New Music Business Ideas

The music business has changed. Some say it's dying. In this section I present you with a few interesting videos on today's music industry. Also, be sure to check out my recommendation of Chris Standring's Indie Artist DIY Smarkit, which teaches you how to achieve success today.

1. Moby on Music Business - an interview

It's a real sad situation particularly from the Record Label's perspective. Moby says that the demise of the record business is one of the best things that has ever happened to music. He says that anyone who gets into music to get rich is simply an idiot. Strong words. But is it a harsh reality we have to face? According to him, record labels will have to re-invent themselves more as music companies.

Moby started something called Moby Gratis which allows film makers and artistes to use his songs for FREE. He says it's a great way to get his obscure music out there which would otherwise wouldn't really find a home.

Moby says that a lot of problems that the record companies now face are problems that they brought upon themselves. Although the music was cheaper to make the price kept going up.

You may not agree with everything he says but I think he makes a lot of good points. Watch the video below.

If you're struggling with your music career and are looking for solutions, I'd like to recommend a program that I've found to be very useful and timely. It's called the Indie Artist DIY Smartkit. I wrote a review of it here. Click here for more information.

2. Why the Future of the Music Industry is Bright

Here's an interview of Russell Rains, a lawyer and Director of the Digital Media Management MBA Program at St. Edward's University in Austin, TX.

He talks about digital distribution and that it's really not a passing thing. People are not going back to buying CDs. According to Rains, it's sad that some people still think so. He talks about the reality of the music business, and how obviously people are not buying albums today but buying individual songs.

He says that the future of the music industry is one where people legally subscribe to music. That's how the music industry will survive. A subscription model.

According to Rains, it's naive and counterproductive to think that musicians will make money, largely from the live performance, the way it was before.

One good point he makes, one that I like is the fact that today's artiste can make use of the Internet to market his or her music. Today's artiste can compete without the distribution networks of the past thanks to the internet and digital distribution. However, he says he doesn't thing that's the death of the old network. He remains optimistic and says that the future looks great and everything is wide open. Watch the video below.

3. The Death of the Album and the Future of the Music Industry

In this video, Wallace Collins, an entertainment attorney based in New York, discusses the generational shift that has taken place, that divides the CD-buyers from downloaders, and draws parallels between today and the early days of rock-and-roll in which singles drove the music business. The young people are not buying music today. He says the record labels are being forced to look at things differently. He is afraid that if the artistes are not getting well paid it may lead to the music being mediocre. Without money the artistes won't be able to devote all their attention to the music since they will have to work other jobs to make money.

He says that downloading music for free is the same as shoplifting. He hopes that people will learn to do things the right way and that parents teach their kids not to download music for free. (I don't think this is going to happen on any large scale.) He talks about the fear of being arrested or sued for illegal downloads and the effect that can have.

Collins says the mistake the record labels made was not working with the Internet when it came along. It's now very difficult to take control. Watch the video.

The way forward

These are just a few of the many online videos which talk about the music business and its current state. They talk a lot about the problems but what are the solutions? How does an artiste make it today?

Well it's really not gloomy. The music industry is not dead, it is simply evolving. What worked before no longer works today. Today's independent artiste like never before has the opportunity to achieve success in the music industry. But it's important to learn the new way of doing things. You see, while record labels are scared to death, many indie artistes are thriving.

There's a program called Indie Artist DIY Smartkit that puts it all into perspective and teaches one how to achieve success in todays music industry. I wrote a review of it here. Go here to learn about the Indie Artist DIY Smartkit. It was created by independent recording artist, Chris Standring. I highly recommend it.

Do you want to take your music marketing and music promotion to a higher level?

Do you want to boost your music career? Then you should certainly read The Guerilla Music Marketing Handbook. I feel very strongly about this ebook and recommend it highly. Click here to check out The Guerilla Music Marketing Handbook. It's the best I've discovered on music marketing and promotion.

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