Today's economy and music

Diddy Enjoying A Big Gulp

As America enters a time period of financial uncertainty, many citizens of this country feel the pressures that our forefathers felt in the 1930’s.  Speaking for the generation that encompasses men and women in their twenties, we have never been so afraid financially.  We come from a time when internet business gave birth to millionaires and billionaires under the age of thirty, including prosperous entrepreneurs such as Shawn Fanning (creator of Napster), Sergey Brin and Larry Page (founders of Google), and Tom Anderson (Founder of MySpace).  And as we continue to explore the vast possibilities of the internet and how it can be used, many industries face expulsion from the world’s stage by new technologies that provide services understanding to modern needs.

And now more than ever, the record industry is facing difficult times ahead.  As the “Big Four” (a term used to name the four biggest record companies in the world:  Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, and Warner Music Group) struggle in a turbulent ocean to keep afloat, many artists are leaving them to sign with independent labels that give them better deals on their royalty percentages.  Radio Head recently released a studio album in which profits were generated by donations.  Madonna recently left Warner to sign with Live Nation, which technically isn’t a record label.  In fact, they are a concert promotion company.  And with instances like these occurring more often than not, the “Big Four” are forced to try new ideas to keep revenue at the levels they are used to.

David Bowie Glamming It Up

In 2001, the record industry took its biggest financial hit.  After writing computer code in his dorm room for months, Shawn Fanning released Napster to the world, an internet website that allowed subscribers to freely download licensed music onto their computer and burn it onto CD, all the while not paying anything for it.  Although it flew under the radar for a while, many artists and record executives started to take notice of the buzz generated by this website.  After multiple lawsuits were filed against the Napster Company, it finally closed its ‘doors’ (so to speak) in 2002 by declaring itself bankrupt and selling its assets to the Best Buy corporation.

As of 2008, the Compact Disc (which in dates past covered 80% of the record companies’ sales) dropped 30%.  As the record executives promise that recovery is just on the horizon with the advent of digital download, the average share price of the record labels dropped 72% in this decade (according to economist.com).  And as the companies lose more and more money, the future of the industry is definitely on shaky ground.

As someone that believes in paying the artists for the music that they create, I wonder to myself, did the record industry have it coming to them? At the end of the forties, the record industry became more organized.  The music became more accessible.  All fans had to do was go to the local record store and find the album they were looking for.  And as businessmen realized the potential earning power of selling vinyl records to the public, marketing schemes were instilled to sell music.  By the time the fifties dawned, Rock and Roll captivated the nation with a musical revolution that has not yet been surpassed.  And when Elvis Presley made his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in September of 1956 with a flashy, rebellious attitude, the record companies realized that nonconformity sold records.

With acts such as David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Elton John, KISS, everybody in the eighties, the Cash Money Millionaires, and so on, the record industry has produced more and more acts that focus on flashiness and glam to sell records.  Now I’m not saying that these artists cannot be respected creatively, but their superstar status can be linked to the antics they do on and off the stage.  In this decade alone, the term ‘making it rain’ can be heard on a good percentage of songs on the radio.  ‘Making it rain’ refers to an individual taking their money and throwing it up in the air so as if to brag that they have money to burn. 

But as we enter an era of economic dreariness, does one have the capital freedom to throw up money in the air and walk away from it just so that those around them can grabble in their wake? In my opinion, they do not.  And as Sony, EMI, and such promote these lavish lifestyles, I think that the public has finally had enough.  Enough of the Ferraris, the Lamborghinis, the $100,000 pieces of jewelry, and the artists throwing their riches into their fans faces.  It’s almost as if these artists are telling their fans, “Look what you paid for!  You paid for my $4 million house.”  And now I think that the fans are finally saying, “I’m not paying for your 4-year-old’s yoga classes anymore.” 

And although I am an advocate of paying artists for their art, can you blame the consumers for their lack of willingness to pay their hard earned money considering the shenanigans seen in the supermarket tabloids?  Something to think about; but again that’s me, make up your own mind, peace…