Are artists at the bottom of the food chain? – Yes.

Would a major label sign Johnny Cash today? – Probably not.

Moreover, piracy is, “perhaps the most emotionally gut-wrenching problem” facing performers today and while, “Suing kids is not what artists want,” many of them “feel betrayed by fans who claim to love artists but still want their music free,” says Eagles’ lead singer Don Henley in his Washington Post story Killing the Music.

However, emphasises Henley who’s a Recording Artists’ Coalition founding member, the music industry must also take a large amount of blame for this piracy because not only did it not address the issue sooner, “it provided the P2P users with a convenient scapegoat”.

Things were once very different, Henley states in his unequivocal condemnation of the way the music ‘business’ is run in the 21st century.

He says when he started with the Eagles, music was important and vital. Artists connected with their fans, labels signed cutting-edge artists and FM radio offered an incredible variety of music.

Today, “Record labels are suing children for using unauthorized peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing systems. Only a few artists ever hear their music on the radio, yet radio networks are battling Congress over ownership restrictions. Independent music stores are closing at an unprecedented pace. And the artists seem to be at odds with just about everyone – even the fans.

Music is now a commodity and the music business is in crisis but, “Contrary to conventional wisdom, the root problem is not the artists, the fans or even new Internet technology. The problem is the music industry itself. It’s systemic.

“The industry, which was once composed of hundreds of big and small record labels, is now controlled by just a handful of unregulated, multinational corporations determined to continue their mad rush toward further consolidation and merger. Sony and BMG announced their agreement to merge in November, and EMI and Time Warner may not be far behind.

“The industry may soon be dominated by only three multinational corporations.”

The executives who run Big Music fail to recognize that music is as much a vital art form and social barometer as it is a way to make a profit, he says, continuing that once, artists were able to developed meaningful, if soetimes strained, relationships with their labels “because labels were relatively small and accessible and had an incentive to join with the artists in marketing their music.

Today, says Henley, music is a commodity, a fact conmfirmed recently when a major record label president confirmed referred to artists as ‘content providers.’

“Labels no longer take risks by signing unique and important new artists, nor do they become partners with artists in the creation and promotion of the music,” he says. “After the music is created, the artist’s connection with it is minimized and in some instances is nonexistent. In their world, music is generic.

As far as radio was concerned, stations weree local and diverse and DJs programmed their own shows and developed close relationships with artists.

But, “Today radio stations are centrally programmed by their corporate owners, and airplay is essentially bought rather than earned,” Henley says.

“The floodgates have opened for corporations to buy an almost unlimited number of radio stations, as well as concert venues and agencies. The delicate balance between artists and radio networks has been dramatically altered; networks can now, and often do, exert unprecedented pressure on artists.

“Whatever connection the artists had with their music on the airwaves is almost totally gone.”

Music stores used to be magical places offering wide variety, he goes on, but Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target, the three largest music retailers, have limited shelf space, “making it harder for new artists to emerge,” and even established artists are troubled by stores using music as a loss leader, he observes.

“Smaller, more personalized record stores are closing all over the country – some because of rampant P2P piracy but many others because of competition from department stores that traditionally have no connection whatsoever with artists.”

And on piracy, artists like the idea of a new and better business model, but can’t accept a business model that uses their music without authority or compensation.

“Suing kids is not what artists want, but many of them feel betrayed by fans who claim to love artists but still want their music free.”

But Big Music must also take a large amount of blame for piracy, believes Henley, saying:

“Not only did the industry not address the issue sooner, it provided the P2P users with a convenient scapegoat. Many kids rationalize their P2P habit by pointing out that only record labels are hurt – that the labels don’t pay the artists anyway. This is clearly wrong, because artists are at the bottom of the food chain. They are the ones hit hardest when sales take a nosedive and when the labels cut back on promotion, on signing new artists and on keeping artists with potential.

“Artists are clearly affected, yet because many perceive the music business as being dominated by rich multinational corporations, the pain felt by the artist has no public face.”

Artists, though, are finally realizing their predicament is no different from that of any other group with common economic and political interests, Henley goes on – “They can no longer just hope for change; they must fight for it. Washington is where artists must go to plead their case and find answers.

“So whether they are fighting against media and radio consolidation, fighting for fair recording contracts and corporate responsibility, or demanding that labels treat artists as partners and not as employees, the core message is the same: The artist must be allowed to join with the labels and must be treated in a fair and respectful manner. If the labels are not willing to voluntarily implement these changes, then the artists have no choice but to seek legislative and judicial solutions.

The answer? Artists must, “regain control, as much as possible, over their music”.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2004 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

HOME

Viewed 2699 times