To Save the Music Industry, Ban Music—and Whistling

People are SOOO misguided by the industry. RECORD LABELS make money on MUSIC SALES. ARTISTS make money on concerts, merchandise, and personal appearances. For artists, music sales gives them just enough money to keep making music: studio costs, producers, videos, etc. But most aspiring acts want a deal so bad so they can feel as though they've 'made it'. I've seen it too many times; I've dabbled in the industry. The saddest is the aspiring rapper. They get serious about their music career by going to pick out jogging suits and gold chains. *sigh*. Think of it like this: Will Smith, Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, and others have made the jump to movies and BOOSTED THEIR CAREERS (read INCOME). Tupac while idolized for his music, was well on his way to being a great ACTOR; some would say he acted like a gangster well, but that's another story. EVERY music act would love to be in movies:Ja Rule, Method Man and Red Man, Jessica Simpson, Beyonce, 50 Cent.

Oh and one more thing. How is it that The Rolling Stones can tour for decades without making an album? They put on a entertaining LIVE SHOW -I've never been to one, but I assume if they weren't entertaining no one would show up. In order for acts to survive and be successful, a live show MUST be more interesting than your video. I saw Faboolous(sp) on Leno some years ago. NO stage presence, NO energy; he looked like a cardboard cutout. Drake's song makes me laugh "I just want to be successful". Well, since you already started out on TV, you are already well know. Success for him won't be measured in record sales or how many people play his music. Success will be measured on the strength of the tour schedule. HINT: You need to be able to do your songs all the way through continuously: no forgetting words, no losing breath (on stage with the hot lights). Just about anyone (with a gun and a white 't') can be a (hip hop) 'studio act' -thus the need for the gun and white 't': u can redo takes, overdubs, and get 'punched in' all day long. And you better have at least one song that is 'safe', you can sing in front of grandma and kids. Birthday text may be ok, birthday sex, not so much.

I would not purchase music based on a 7 second sampling. It's not enough. And about the only time I use the preview is to confirm it's the song I want in cases where I don't know the name of the song....

Prince gave away his album Planet Earth in a British newspaper. He earned $500k over what he'd have made in royalties if he'd actually sold each CD in the papers. Additionally he reached a larger fan base, and sold out all his concerts (21) in Britain.