Music Biz: Compromise Is Key

Copyright law was not intended to provide income to corporations in perpetuity. It was intended to provide income to the original creator during his/her lifetime.

Lawyers and the elected officials they purchased perverted into something else.

Similarly, patent laws have been perverted to kill personal achievement in favor of corporate profitability.

John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants said although ~~record labels are~~ the mainstream media is fun to bash, they help filter ~~music~~ the news. Now consumers must do much of that work themselves.

I'll take that deal. FR helps me find news I'm interested in, without the filters of the mainstream media, and I predict that some community will arise to help me find the music I'm interested in, without the filters of the record labels...

Others said the explosion of new music -- partly driven by digital music production technology and the Internet -- has made it easy for bad music to proliferate throughout cyberspace.
"There's an incredible amount of mediocrity," said musician/songwriter Eric Bazilian, formerly of the rock group The Hooters.

I was going to make a sarcastic comment, but a target this easy is just no fun.

>>In any event, panelists said the glut of new mediums such as the Internet has created a cultural perception that music has little value. <<

It doesn’t – at least not to me any more. It is a cheap commodity.

I learned to play the bass four years ago. I got a book, took a few months of lessons from a true virtuoso (Randy McClusky here in the Seattle area) and went through the equipment phases. Since I’m almost 50, I compressed everything, including the musical discovery timeline.

I’ve learned that GOOD guitar players and singers are a dime a dozen and it SHOULDN’T pay much because there are plenty who can do it. The problem is that most of the good ones don’t have descent day jobs and live in rat holes. I was appalled when I started trying out for bands and met awesome musicians as old as me that were still living in squalor in two room flats (counting the bathroom) with carpet-sample flooring situated above storefonts in 80 year old buildings. Meanwhile the place is stuffed with amps, cabs, drums and wiring EVERYWHERE. Did I mention the 30 year old fake wood paneling with the obligatory holes.

These guys should have a nice three bedroom house with a garage and 2.5 kids that are going to get them through old age.

All that said, if the record industry suddenly disappeared and we were to be left with only the musicians and small time promoters, maybe we would live in a world where thousands could make a REASONABLE living as musicians, instead of a lucky few making millions (and the loser one hit wonders, which the current industry is directly responsible for, IMO), and the rest having to keep their day jobs.

In this imaginary world, recorded music would be free and musicians would make their money off live performances and endorsements, like sports figures do perhaps. Since recorded music will have no value, people will want live music and will be willing to pay for it, since that is the only way most GOOD musicians will operate.

There’s a great deal more to it than this, but this is the jist.

BTW, I am finding what is REALLY valuable is good SONGS AND ARRANGEMENTS, not musicians.

It amazes me how many solid conservatives all of a sudden sound like ideological Marxists when it comes to this subject. Seriously, read your own post. It's spooky.

And here's another thing to think about... musicians aren't the only ones with a financial interest in music. So, it's fine for them to make a living by playing concerts, but what about the producers, arrangers, studio musicians, graphic artists, promoters, publicists, and retailers who also make a living from recorded music?

>>So, it's fine for them to make a living by playing concerts, but what about the producers, arrangers, studio musicians, graphic artists, promoters, publicists, and retailers who also make a living from recorded music?<<

What ever happened to the buggy whip makers?

Time and technology march on. The days of making a good living by producing something once and then making money off all the copies (think of royalties, for example) are coming to an end, thanks to the winds of change.

And your right. My post does look spooky. I am a musician and I don't see producing music as a way to make a lot of money in the very near future. People will pay for tangible stuff they can't make at home CHEAPER. That's why most people don't buy a single shirt and then make lots of copies on their own sewing machine - it is more expensive (especially with the time committment) to make your own clothing. Anything else is hereafter fair game.

Did you know the Wright brothers tried to patent flying?

What ever happened to the buggy whip makers?

Apples and oranges. Buggy whips are no longer in demand, music is still very much in demand. Only now, people have come to think they're entitled to demand a product but not pay for it. Sort of like where health care is headed.

As digital file sharing, webcasting and other new technologies proliferate, artists and industry officials meeting here said the music business is in jeopardy unless artists, record companies and consumers stop fighting and start compromising.

Finally! Someone has decided to use their head!

Exactly! If I could get my cd's for ten to 25 cents per song I would not be incented to copy my own - not worth my time. Kind of like, if a plumber charged $30 instead of $250, I would hire him instead of do it myself.

Also, Thanks to the internet and search engines, I don't need a record company to tell me what ten or so artists I should consider. I can choose quickly from the thousands available, and never leave my computer, beer and pizza (saves gas and the environment too). There is more out there than the rolling stones, Britney Spears and the Backstreet boys.