From the late 80s until a few years ago, the recording industry rode high on explosive music sales, which many observers credited to the invention of the compact disc and the willingness of consumers to replace their vinyl libraries with CDs. All that has come to an end. Mashable Social Networking News cites new predictions by eMarketer of continued decreases in recorded music spending worldwide, with a 20% decline over the next four years.
While I gladly cheer anything that undermines the major labels and their decades-long mistreatment of musicians, I’m not sure that more money will necessarily be redirected into the pockets of the artists themselves. As I cited in an earlier post (“Is live music dying?“), 62% of Radiohead fans were unwilling to pay any money at all to download the band’s CD, and consumers can find places to download CDs without the artist receiving a cent. The rise of digital music has been a double-edged sword for artists. It’s easier to get your music out there as an independent, but it doesn’t mean anyone is listening.
I worked with an excellent radio promoter for my solo CD, “Carta,” and the CD was #1 in the nation for two months in its niche market on independent and community radio stations. Despite that impressive showing, I did not sell an equally impressive number of CDs. So for “Songs from Other Planets” I hired a publicist. We tried dozens of creative ways to promote the CD. There was a premiere performance at a chic gallery, with free tickets given away by someone (me) wearing an extraterrestrial mask. I gave free CDs to influential people. I contacted science fiction clubs and networks. I sold CDs at science fiction conventions. I tried to get bookings on radio and television shows with a focus on science fiction. I tried Google ads. I posted on bulletin boards. We tried to arrange performances at independent bookstores. We tried fund-raising tie-ins with non-profits. I designed an offbeat travel website for San Francisco with links to my music. And of course we did posters, submissions to reviewers, email announcements, etc. For three months we were indefatigable. Still the results were unsuccessful (meaning I didn’t break even on the CD production costs, as modest as they were).
The availability of digital music offers possibilities, for sure. But will musicians be compensated appropriately for their efforts? What is a fair cost for an album’s worth of music? How did we get to this point where 62% feel that music should be free? And will the ease of getting one’s music online mean that there are just more people trying to grab a piece of a dwindling pie?
