The questions has been posed of How did it get so bad?
It is a perfect storm of sorts really, a convergence of several storms colliding at once with deadly consequences. The deaths of many artists, so-called artists, and personnel.
The first storm. The development of the MP3. A brilliant codec for anyone who loves music. The problem with this storm is that that decision makers at the majors had no idea what an MP3 was and what it meant to the user. They have never ripped, encoded or burned (remember when it was multiple steps). They did not know what it meant to the consumer. They thought that quality was more important then convenience. They underestimated the power of the mix-cd. They did not understand how their consumers used the music. THEY DID NOT KNOW WHO THE CONSUMER WAS.
The second storm. Major labels drift away from signing artists and concentrate more on good looking people who could dance. Yes there has always been that element in contemporary music, the difference being that there was always credible ARTISTS to counteract that mind-numbing drivel. This is the case of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They paraded out a long list of marginal talent who worked with uber-producers and songwriters who created music that was immediate but whose flavor lasted as long as a piece of Double Bubble. They created albums that had no continuity to them because they were written by several different people. They brought in stylists and choreographers. Even in the traditionally art driven genres like Rock, Alternative, etc. we saw the charts dominated by songs whose artistic value could only be equated with the nutritional value of a Twinkie. Don’t get me wrong, during this period there were MANY great records made by great artists, however, they were marginalized by the shear power of the majors to carpet the country with crap.
The third storm. Homogenous radio controlled by the wallets of the major labels and deregulated by the government. Say goodbye to regional hits, local support, and personality. Say hello to McDonalds radio, where it tastes the same in every city. The cost to get a song on the radio explodes. Payola has always existed, perhaps just circuitous enough to evade the law, and will continue to exist as long as humans like money. The cost goes up so dramatically such that on any given week there are only a small number of records who are being considered because they are the “priority” and come with some sweet marketing dollars and/or leverage. Radio’s slow death and decreased ad revenue is saved only by the fact that the ratings system uses outdated algorithms and thoroughly ridiculous sampling pools that keep its perceived influence well above its actual impact. At one time the dominant force for introducing music to the public radio becomes so generic and repetitive (a truly deadly combo) that it actually encourages consumers to get their music fixes somewhere else, to search on their own.
The fourth storm. Everyone knows the cost to manufacture CDs has gone down dramatically but the industry sees fit to raise “top tier” records to $18.98 and $19.98 and even more in some instances. This might have been OK with the consumer taking into account inflation, cost of competitive products, quality of music, quality of package, etc. but contrast it with the seemingly endless stories about artist getting screwed by their labels and never earning a penny and suddenly the consumers feel like they are lining the pockets of fat balding guys who are trying to grow ponytails while smoking their cigars on the golf course instead of putting a meal in the belly of the artist who is the soundtrack to their life.
Don’t blame the technology. Blame our greed. 20 years ago when I started my first job in the music industry I felt like people where here because they loved music as an art form and believed in its commercial viability. Somehow we moved from an art form to a packaged good. There is a lot of hope out there. There is a lot of great new and old talent who do not play by the same rules. I applaud Radiohead for what they did (perhaps the execution could have been better) but they are not the first ones to do this. This is happening everyday by self-sufficient artists. This revolution is being lead by the people not the corporations. Thankfully. Of course, that is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Novus Ordo Seclorum
