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How to Save the Music Biz

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 12, 2009 7:55 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The album is dead. Touring is on the fade. File-sharing is killing download profits. Adieu, music biz? Not so fast, reports The Wrap, which offers five fixes:

  • Drop the price. Ninety-nine cents for a song? Try 10. "Lower the price point, and you undercut the very foundation of illegal downloading."

  • Make like Jack White. He has three bands, opens his own stores, and feeds "a ravenous low-fi appetite among an ever growing legion of fans." Others need to march to their own drum. Like him.
  • Duck major labels. Or use them only for distribution. The less corporate America gets involved, the faster music gets on iPods, with "a greater sense of personal connection" and more profit for musicians.
  • Get into video games. Rock Band and Guitar Hero are obviously huge. Did you know the latter boosted Aerosmith catalogue sales by 40%?
For the fifth fix, click on the link below.

Jack White of the White Stripes performs during a concert Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Jack White of the White Stripes performs during a concert Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in New York.   (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
Thom Yorke, lead singer for Radiohead, performs with the USC marching band at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, in Los Angeles.
Thom Yorke, lead singer for Radiohead, performs with the USC marching band at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Beastie Boys are shown at their sold-out performance in Madison Square Garden in New York in 2006.
The Beastie Boys are shown at their sold-out performance in Madison Square Garden in New York in 2006.   (AP Photo/Thinkfilm, file)
Alicia Keys poses for photos backstage at the 9th Annual BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, 2009, in Los Angeles.
Alicia Keys poses for photos backstage at the 9th Annual BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, 2009, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 13 comments
MarkFL
Sep 14, 2009 2:18 AM CDT
The corporate business model really sucks for people. We seem to be at the dawn of a new era of entrepreneurship. I hope that this independent spirit invades the rest of corporate America choking off individualism, creativity, and opportunity for the rest of America. The music industry is the first to go down since demand is so high. Isn't it true that this should be the new business model for everyone? Bigger is not better. Better is better. Now that people have the means to create quality music on their own and distribute it, I say good riddance.
cochiserocks
Sep 13, 2009 10:32 AM CDT
At least your thinking about it - not trying to lock down the world, punish kids and un-invent the wheel. I think that what the music industry is going through is a long time coming. If you look at how many morons work in it, what percentage of the bands they invest in make any money or are even any good - you have to conclude that Sony, EMI, Universal, all of them;must work on the principle that if you chuck enough shit at a wall - some of it will stick. I cannot think of another business which has been so amazingly crap at what they do - and now the gravy train ends... About time... My old band, Ghotti, gave and give their tunes away for free. Per month we averaged 20,0000 downloads, over 30,0000 streams - paid our rent from gigs and getting the tunes used for TV and radio stuff. If your playing music purely for the money - you got no business playing it in the first place. Why not go off and make coke or cheap T-Shirts or something? When the branding is more creative than the actual record - you know the music industry has it all butt side up.
Altoecko
Sep 13, 2009 10:26 AM CDT
Hell yeah! Best concert of my life was a Radiohead concert.

 
music industry • iTunes • file sharing • Guitar Hero • Rock Band • record label • Jack White

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