Comments on: Music is Not An Object

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:53:22 +0000

Last week, our music director observed that artists can now make a living wage in music. Thought it may be moderate, the biz is not just stars and struggling singers with “day jobs.”

By: Casey

Casey — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:20:33 +0000

I think you’re absolutely right that there are a lot of things that people don’t have to have corporate behemoths do for them anymore in the music industry.

I worry that the internet doesn’t make more room for everyone but rather make the middle smaller. This is a funny phenomenon and the economist does a better job describing it then I can hope to, but the gist of the idea is that people like having a shared culture. Blockbusters are nice because they give people something to talk about around the water cooler. What greater ease of distribution has done (according to many people in the entertainment industry and cultural observers) is give a stage to the niches and raise up some of those that are on the margins of the public consciousness (like yours truely) not at the expense of the Britney Spearses of the world but at the expense of the middle.

Sorry if I got side tracked there but I am fascinated by that idea.

By: Casey

Casey — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:05:09 +0000

Tim,
I totally agree with you there is a huge gulf between the experience of buying a download and the feeling of owning a record, tape or cd. I don’t want to go back to a time before that’s what we did, but I have total sympathy for somebody who wants to stick with the physical object. Also, make sure you drop a link to your post, on your “something missing” here when you finish it.

By: CharlesHo

CharlesHo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:36:12 +0000

The music industry as you correctly note, is not synonymous with music, though they did a good job the last few decades of trying to convince us that they are. From all I’ve heard about Woodstock, hippies didn’t get together to get the concert t-shirt and an autographed copy of Hendrix’s latest CD. It was about the music. The technology has come about and returned the whole spirit of what music means to people back to the individual I think instead of some recording company collective and for that I’m pleased.

For the artists, I imagine it must be a difficult life making a living, but doesn’t the new media help them find a way to carve out a living? To my thinking freeing up the creation and distribution of their work should make it much easier for talented musicians to earn a livable wage from their art. It may not be Britney spears mega-millions, but from what I can tell, maybe less folks would burn out in that odd bubble that exists for those in that life if they’re living a more reasonable existence earning a decent salary being their own boss than being at the mercy of some corporate recording behemoth.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:49:04 +0000

Nice, interesting post. I recently had an epiphany about music, CDs, etc after taking a few CDs out of the library. I’m 40 and frankly have only recently gotten used to downloading my music. To be honest, I’m pretty addicted to Amazon’s MP3 store. Yet, taking those CDs out of the library made me realize something was missing. I’ll reveal more about this in my post in a few weeks. I have heard something recently that I agree with…since a large number of today’s music fans download their music illegally or just purchase a song here or there, they have less of a connection to the musicians they listen to. Anyhow, cool post with some interesting stats.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:54:15 +0000

With music liberated from CD’s (and labels), you’re liberated from buying tracks you don’t like, to get the ones you do. A big musical paint box exists out here in the digital world.

But how to get artists paid? One way is to connect them with brands. Brands can create exclusive experiences to offer free to purchasers. Here are examples from Schick and GoGURT http://sleighbellsrock.com and a http://gogurt.com

If you want to hear from another visionary, I recommend Justin Jarvinen, founder of VerveLife and my CEO.