Posted on 03/10/2010 10:38:15 AM PST by a fool in paradise
Global music industry body the IFPI said it wanted to counter the "myth" that artists can make it on their own.
In a report, it said virtually no new artists had broken through without the backing of a record label.
Major labels invest $1m (£670,000) in each new act, who could not afford to make records and videos and go on tour without that backing, the IFPI said.
Record labels around the world spend a total of $5bn (£3.3bn) a year on developing and promoting new and established artists.
IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) chief executive John Kennedy said attempting to forge a career online, competing with millions of other acts on MySpace, was like "screaming in space".
"There's not really any evidence of anybody succeeding having gone direct," he said.
"Even artists who are typically described as having broken from the internet like Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen or Sandi Thom all ended up combining with a conventional record label."
...Others, such as Radiohead, Dizzee Rascal and Simply Red, have all struck out on their own - but only after building up their careers with labels.
The IFPI's estimated $1m budget to launch a new star, described as "very conservative", includes the artist's advance and fees for recording an album, filming three videos and promoting the releases.
If that artist is successful, much of that outlay will be deducted from their royalties....
...But Jeremy Silver, chief executive of the Featured Artists' Coalition lobby group, said ..."Increasingly we're starting to see artists emerging that are selling out venues without having had any mainstream exposure whatsoever and without the involvement of a major record label, but having developed fan communities online who know about them....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
You may have a catchy song but you won't get cover exposure and tv appearances without the monopolistic Big Media companies owning a bit of your soul (and 20 years of your earnings).
The industry can blacklist you if they want. Look at the artists Jann Wener has looked down on for 40 years.
Can you move this to chat? I wanted to list this in music (although it can exist under business/economy).
FR was having some problems around 20 minutes ago and while I started this as a “chat” thread, when I selected topics it went to News/Activism.
even when I didn’t click on the topics button and tried just typing in music, the category went to News (and I got an invalid topic response) when I went to preview.
There were a few problems with the website
They are fixed for now, and we moved this for you
Music Industry PING
The labels are correct, there is current no artist which hasn’t gone from obscurity to stardom without the help of a label in some way, shape or form.
There are artists who’ve been active for 25 years who’ve inspired “charting” artists for much of that time who still can’t get a review in a national glossy.
The industry knows who some of these people are but chooses to “not” cover them.
The industry is more square now than it was in 1971.
If someone had recorded and released the “Pants on the ground” rap from American Idol (say as an itune mp3) it still would have gone viral.
It’s about exposure.
They hold the keys to the castle and they know it. Physical distribution has been stolen from them, but you’re not playing Saturday Night Live without’em. If you want to move enough units to quit your day job you have to play the game.
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