Is the Music Industry Dying?

I ran across an interesting blog post today about the current state of the music industry. It’s called “Is the music industry dying?”. It’s from January but it’s a good read.

This has become a common debate between many of my friends (and I’m sure between many if not all involved in the music biz), Is the Music Industry Dying? For so many years the music industry has been controlled by big business, the Major Labels. With the advent of the internet, online retailers and the ability for artists to sell downloads directly from their website the game has changed and honestly, I like the change.

The playing field has been leveled so to speak. I have found lots of great new music from independent artists that I would not have known existed had it not been for the internet and the many cool sites that sell indie music like CD Baby, iTunes (yes iTunes has indie music) and eMusic just to name a few. I have even purchased music directly from artists websites giving them the entire chunk of my change. iTunes is my main source for music but having the ability to get music directly from the artists website is not only cool but it’s good for the artist. Plus there are no shipping fees and you don’t have to go anywhere to get it. Saves you gas and time! I don’t mind having MP3’s as long as they are compressed right.

Some may argue that the digital download buy one track at a time revolution has killed the album. Really? I think not. The major labels would like you to believe this because they want to continue selling you albums at a bloated price but in reality they have done this for years. The “Single” concept is how they promote new albums whether it be on radio, TV or music videos. I remember buying “cassette singles” when I was a kid and no one complained back then. The labels pick their “Hit” single, put it out to radio, make a music video, get you salivating like Pavlov’s dogs and then make you buy the entire album just to get the one song.

This was fine when labels were actually building and developing artists and in turn artists were writing great albums. But in the last 10 to 15 years labels have become less about artist and development and more about just making money. This is a big reason why the “Album” is suffering. If you don’t write what the labels consider a “hit single” the chances of your album getting released is decreased. They have a complete singles mentality but they want you buying the full album. Don’t get me wrong, there are still artists out there writing some great albums but they are few and far between. The fact that the majors don’t get this ,or most likely, don’t want you the consumer to know this, is absolutely mind boggling. I’ll buy the album if it’s good but if it’s not I just want the songs that I like.

I don’t think that the music industry is dying but I do think it’s changing. The major not only face the changing buying habits of consumers (I can’t remember the last time I actually bought a CD) but they face a lot of new competition from the indie market. Only time will tell if the indie market can surpass the majors but in the meantime go out and explore, find some new music from an artist you have never heard of and support them by buying their music!

So go forth and find some great indie music because there is just way too much of it out there to think that the major labels have it all

What do you think is happening with the music industry? Is it dying?