Artistic integrity and the new music business -- a match made in heaven?

August 24, 11:48 AMSalt Lake City Entertainment Industry ExaminerChristopher Harding

“Artistic integrity is back,” the guy tells me outside a club where we just heard a local band play.  “With the labels dying out, there won’t be anybody to rob you of your soul.”  

“Really,” I’m thinking to myself, but saying out loud.  “I thought people sold their soul, but now you’re saying the record labels were stealing artist’s souls?”    

“Absolutely,” he pops back.  “But that’s over.  It’s the new music business now, baby!” 

 Okay, I’m thinking—only to myself this time—so a lot of people are talking about the new music business. But what I’m trying to get down to is just what people think the new music business is and how they think it will help an artist maintain their integrity?   

With my thoughts formulated, I ask him that very question. 

 “It’s grassroots,” the guy responds passionately, before taking a long drag on his cigarette.  He exhales, blowing the smoke up into the air, watching it curl as if this too were a work of art.  The smoke having faded, he turns to me, squinting slightly before continuing. “It’s artist-and-fan-driven.”  He pauses momentarily for emphasis.  “And it’s about the artist delivering their music straight to the fans.” The guy then leans in to whisper conspiratorially, as if what he’s about to add is somewhat dangerous. “Without the artist having to go through some sifting machine that’s run by lawyers and accountants.” 

 Ah, I get that part and it sounds really cool, I tell him.  That is until you remember that according to a study done by PRS for Music, a nonprofit royalty collection agency, of the 13 million songs for sale online last year, 10 million never got a single buyer and 80 percent of all revenue came from about 52,000 songs. That means that less than one percent of the songs being offered comprise the vast majority of what’s even selling.  That seems to say that there’s more to making a career out of music than simply going direct to your fans.

“Is there a place where artistic integrity and commerce can meet?” I ask. 

 There’s silence.  Then he responds.  “That’s a tough one.”  He scratches his head for a moment.  “I haven’t really figured that part out yet,” he finally confesses, as he takes another drag.  

“Welcome to the club,” I tell him reassuringly. 

 If you were to ask, popular Texas-based, singer-songwriter, Pat Green, that question, however, he has his own answer figured out pretty well.  In a recent interview with CMT News, Green said, "I was always willing to sell part of my soul, but I've always wanted to be in charge of what part was for sale."

Now that’s an interesting take on the delicate balancing act many artists face.

"I guess,” Green goes on to say in his interview, “what I realized is that if a company like BNA wants to put up several million dollars to put out a record on me, then I'm going to listen to their opinion," he explains. "That's good business.”

"These guys have sold millions of records and have had tremendous amounts of success throughout the years. Why wouldn't I listen to them? ... I'll change a song or consider a song for recording that you put in front of me. But I have to buy it. I have to agree with you." 

Green’s comments address one of the many conundrums presently being bounced around by an interesting diversity of voices who are offering their take on the subject in the current PassionateGenius blog on Artistic Integrity.  Where is the sensible balance between artistic integrity and making a living; between art and craft; between one’s sense of mission and the need to enroll others in the purchase of one’s art?  Great questions. 

Looking back, it’s probably pretty safe to say that the traditional music business got too heavy on control; that they may have created more risk for themselves by trying to limit their risk in the form of cloning previous successes.  Between labels and corporate radio, it also seems clear that music consumers, fans, and artists themselves have grown more than a little tired of what some are calling the musical strip mall of sound that currently exists in the today’s mainstream. 

 Perhaps the deeper question is, though, how will musical artists manage the balancing act on their own?  What compromises will they be faced with when labels play a lesser or different role?  Will this emerging freedom create a new artistic awareness in the hearts of the listener or will artists merely sell their soul directly to the public, instead of through a middle man?  Or, is adapting our art to the constraints of a market simply a vital part of the artistic exercise? 

 One of those commenting in the aforementioned blog saw it this way: “Making it ready for the marketplace? Hey, if (music is) what you do and you want to eat, then you turn those restrictions, and configurations, twists, turns, and requirements into opportunities that challenge your creativity even more.” 

 Another commenter added, “Contemporary music is an example of a discipline that requires, in order to even exist, a fluid and compatible meeting between artistic impulses and artisanal skills. Serious musicians of any kind, and definitely anyone who develops any skill in the recording process, have to spend time wearing both hats, because you have to get good with your tools in order to even be able to make whatever internal vision you're flogging to the world happen at all. But where's the line?” 

 Exactly… where’s the line? 

 At the end of the day, we’ll all discover what the newly emerging music business will bring and whether it will foster an environment of enhanced creativity or sustain the status quo.  In the meantime, opportunity’s door is wide open for artists, fans, social media developers, and music industry types alike to decide how we want to participate.  What do you think we’ll create together?  Is it truly a new day in the music business? 

 Your comments are always welcome, so feel free to leave your thoughts (you can also dive into the conversation at PassionateGenius.com).  Who knows, we just might discover something entirely new together. 

Special thanks to AEP, whose previous comments invited an article on this topic.

If you enjoyed this article, here are three more you might like “20 questions every band should answer,” “What you need to know about do it yourself music: part 1?” and “Before you record your music: part 1.”