The 13 Most Insidious, Pervasive Lies of the Modern Music Industry…
Lie #1: Great music will naturally find its audience.
The Lie: The greatest music and artists will eventually connect with their audiences, naturally, thanks to a perfectly-lubricated, social, and borderless internet.
“Our kids are going to watch exactly what they want to watch, not necessarily what’s marketed to them,” then Topspin CEO Ian Rogers said as recently as 2010, while constantly underscoring that “quality is hyperefficient.”
The Truth: Just like the analog old days, most great music gets left behind and wallows in obscurity if not substantially backed or otherwise supported financially. In fact, the biggest songs on the planet are often those blasted the loudest on the biggest platforms – and oftentimes, the most money from major labels (ie, Katy Perry, Pitbull, Flo Rida, etc.)
Lie #2: Artists will thrive off of ‘Long Tail,’ niche content.
The Lie: The music landscape would be increasingly dominated by smaller and smaller artists, with smaller (but stronger) audiences. And, they can make more money through direct fan relationships.
“Forget squeezing millions from a few megahits at the top of the charts,” Chris Anderson famously wrote in his ‘groundbreaking’ Wired article that started a misguided revolution. ”The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream.”
The Truth: Instead of unleashing a torrent of successful niches, the internet has actually made blockbusters bigger than before. All while starving artists down the tail.
“So, while the tail is very interesting, the vast majority of revenue remains in the head,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt brutally revised just a few years later. ”And this is a lesson that businesses have to learn. While you can have a Long Tail strategy, you better have a head, because that’s where all the revenue is.”
Full Story: Digital Music News
Reading this great post and looking at the cover of the economist
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21587785-gated-globe
Makes me wonder…. Think Bands are next?