Record sales in 2010

Post by **Leisher** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:50 pm

Dropped again.

They blame the internet and illegal file sharing, of course, but almost every comment blames shitty music and moron recording artists.

I agree with the comments.

Personality has trumped talent in the music industry, and they can't figure out why nobody wants to buy music. The music industry needs to look at its own past to see the answer. Back before every recording artist needed to be hot or didn't need musical talent.

Post by **GORDON** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:16 pm

I don't understand the "American Idol" craze. These people are the most mediocre, bland singers I have ever heard, yet...

Well, they are just manufactured stars. But god.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:21 pm

I remember back when Madonna was trying to get videos onto MTV. According to several accounts, some of the execs kept saying, "But she doesn't play an instrument or anything. No one's going to care."

Post by **GORDON** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:27 pm

I think it was Zappa who said a long time ago, "Back in the 60's, the record industry was run by businessmen and they had no idea what good music sounded like, so they signed EVERYBODY and we found a lot of diamonds in the rough. Now, the music industry is full of aging hippies who think they know good music, so they sign a small spectrum of what is available out there, and it ends up being a small spectrum of crap."

Or words to that effect.

Post by **TPRJones** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:18 pm

Personally, I spent far more on music in 2010 than ever before. But I didn't buy any big name CDs, or anything through iTunes, or anything from a major recording label. I bought self-published CDs or individual track downloads from online self-published musicians that I like.

For example: Pomplamoose, JoCo, and Rhett & Link. Good music from good people that I can buy from directly and the major recording labels aren't involved in the slightest.

Their problem isn't just bad music, it's that they no longer control the supply pipeline. Like newspapers, they no longer have a monopoly on the distribution channels. Their days are numbered for that one reason. Piracy is almost a non-issue in comparison to that.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:51 pm

Oddly enough, most Hollywood studios were legally forced to drop part of their biz models back in the '50s or something. Everybody except RKO chose to drop their distribution methods and were forced to use third-party theatres to show films.

Why wasn't the music industry crippled in a similar manner, too?

Post by **thibodeaux** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:12 pm

GORDON wrote:I think it was Zappa who said a long time ago, "Back in the 60's, the record industry was run by businessmen and they had no idea what good music sounded like, so they signed EVERYBODY and we found a lot of diamonds in the rough. Now, the music industry is full of aging hippies who think they know good music, so they sign a small spectrum of what is available out there, and it ends up being a small spectrum of crap."

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-c....ck.html

Post by **GORDON** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:18 pm

Ah, I got it mostly right.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:42 pm

Also part of Zappa's words:

One thing that did happen during the Sixties was some music of an unusual or experimental nature did get recorded or did get released. Now look at who the executives were in those companies at those times. Not hip young guys. These were cigar-chomping old guys who looked at the product that came and said, ‘I don’t know. Who knows what it is. Record it. Stick it out. If it sells, alright.’
...
The young guys are more conservative and more dangerous to the art form than the old guys with the cigars ever were. Next thing you know [the hip young executive has] got his feet on the desk and he’s saying, ‘Well we can’t take a chance on this because that’s not what the kids really want and I know.’

BOOM. Emphasis mine.

I'm reminded of the first time someone walked up to Grandmaster Flash and offered him a paying gig to spin records in a club. His response went something like this, "What the fuck are y'all on? How many people do you think are going to pay just to see me come spin records? There's not enough of a market." He took the deal anyway, probably because it came with a cash advance of some kind.