[NewMusic] Death of the record industry (cont'd.

[grobair at emusician.com]

Nothing in that article should surprise people on this list (or at least the
ones in the Bay Area who are paying attention). Those intern kids say
MySpace is dead, but here they are, interning for a major label! WTF --
they're the dumb-asses, because major labels are history. Start your own
label from nothing and build an empire of bitchin' bands. Don't model the
dinosaur majors. You don't have to have lived with them to avoid repeating
history...

Most of us probably agree that the best music is being made by folks who
don't have much or any label support. And thanks to that passe medium of
MySpace, you don't need the old-boys network of label/radio station/major
magazine to tell you what's good or not. Just poke around the various pages
until you find that kick-ass noise band in Cleveland and check out their
stuff for free. 

Wiping out the majority of the musician pool isn't the solution, either,
because you're likely to lose the better half! And you might even be one of
the unlucky few getting wiped, thus receiving your slice of karma.

(I agree that there are worse people in the industry than Rick Rubin. At
least he still likes music.)

DJ Matty D sez:
<<I think what Rick Rubin does in the industry is a pretty important and
mostly missing element. I wouldn't necessarily make the same choices
that he makes, but I do appreciate his position on a few things. (For
example, writing songs 'for the ages' rather than to finish an album.)

I think one of the main reasons that record labels are in danger now
is because nobody is currently making decisions based on the music.
I'm still surprised by how little popular music has changed since the
90's. That's touched upon in the article: "There was a time when if
you had something that wasn't so good, through muscle and lack of
other choices, you could push that not very good product through those
channels. ... Well, the world has changed. And the industry has not"

I kind of see Rick Rubin as a throwback to early record label heads
who were originally music geeks.>>