When I first started in the music industry, I couldn't tell anyone what I did for a living without having a conversation about their favorite bands and what music they are currently in love with. As annoying as that should have been, it was never unwelcome. The whole reason I got into this industry was an addiction to the high of music discovery, and sharing that high with others led me to some of the best shows I've ever seen and the best bands I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Over the years, this behavior has changed. I tell people what I do for a living and rather than excitedly telling me what revs their musical engine, they look at me as if I had just said I push paper in a cubicle farm. They literally could not be less interested. Is it me...or is it them? A quick survey of even casual acquaintances reveals all-
people don't love music like they used to.
Let's break down some numbers from 2008 to get a better understanding of where we are right now. The year saw a 20% drop in overall album sales with the top seller for the year, Lil Wayne, barely cracking 2 million copies sold, most of which came the first week of release. Seems like a lot, but ten years ago the top seller clocked in with 11 million sold. The fifth best-seller from that year, Shania Twain's
Come on Over, managed to sell more than 100,000 copies per week, every week, for the entire year...and it came out the year before. While digital downloads have substantially increased over the last few years, record labels are still losing massive amounts of money because of the way people are purchasing.
Music has become a disposable commodity. People buy many songs from many artists with little regard to quality making it incredibly difficult for any one artist to gain traction and become successful.
I'm the last person to try and convince you that record labels deserve pity. Their problems are numerous and almost entirely self-inflicted. But what hope is there for an unsigned band if the ones with record deals can't make money or build a strong fan base? The situation today goes far beyond avarice getting the better of label executives, or conservative old fogies being resistant to change.
The music industry as we know it is over. There are kids carrying around 120GB of music they know nothing about, made by other kids who don't actually know how to play their instruments. None of it is real. There is no physical product, there is no emotional connection, there isn't even an exchange of money. It's all a fantasy.
Fuuuuck.
Unless the world blows up, I can say with some certainty that
things will get better. I'd put money on it. We, the lovers, appreciators, creators and consumers have a rare opportunity here to rebuild the entire music industry, the way we want it to be. Are we going to make the most of that opportunity? Or will we allow it to pass us by and settle for whatever the old executives can dream up? We will continue to explore how we got to this point and where we are going, but first we need to accept that we all share in the blame and we all share in the power to make it better. I am incredibly optimistic.
Next week: Redefining Success 
| 
Declassified: Here We Are
Re: Declassified: Here We Are
