Gone are the days when the big record companies wielded all of the power.
Now as the fifth birthday of Youtube has come and gone, and as Facebook has surpassed Google for daily views, direct to consumer models are springing up in many different industries.
In the old days the record companies made a ton of money because they forced people to buy the L.P. containing 10-14 tracks so that they could listen to a single hit song. Sure there were singles that were decoupled from the LP, but it was a general practise to lure the record buying public with a single and then the new fans would want to buy the LP to see what other music the particular band created.
Many times filler tracks disappointed the record buying public in the past. But now consumers are buying single songs online for 99 cents each. Bands that put their own music on Itunes and promote them also can get more money than in the past.
Previous business models forced the band to sign an agreement where they would not be paid until all of the production and sometimes even marketing costs were recovered. This means that even though the record company was in the black, the artist did not see a dime.
During the 1990s, record companies became greedier still and embraced genres of music that had very little production cost to maximize their profits. In stark contrast to the million dollar budgets of the ’70s and ’80s such as Michael Jackson’s, Bruce Springsteen’s and the Bee Gee’s albums, the record producing budgets of the ’90s shrank considerably.
Gone were the arena mega-acts as the record companies embraced singer songwriters and then rap music. Rap was a huge money-maker because the artists were only paid a small fraction of what it would cost to record an arena act. Sometimes rap artists would get as little as $10,000-$20,000 for an entire album’s worth of material along with points.
Record companies milked the rap scene for a decade or more, but this may have come at the expense of melodic music. Now in 2011, artists are once again picking up guitars and singing. From indie type music to a resurgence in rock thanks to gaming consoles serving up 1980′s tunes on Rock Band and Guitar Hero, melody is returning to music. But this time around the artist has to rethink their business model and goals.
Direct to consumer models using the power of networking on the internet is catapulting several artists into stardom. The opportunity has never existed in the past where anyone can become a star without having to please the gatekeepers at a record label.
A recent example of mega-stardom born on the internet is Justin Bieber. This teen was discovered by posting Youtube videos and the rest is history. So create great music and then get it out there for others to enjoy.
Have fun creating songs in 2011! Happy New Year!
Fun Music