Jeff wrote:
quoted 1 line I'm already having trouble getting as many records out there as
>I'm already having trouble getting as many records out there as
I'd like to
quoted 1 line because most of the stores are struggling and the budgets just
>because most of the stores are struggling and the budgets just
aren't there
quoted 1 line right now for a lot of stores to take chances on the
>right now for a lot of stores to take chances on the
smaller/interesting
quoted 1 line shit.
>shit.
I've recently been doing some interviews with David Thrussell (who
some list members might know as the guy behind Snog and Black
Lung), and we were talking about the music industry. He is in the
interesting position of being an Australian artist who produces
his music independently and has his stuff released by seperate,
smallish labels in Australia, the US, Europe and Japan. He also
does work on soundtracks, and is really a very busy guy - he makes
a living from making music pretty much non-stop.
He has been called upon to speak at several music industry
conferences in recent years - conferences which are attended by
music company reps inculding the local heads of major labels -
primarily because of his success as an independent artist, and
also because of his anti-copyright stance (he believes reasonable
sampling should be allowed freely to encourage artistic
expression, much the same stance proclaimed by other artists such
as Negativland). He gets very pissed off with the attitude
espoused by a lot of the label-people he has to deal with, which
is not to say he finds them all to be dishonest or uncaring about
the artist's rights.
Anyway, all of this background is to give you a picture of his
background, experience and attitude. And the reason I quoted what
Jeff said about stores being less likely to take risks on
independent stuff right now is because of what David claimed was
happening in the music industry. He said that it is his
understanding that the majors are using the current hoopla about
file-sharing and piracy not just as an excuse for their flagging
sales (which are due, in his opinion, to incompetence and a
disrespect for both artists and consumers), but also as leverage
to try and actively push independents off the shelves at the store
level. They've done it before - the history of the music industry
has involved dark periods when independents found it basically
impossible to sell anything through stores. And everyone forgets
that stores - especially chain stores - are STILL the main outlet
for the average person to discover and buy new music. No matter
how endemic the RIAA would have you believe file sharing is, the
majority of the community don't understand what "mp3s", "ripping"
and "burning" are.
The best thing I think anyone can do is the obvious thing -
support independent labels by buying the shit you like when you
can afford to do so. It's even better to buy from independent
distros and local record stores, because you're supporting those
people who make it more likely that the average person will have a
chance to sample the music you love (you can get big chains to
order stuff in, but it doesn't mean they'll continue to stock it).
I know that's all no-brainer stuff, but it's really important to
hammer these things home. The big hulking beast that is the major
label music industry is in trouble (of its own making), and it's
responding by lashing out in ways which are only making its own
situation worse. Unforunately, it's hurting all labels, large and
small, and we need to help the smaller ones ride this dark period
out.
I like to imagine a day in the future when the hyper-exploitative,
totally-driven-by-money-not-art end of the music business has
thrashed itself to death, leaving an even playing field for
smaller labels to dictate their own rules. Until then, people like
Jeff have to keep fighting the good fight, and they're at a major
disadvantage.
To everyone running, working for, or releasing stuff through small
labels, I salute you. That goes for self-releasers, too. Keep
fighting for a system that rewards artists fairly for their work!
-- kanji
P.S. Apologies for the length of this, my first email to the list.
I usually don't have an appropriate forum for my views on this
topic, and it all kind of spilled out in one go.
'Whenever I read _Time_ or _Newsweek_ or such magazines, I wash my
hands afterward. But how to wash off the small but odious stain
such reading leaves on the mind?'
-- Edward Abbey
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