# Music Industry Decline



## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

A good read on the decline of the music industry.
_
"It’s a weird time to be a musician as we try to come to terms with music industry decline.


Never before has being a musician been so under-valued as an art-form or a career choice, and I think it’s probably going to get a little bit worse before it gets better.


So you have a choice – do you hang in there and keep plugging away, or just give up now and concede defeat to save yourself the imminent struggles of the years ahead?"_

http://tadtheapp.com/music-industry-decline/


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Some good points there.
I'm not seeking a career in music--but it is quite different than what it was like even a few years ago--and much more than when I was in my teens & 20s.

Fortunately there are options--and unfortunately the corporate side has always been there


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Good riddance American Idol. Maybe that will be a step in the right direction if it's the whole genre and not just that particular show getting killed off.


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

Hm, kind of a disappointing article really. It's the same whine and it is the whine of someone who simply doesn't get it. The artists you hear on the radio - they can sing and they can play instruments. They get to play instruments and show their vocal skill at concerts. And the "true vocal talents" that they want to point to are too often dross. That is, they are pretty terrible and sound like they have purposely avoided any vocal training.

This article reads like someone whining about having to avoid doing the work to get to a well paid career in music.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

zontar said:


> Some good points there.
> I'm not seeking a career in music--but it is quite different than what it was like even a few years ago--and much more than when I was in my teens & 20s.
> 
> Fortunately there are options--and unfortunately the corporate side has always been there


Interesting you should say there are options, I found this other article on the same site...

*10 Ways To Improve Local Gigs*

http://tadtheapp.com/local-gigs/


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

jimsz said:


> Interesting you should say there are options, I found this other article on the same site...
> 
> *10 Ways To Improve Local Gigs*
> 
> http://tadtheapp.com/local-gigs/


'Tis a better article.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

To some extent it's true, most people are conditioned to believe that the only guitarists that worth going to see now are the "shredders"


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

amagras said:


> To some extent it's true, most people are conditioned to believe that the only guitarists that worth going to see now are the "shredders"


I don't think that's true at all. Very few outside of fellow guitarists give a shit about anyone who can shred, let alone well enough to get accolades for it. 

The problem: artists still don't get paid much.

Solution: finding new ways to get paid, and trying not to let the execs take over those methods. See: VIP packages from bigger touring acts.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

Then why Scott Henderson still plays in bars and Satriani fills big venues?


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

amagras said:


> Then why Scott Henderson still plays in bars and Satriani fills big venues?


that's a million dollar question for sure. 

Part 2 - Why when you go to the states and you say the name Colin James do they look at you like your head is on crooked and say "who?"


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## johnnyshaka (Nov 2, 2014)

Hasn't "starving artist" been a stereotype forever?

The more things change, the more they stay the same.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Lincoln said:


> that's a million dollar question for sure.
> 
> Part 2 - Why when you go to the states and you say the name Colin James do they look at you like your head is on crooked and say "who?"


Maybe they remember him as Colin Muntz? 

I notice when I order a Caesar down there, they bring me a bowl of lettuce. And they think Bud is beer. Go figure!


On a serious note, could this possibly be because we are just at the end of an era where musicians got much more respect than the artist community in general does? The 60's, 70's, even 80's made musicians into gods, world famous even in places that didn't have our culture. I can't name a half dozen painters or sculpters from the last 5 decades. Are muso's just coming off a bubble? Maybe we didn't know how good we had it?


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

Lincoln said:


> that's a million dollar question for sure.
> 
> Part 2 - Why when you go to the states and you say the name Colin James do they look at you like your head is on crooked and say "who?"


That's an Easy one: 

Colin made the *gigantic mistake* of signing with a Canadian based recording company. Canadian Recording companies then and still are abject failures at promoting their artists outside of Canada. Also the USA generally tends to reject Canadian rock acts in favour of a made is USA approach to their lifestyle. Unless of course they do not realize that a performer is Canadian until after they like them. Beiber/Weekend/Carley Rae Jepson. 

