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| DIRE STRAIGHTS AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: | ||||||||||||||
| WILL THEY EVER LEARN? | ||||||||||||||
| By Christopher J. Berry | ||||||||||||||
| E-Mail: [email protected] | ||||||||||||||
| Downloading music, oh such an evil thing! God forbid that we check out an album before we buy it, and if we happen to not like it to discard it like yesterday's rubbish. Yet the music industry, particularly the infamous Recording Industry Association of America (their enforcer), would love to throw the book at such ilk, as they claim it is hurting sales of cassettes and compact discs. | ||||||||||||||
| Never mind the fact that since recordable cassette tape came along, you could go over to your buddy?s house and record his entire Led Zeppelin catalog for you listening pleasure. No, the lawless Internet and the oh so bad recordable CD has been gouging into the poor innocent's profits. These two scapegoats are convenient targets to cover what the industry doesn't want to admit; they don't know how to sell music anymore. | ||||||||||||||
| Ever since the advent of the Beatles, the music industry has merely copied what is popular at the time and tried to replicate it. When the Beatles would come up with a new style, the labels would roll with it and drudge up some new copy bands to propagate it. We must remember that the 60's and 70's were blessed with talented acts, and there was reception from the record companies to find the next "big thing." | ||||||||||||||
| If you could find the exact moment in the time line as to when they started to fail, it was when Van Halen appeared in Southern California, and all blind eyes turned to there to find the next one. Van Halen continued on to put itself into music history, but where was the invasion? It was never to happen. Many acts were signed from the Sunset Strip, but many never saw a second or third album. None had the staying power. Record labels were signing strictly on glamour; people that could craft good songs were overlooked. At this point, the companies were trying to dictate the fashion, and the people votes with their dollars. Music sales started to slump. | ||||||||||||||
| With the advent of the compact disc, they did see a brief revival, only to be short lived, while people started to backfill their catalogs replacing worn vinyl and tape. | ||||||||||||||
| In the early 90's there was a spark of life in Seattle, a band called Nirvana came on the scene in a big way. The listless companies once again turned their blind eyes to the region; they had to find other bands to imitate this style. What I find most fascinating, even more than a decade later, this is the style of music that the music companies dictate to us. Nothing new, nothing original, nothing really that good. | ||||||||||||||
| After the time of Nirvana, they began to ask themselves, what does sell? In their shallow analysis of the market, they came up with the idea that pop is it. It very well may be, for the teenage market. The old rules of copying the flavor of the week still applied. In the meantime, they alienated the baby boomer and generation Xers. They shrugged their shoulders and programmed the radio stations to play the "classic rock" genre of music. Many established and new acts in the rock genre have found it impossible to find labels, many opted to go independent. Even with that, they would have no mainstream radio support. What does get pushed, no one really wants to buy, as they are tired of old Nirvana sound alike bands. | ||||||||||||||
| Rock and roll never died, it was driven underground in its means to propagate. The "adult alternate" genre was born, and tried to thrive on many radio stations. They couldn't compete with the corporate backing of the pop/rap and classic rock ones. Even though they had large, devout followings, one by one many were snuffed out or neutered to something less offensive. Many lived on through streaming over the Internet and were continuing with limited success; only to have a stake driven through its heart when the RIAA demanded an amount of money be paid for every song that was streamed through the Net. | ||||||||||||||
| There would be no new Elvis', Buddy Holly's, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix's or Led Zeppelins of the 2000's. Corporate greed has seen to that. So it continues; the ilk of the RIAA holds the reins tightly, and the radio stations play what they want you to hear. We, the people, continue to vote with our dollars, and the big record labels continue to have fewer sales than the year before. Rather than open up to new music and ideas, they point and screech like the body snatchers at the Internet; a possible savior for music. | ||||||||||||||
| I read an interview with a former recording industry executive. He could see the coming famine for the big labels, and predicted one of two things would happen. One: that they would change their ways, embrace the technologies and quit driving the market. Two: that they would get tough. Real tough. With the RIAA now suing teenagers, grandparents, and everyone in between, they took the second route. | ||||||||||||||
| What does the future hold for rock music? It continues to live, but not as well as it once thrived. It learned to survive on stealth like its brother, punk. Many independent labels continue to work with new and existing artists. In Southern California, local followings attach themselves to bands they deem worthy and buy their music from CDs sold at the clubs after the performance. | ||||||||||||||
| What is the future of the record companies and the RIAA? They will continue to find fewer sales each year, until they have shrunk to a former shadow of themselves. They will never give up on the idea of trying to sell us what is popular, and find a niche market in the teenage markets. They will never figure out what they knew back in the 50's; find out what is new and original and record it, then keep on it. | ||||||||||||||
| I say let 'em starve and go broke. It will give the new Sun records of our decade a chance to grow. In the meantime, we will continue to go to our local clubs and churches to see the real talents of our lifetimes. Thanks to the technology of MP3?s and cheap recordable compact discs, we will purchase that music and enjoy it repeatedly. The RIAA will continue to cry that these things are sapping the royalties of the poor artists; and in reality, it is only sapping away them. | ||||||||||||||
| Rock is dead they say; long live rock! | ||||||||||||||
| [This article originally appeared in the January/February 2004 issue of THE THOUGHT.] | ||||||||||||||
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