Ok, so I’m at Launch Music Conference in Pennsylvania right now. Its a great conference put on and so far the panels have been great. Its a lot smaller than something like SXSW so you actually have packed showcases and get a lot of attention. The panels are more intimate and involved AND engaging.
However, i’m not just trying to blow smoke up Launch’s ass here, and so I have to admit the last panel I saw REALLY pissed me off. I’m am so sick and tired of hearing this “Screw labels. Labels will be dead in 5 years” attitude.
NO THEY WON’T. And stop telling the kids that. There is something to be said for a crashing industry, and the fact that physical CD sales have been on a downward spiral and will continue so. Basically there is just a lot less overall to go around. And yes, the major labels are getting hit hard. Are they going anywhere? Absolutely not.
Major labels still have catalogued albums. The old school stuff that we love so much. People will continue to buy because of nostalgia. Because the music meant something. Its the major’s saving grace right now.
But though they are taking a much smaller piece of the pie overall, they have their sites aimed on more AS WE SPEAK.
I know for a fact they have digital divisions set up just for emerging technology. Just strictly to find ways to monetize in the new market. And they will. While these panelists sit here and tell kids to “screw labels” “you don’t need one…do it yourself” EXCUSE ME? Is that kid you just said that to going to walk up to the major cell phone carriers in the United States and say “Hey when you guys start providing subscription based music platforms for mobile, can you put my band on there? We’ve sold 120 copies of our album in our home town.”
They’re going to go GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, that is if the kid even ever made it past security to get into an office and actually speak to someone about it. Which they wouldn’t. Its just stupid. telling these kids to do it themselves. These are not business men and women. They are musicians. They don’t have years of experience, contacts, business knowledge, business politics on their side. Are you kidding me? Get real DIY dudes.
DIY up to a point is great. You can kick start your career instantly if you go about it the right way, work your but off, yah you can achieve acceptable success in a world where it might not have been possible ten years ago. But why is that everyone’s focus??? to barely scrape by? Isn’t rock n roll based on the idea that you have something worth saying, and something equally worth hearing? Why not set your goals hire. Say , “Hey there is a company that has way more experience, knowledge, and most of all, resources (contacts and money), than I do. I think I should aim to work with a company like that. ” Yes you give up a little bit to work with a company, but what happened to two heads are better than one? As Will Ferrell said on SNL in a famous Robert Goulet impersonation “You wouldn’t hire a clown to fix a leak in the john”
It just doesn’t make sense that these people are telling these kids to forget about the people who know this industry inside and out. Aim high. Aim your sites on people who can do what you cannot. And don’t be ashamed to admit you can’t do it yourself. You are supposed to. You’re a musician. You’re not a college business grad, with a minor in advertising. or whatever. Its just B.S. straight up. Do what you can with what you can, and when the right people come along to build your team, BUILD IT. And dont stop building. Aim high.
Work together. This is not a war. we are not at war with labels. Just find the right ones. Find the right people. Its not us against them. This is the INDUSTRY. Its not the music MAN. Its an industry and if you use all facets you will fair much better than doing EVERYTHING ON YOUR OWN. Its common sense.
If someone makes money off you, but together you are each making more money than you would without each other, what exactly is wrong with that?
And all this B.S. about “oh look what Radiohead did, look at Trent Reznor” YES THEY ARE BOTH DOING AWESOME THINGS WITHOUT A LABEL> AND ITS GREAT> AND TRENT IS ONE OF THE MOST INVENTIVE AND CREATIVE AND FORWARD THINKING PEOPLE OUT THERE AND I ADMIRE HIM FOR THAT……BUT DON’T FORGET FOR ONE SECOND THAT BOTH THOSE ACTS STARTED ON MAJORS, BUILT THEIR FAN BASES ON MAJORS, AND THEN HAD THE OPTION TO LEAVE.
You think you can just jump in the game tomorrow, and have the success that NIN or Radiohead has had in the next year just from DIY and giving your album out for free like them? HELL NO. Sure give you album out for free. Its great promotion. But don’t wonder why you can’t sustain yourself a year or two down the line, because after you did all that fan base building, you refused to sign with a company that could have taken your career to the next level and helped it blossom. AND VALIDATED all the work you did on your own to get there.
Aim high. Don’t be afraid to work with others, just work with the RIGHT people. Educate yourself, but don’t do it alllll yourself. I’m so sick of this B.S. of “screw the labels.” No screw you buddy.
Don’t listen kids. Work hard. Work together. Accomplish amazing things and feats.
Aim High.