The best Example of a Canadian Act being promoted properly that I can remember is: The Jeff Healey Band. 
They were flat out rejected because Canadian based labels felt that blues rock was too poor sales wise to justify the effort, So Jeff went to the States...............y'know the rest.

The Barenaked Ladies are another band that enjoyed more success outside of Canada than in it for many many years. Thanks to another Canadian in a position to promote the band in Los Angeles, They had their music heard on the original 90210 thanks to Vancouver born actor Jason Preistly who like the band
Plus the Band Name and the fact they're amazing pop music writers had a little more to do with it as well.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

The "business" is very much alive. Distribution of profits is another topic entirely, and not unlike many other businesses.


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

djmarcelca said:


> That's an Easy one:
> 
> Colin made the *gigantic mistake* of signing with a Canadian based recording company. Canadian Recording companies then and still are abject failures at promoting their artists outside of Canada. Also the USA generally tends to reject Canadian rock acts in favour of a made is USA approach to their lifestyle. Unless of course they do not realize that a performer is Canadian until after they like them. Beiber/Weekend/Carley Rae Jepson.
> 
> ...


Canadian recording companies have a difficult time promoting artists internationally because it often means you have to set up a branch office in the United States, especially when it comes to handling copyrights. What is much easier to do is to have the recording company convince a record company in the United States to sign them on. Or, alternatively, the artist heads to the US (or UK depending on what style they prefer to do) to convince the A&Rs there themselves.

Also, very few record labels in Canada specialise in the blues and therefore if you are a blues musician in Canada, you will likely be heading to the United States to convince them yourself. It's just how it works. Some genres are specialised in Canada. EBM in North America in the 80s was dominated by Nettwerk based out of Vancouver. If an American wanted to sell house records in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s, you either signed with Trax Records in Chicago or you went to Bigshot in Toronto. Minimal techno is another one; you sent tapes to Windsor, Ontario to have music published by Plus 8 records in the early 90s as the big labels in Netherlands, UK, and Germany demanded melodies while those in Detroit specified they needed jazziness and funkiness.


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## djmarcelca (Aug 2, 2012)

Xelebes said:


> Canadian recording companies have a difficult time promoting artists internationally because it often means you have to set up a branch office in the United States, especially when it comes to handling copyrights. What is much easier to do is to have the recording company convince a record company in the United States to sign them on. Or, alternatively, the artist heads to the US (or UK depending on what style they prefer to do) to convince the A&Rs there themselves.
> 
> Also, very few record labels in Canada specialise in the blues and therefore if you are a blues musician in Canada, you will likely be heading to the United States to convince them yourself. It's just how it works. Some genres are specialised in Canada. EBM in North America in the 80s was dominated by Nettwerk based out of Vancouver. If an American wanted to sell house records in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s, you either signed with Trax Records in Chica.


Not opening a branch in the US.
They absolutely should have brand/divisional offices in the US or UK. 
Why trust someone else to promote your talent for only a smaller fee rather than promote their own artist and make the whole fee?
Seems simple to me.

Unfortunately doing things as they were done in the 80's and 90's doesn't cut it anymore. 
Thats the whole purpose of this thread. 
The system has failed to keep up and the biggest victims are the artist's.......still


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

johnnyshaka said:


> Hasn't "starving artist" been a stereotype forever?
> 
> The more things change, the more they stay the same.


Yes, the starving artist has been a stereotype for a very long time.

BUT - you used to be able to make an OK living as a gigging musician in North America. I remember when it was the norm for a band to have a week long gig at a club. Every night except Sunday. With pay that was equivalent to a decent living wage.


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

djmarcelca said:


> Not opening a branch in the US.
> They absolutely should have brand/divisional offices in the US or UK.
> Why trust someone else to promote your talent for only a smaller fee rather than promote their own artist and make the whole fee?
> Seems simple to me.


