Music Matters...Does it?
Today I read this article on CaliforniaChronicle.com titled “It is the music that matters, and we must not forget that”. Interestingly, although the title states this and the first two paragraphs insist that it’s not about the music business but about the music itself, the rest of the story just talks about the state of the poor music industry and suggests that the “survival of music” depends on the Music Matters campaign and others to persuade the public to be anti-file sharing. GOOD LUCK!
As a musician/composer/artist. I spend all my waking hours and honestly a good portion of my supposed sleeping hours thinking about music, writing music, listening to music, recording music, reading music, reading about music and the music business.
I have two CDs I am finishing and self-releasing in the near future, so the current trends in music marketing and sales are of great interest to me. I am a member of ASCAP and try to stay current on licensing news, anti-piracy and file sharing litigation. In fact this very article came to me through ASCAP.
The thing of it is: Every time I read an article like this -- and I read several like it every day -- I think of the great OZ. The record industry is just a man behind a curtain and OZ is a magic place where people care about music. Care about new music. Care about developing music. Care about musicians. Care about the future of music and musicians.
Ummmmm, No! The record industry and the licensing organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) that work with them are business models designed to maximize profits on the art that musicians and artists create. This business model, once great, is now broken, never to work again. Unless of course, someone has invented a time machine and not told anyone. So OZ is dead and the man behind the curtain killed it. Operator error or just obsolete machinery?
I am so tired of hearing the whining music industry complaining about their declining profit margins and now they are going to try and sell people on the notion that the future of music depends on anti-piracy laws and education? A fear campaign? Really? Bullshit!
The world is changing! Always has been, always will be. Great music was here before you and great music will be here long after you are gone. How we make a living through art and music is once again changing. So we adapt and move forward. We figure it out while doing. Musicians are resourceful, resilient and accustomed to economic challenges. We create because we have to. It is who we are. It’s what we do. We embrace change. We don’t try to turn back the hands of time or part the seas. No mortal can. So why waste time and effort trying to.
Throughout history, technology, trends, wants and needs have dictated the marketplace. Countless companies and entire industries have had to adapt and change to accommodate the marketplace needs, or cease to be.
There are many, many things I don't know and am unsure of. One thing I am 100% sure of is that music will always be with us. The music industry as we know it? TBD.
