It's not uncommon a belief that musicians today are largely sellouts, that they don't support their fanbase and work towards the lowest common denominator. They only put effort into a few "safe songs" for radio singles, and then don't care about the rest of the album filler. For the safe songs that are not creative, and the lazy padding, we are expected to spend $17 (at a minimum) for an album.
The reason the industry wants cookie cutter music is because it's actually selling.I agree that many bands churn out "corporate rock," that they just regurgitate what's already been done because the industry is pushing for it. However, the reason the industry wants cookie cutter music is because it's actually selling. If it wasn't profitable, it wouldn't have become cookie cutter in the first place. Now, it may only be selling because of the marketing beast behind it, but it sells nonetheless. Guys in suits figured out a formula for music, and they sign artists willing to follow it.
I could make the argument that, because people are buying it, then artists are in fact supporting them. Now whether those people are fans or not is the question. Perhaps all of these artists had a small (but genuine) fanbase when they were signed, and got an entirely new fanbase with the major record. That may have come about with changing their basic philosophy of music, or it may not have. If they changed for the label, they are not only turning their backs on their (genuine) fans, but also not supporting themselves as artists.
Before I got into music myself, I believed the worst possible fate for a musician would be to become a session player for advertisements. Commercials used to be jingles (a genre unto itself for which I do hold respect), but now jingles are full-fledged songs. I heard a beer commercial on the radio, the campaign being a new lining for the aluminum can that took away the "canny" taste. The song was a pretty good rock song, and I could tell that talented people wrote it, but with a lyric something like "I don't want beer from a frying pan," I had to cringe. How could anybody possiby write that? How could somebody seriously sing that?
The sad truth remains that high concept rarely translates into high income.I say I had that belief before I got into music. This doesn't mean that now I've completely reversed my stance. But I can understand it. It doesn't matter how creative you are, how well you stick to your artistic principles. The sad truth remains that high concept rarely translates into high income. In order for a musical artist to pay the bills, a day job becomes a necessity. And if that day job can also involve doing music, why the heck not? I've written some cheesy video game music, and gotten a sweet gig for a friend. It's quick money and keeps our minds focused on goals and not on the rent.
But that's Madison Avenue territory. Fans can come to understand that, even if they don't like their favourite bands doing commercials. But to write specifically for the radio, here is where the dividing line comes in. It's the moment we need to come to terms with the music business being more business than music. That's why it seems the interesting acts are being dropped from major labels, and we're left with a mass of bands that look, sound, and are even named alike. It took me years to realize that L7 Mary 311 was actually three different bands.
We're left with a mass of bands that look, sound, and are even named alike. It took me years to realize that L7 Mary 311 was actually three different bands.But short of a complete crash of our economic system, this is not going to change anytime soon. The flavour of the month will change, certainly, but we're not likely to see a flurry of radio play simply because something is new. I can't even blame it on "old rich guys" running things who want to get richer in order to forget they're getting older. I saw the kids headed on a business path when I was in college. Not since Hollywood in the mid-1980s had I seen such cutthroat actions and disregard for anything but the bottom dollar.
We keep hearing that prices are going up because labels are losing money to illegal mp3 downloads. They've apparently never heard of economics, because once they lower their prices to reasonable levels, people will buy again. If your sales are dropping a little, yeah sure you raise the price a bit to make up for it, I'm not denying that logical step. But when it gets as dire as the industry makes it out to be (which I kind of doubt it is, but for the sake of discussion let's say they are telling the truth), nobody, and I mean nobody, says "sales are down 25%, so I suggest we raise the price 33% and that will solve everything!" Well, I guess there's always one idiot who says that, but he gets fired and has to take a job at a record label because he's too stupid to work anywhere else.
The one great beautiful thing about the Internet is that artists can circumvent the media machine and go straight to the public.The one great beautiful thing about the Internet is that artists can circumvent the media machine and go straight to the public. However, it's still in its infancy, and what we find is a highly disorganized shopping mall. It's not too hard to find something specific you like, but what if you want to get into somebody new who is similar to your favourite band? It's near impossible unless those artists start networking.
The Internet needs labels. A true web-only label started up in the last year, and I think that's a great move. And of course there was Superpickle Music Arts, which used to be an umbrella site for like-minded artists all over the country. Visitors were near guaranteed that if they liked one band, they'd like them all. But it too succumbed to business pressures, and was forced to scale down from a music label to a personal site for one person and his various music projects. Sounds a lot like Planga-La, come to think of it, and now we're sharing server space.
But until the web matures and becomes a true force in the marketing and distribution of music (right now it remains a novel promotional tool), the major labels will still be running the show. They've got the advertising, the radio, the MTV, the cinema, and the Burger King tie-ins. All we have is a webpage complaining about it.