Because there is risk and others have tried. I think the biggest successes of say Terry McBride in promoting Canadian artists in the US had to do with him promoting a unique sound that American labels were not selling but the American audience wanted. Hence why Nettwerk is the size it is. Anthem, Mint and Aquarius had significantly less success and so built relationships with American labels.

But yes, that is the 20th century. Not as pertinent to the topic this thread was started with.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

The music industry has been in decline ever since they started referring to it as an "industry."


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I wonder how many US music executives and such will find their names in the Panama Papers. Oh, that's why the musician's last royalty cheque was $3.37


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

Sneaky said:


> The music industry has been in decline ever since they started referring to it as an "industry."


So. . . the late 19th century?

[edit: wrong post quoted]


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Xelebes said:


> So. . . the late 19th century?


No,.... sarcasm


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## Xelebes (Mar 9, 2015)

Sorry, quoted the wrong post.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

It's been a long time since I have been to see a band. I remember a choice of several venues that were smoke filled bars with cheap drinks and a band that would just be killing it on any given weekend. Not many places to go see bands now, and smoke filled with cheap drinks, forget it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Well you haven't been able to smoke inside for years .


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

The economy is as much to blame as anything for the local scene. Most of the bars I've played over the last few years see people staying home and getting lit on a 24 from the store before coming out because they can't afford to drink at the bar. They show up after midnight and spend little. No $ spent_* at*_ the bar doesn't take long to become no $ spent _*by*_ the bar, and a MP3 player is always cheaper than live entertainment.

...and that's not even touching DUI, which I think people are getting more intelligent about.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Here's a great documentary that fits the subject. (Playlist in youtube)

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL326988C8D3A03ACE


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I think we need to accept that the period from the early 1950's to 1999 of selling large quantities of physical music was merely a blip in time.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

b-nads said:


> The economy is as much to blame as anything for the local scene. Most of the bars I've played over the last few years see people staying home and getting lit on a 24 from the store before coming out because they can't afford to drink at the bar. They show up after midnight and spend little. No $ spent_* at*_ the bar doesn't take long to become no $ spent _*by*_ the bar, and a MP3 player is always cheaper than live entertainment.
> 
> ...and that's not even touching DUI, which I think people are getting more intelligent about.


They might be more intelligent about it but a hell of a lot of people are still doing it. The DUI thing.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Electraglide said:


> They might be more intelligent about it but a hell of a lot of people are still doing it. The DUI thing.


True...

I know people who have lost their license for a year or more, and as soon as they get it back they're back to drinking and driving. 

I don't agree with their choices, but I think a lot of people are too set in their ways.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

I'm not disagreeing that people still do it, but I know people who have started to avoid going out so they don't end up doing it.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

butterknucket said:


> True...
> 
> I know people who have lost their license for a year or more, and as soon as they get it back they're back to drinking and driving.
> 
> I don't agree with their choices, but I think a lot of people are too set in their ways.


I think the "It won't happen to me" thinking is still around. Hell I used to think that way at times.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Electraglide said:


> I think the "It won't happen to me" thinking is still around. Hell I used to think that way at times.


Another big one for country folk "I only see a cop around here about once a year".


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Guitar101 said:


> Another big one for country folk "I only see a cop around here about once a year".


Yep.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Guitar101 said:


> Another big one for country folk "I only see a cop around here about once a year".


Until you roll out from a day of fishing or such one beer to many. Problem with living in a place with one local yokel is he knows who you are and knows where you live.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

The Yale Hotel in Vancouver has long been a standard blues venue holding Saturday afternoon jams as long as I can remember. They had renovations completed recently and started up the jam once again with Robbie Montgomery, local blues guitarist. He was informed after last Saturday's session that effective immediately the jam is done with the reason being that they aren't making enough money, even though the jams have been packed. Go figure.


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