the internet (as Tessie said), I think there needs to be a new strategy in place to cater to the obvious shift in the music environment. The statistics don't lie and the biggest mistake for these companies would be not to adapt.
P.S. I actually know people who loved "In Rainbows" so much they bought it on CD/Vinyl after downloading it.
Great post!
Alyssa Montero
Thank you all for the feedback, glad you enjoyed my post :)
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