May
2
The Reversal of Fortunes
May 2, 2007 |
The change that has engulfed the music business over the last 5 years has been fueled by a dramatic adjustment in the way people find, hear and ultimately purchase the music that they love. The vast amalgamation has been most profound in the production of music and the ability for the artist to get their wares out to the masses. Not to long ago a music labels job was to filter through the reams of mediocre talent and to find the hidden gems in order to present those gems to the masses. This seemingly benign role put the labels in a position of power that resulted in their services becoming intensely valuable. The emergence of the Web and the digitization of music made the trade and production of songs and albums much, much easier. It produced the ability for any schmuck to create and distribute their music. And did they ever. A trip over to MySpace will result in the overwhelming task of finding the tunes. But I believe that this is not what people actually want. People actually want to be told what they like rather than letting their taste rule their jukebox. The consequence of this sea change was that those who held the selling rights were left with little recourse over the distribution of their wares with the simplicity of digital reproduction and distribution. This is what has produced this rather wild playground that is the Music Business today.
Now that we are engulfed in the overwhelming task of drudging through piles of mediocre to find those gems that used to be presented to us on silver platters. I believe that this is the value of the music label that is being overlooked these days. While the industry is spending all their time seeking methods to control their goods they are once again missing the value of their service. The average music listener is still seeking the gems yet their methods have been dramatically altered in how they find the music. The radio is still haunted by the corporate demands of PROFIT PROFIT PROFIT while MySpace and iTunes dominate the distribution and awareness channels. But the consumer is lost in a sea of crap.
It is now the job of the label’s to once again do this seemingly simply job. Help filter the crap that is clogging the system and help the ears find what is best. This is where they are missing their role AGAIN. We as music fans and consumers once again are in dire need of this filter. We need these people to once again act as a guide. To once again help us to uncover the gems hidden among the thousands of bands that haunt the likes of iTunes or MySpace so that we (the consumer) can get back to what we want to be doing. Listening and paying for good music.
When and if the business will wake up to their role is unknown. They are too busy chasing to be in a position to dictate and direct. However with a little help and perhaps some fantastic technology the egalitarianism that is Web 2.0 may in fact turn this ship around. Is it possible that there is a resurgence of value in the filtering of massive amounts of crap to find that hidden gem? I sure hope so.
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