Chris Anderson: “Labels The Least Important Part”
"We wrongly
correlated, or equated, the music industry with the record labels. It now
turns out in fact that the labels are now the least important part. If you
look at the rest of the industry now, from the bands to the fans from Apple
to tour promoters, everyone’s doing OK, except for the labels. So there’s
really nothing wrong with the music industry; we’re just redefining what it
is."
– "Free" author Chris Anderson in an interview with Times UK
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It is a huge mistake to count the labels out or discount them. They’ve got deep catalogs of assets that will generate money for decades to come. How they generate that money, and what a record label is, also is being redefined. Unfortunately this isn’t being done at a pace which is comfortable for anyone other than the labels.
I sat on panels in the mid-90’s where CD Now, N2K and many others said “labels don’t matter”. Most of those companies are gone and the labels are still here. In the new DIY world, artists will still need operational support, marketing, and investment. This will be provided by next-gen service companies – aka a record label, redefined. The business relationship between the artist and label will be very different, the services largely the same.
The “labels are dead” hype may sell newspapers, but a more realistic and productive line of conversation would be “how should a modern record company operate to best service an artist and their fans?” But as Anderson doesn’t know shit about what a label does, it’s much easier to spew the same old message.
Artists need the space to create. Self actualization is great, right up until the point when you have to stuff 2,000 envelopes full of T-shirts, or contact 20 blogs to review your new record, or assemble the parts and metadata required to make a digital product go live with a DSP or retailer. Helping an artist do all this stuff so they can focus on making records and playing live is what a redefined record label will be all about.
Wrong, Anderson. Judging from the changes over the last ten years, wholesale distributors are the least important part. Physical retailers are the next least important part. Recording studios are far less important than in previous decades. But record labels? They still matter. For some artists with very modest goals, record labels don’t matter (and are still out of reach, as they have always been). For legacy acts with a fan base, record labels may not matter since few people care about their new recordings that they can self-release. For everybody else, record labels absolutely matter.
Old Record Guy:
Thats the most wise words I’ve seen in a long time!!
I think the whole dicussion is so “white and black” because WHAT is a records label? There are so many different types of labels and in the end succesful artists needs support with a lot of different stuff. And maybe the intelligent label knows how to print merchandise cheaper than the band? And printing, distribution all because the do it with a lot of bands… Competence is the keyword. And that doesn’t matter weather you call it a label or not…
Anderson is so wrong…. he’s a cliche, and not a real music fan…. “everyone’s doing OK” oh yeah? ask the thousands of retailers that are out of business….ask the hundreds of acts that could be big stars but have no one to put venture capital behind them… “nothing wrong with the industry” oh yeah? hasn’t he noticed the dearth of memorable new albums? they died along with the labels
Record Labels do a lot more than just selling records. Regardless of whether or not a band is on a label, the work must still be done by somebody. The bottom line is that there will always be battle-lines drawn between labels and tech, because their agendas are completely different.
This directly contradicts a previous posting:
“A2IM Charts A Course For The Future Of Indie Music”
Where one of the main points of the article is – “LABELS MATTER.”
I think labels matter to lesser-known artists, however, for artists like Radiohead or Prince, the fanbase is already in place.
I think you all misinterpreted this quote. He didn’t state that labels are dead, and in fact having just read his latest book FREE, he doesn’t share that sentiment. He even offers the business and label model china is using (a country riddled with piracy) as a potential base for new models to look at. And reading that quote fully, it would seems he is implying our current idea of what a label is is least important, we need to redefine the industry,
Glenn, wholesalers or lets just say physical distribution is not the least important. Physical sales are still healthy, albeit not the cash cow they used to be. But have a look at places like CDBaby, or how vinyl is coming back. Digital is more convenient and probably the choice for 80% of consumers, but physical still holds a place.
I however agree that we do need to start to ink out just what a new age label encompasses in the next few years, if we are going to even start moving towards it.
Hopefully the days of major labels as slave owners are over. Very few musicians signed to any major labels ever actually make any money! Yes, musicians like Sting, Clapton, etc. make lots of money because they sell lots of product. Unfortunately, more modest bands/musicians end up beholden to the labels for recording costs, promotions costs, producers fees, etc. While the labels may have the machinery to promote & distribute, the unfortunate musician ends up being little more than a debtor to the label and at the end of the day makes little more than they would working at McDonalds.
In the end, the internet and home recording have allowed many musicians to bypass owing a major label money for the rest of their lives, and actually make more money, even on a smaller basis, by being mostly debt free and getting a much larger (and fairer) piece of the pie.
On top of this, the major labels keep shooting themselves in the foot over piracy/P2P/downloading and then blaming the public for their inept ways. No, their importance has diminished greatly and will continue to until they get with the times and stop being so greedy.
How are the bands going to get across the country or afford to get paid $250 a night to open for a headliner without tour support. How will you listen to music in your car or on your iphone if recorded music is not is replaced by poorly recorded live shows. The entire system will crumble if you remove the base support system. Labels and their risk investments. Bands now have to tour 365 days a year to make a living. Someone better figure out how to revive the label system or lose it all.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Doesn’t even need explanation.
i like where your head is at. this is a great response and comment about the usefulness of the label.
in addition, i would just say that there is another function to be performed by the label and is the reason that a label is still called a label. that is the filtering role, a label carefully combs the infinite sea of musical creativity. the tools to create music are so accessible, the desire to create music so widespread that without labels serving as filters we would have an even tougher time finding the music we love. surely seo recommendation and other technologies will play a part, but labels will always be a part of the process.
I agree with Old Record Guy. As long as the label is playing square with the artist, that is. There will always be a place for GOOD record labels. Problem is, most labels, especially the majors, are so clueless that they do more harm than good.
But seriously, no artist I know personally can put together the kind of marketing budget independently that a good solid label can.
Not to mention all the administrative work that goes on behind the scenes.
Record labels are just falling way behind in their account for technology, the rise of social media, and the importance of direct-to-fan contact. I think in the future a record labels success will be its ability to act as a community manager.
Even that being said, the tools are available for artists to easily manage almost all aspects of the business. Check out these 15 useful web tools which cover band management, tour management, digital distribution, promotion, and analytics…….labels….who needs them anyway?
…Good morning everyone…as to “record labels” the term offers up a wide variety of interpretations both past, present and future. I was fortunate enough to have worked at Swan Song Records from 1975 until Bonzo passed away. The label was artist owned and was run by a genius of a manager in Peter Grant and their business/legal administrator, Stevens H. Weiss, another genius in his own right. Since then, I’ve worked with artists in a managerial capacity, also open to interpretation, with just about every major label and a few mid-level companies as well.
Size aside, it is the unique quality of the personnel who populate the company that you work with to make, distribute, market and sell your recorded musical works that makes for defining moments.
As a whole, record companies don’t dominate the marketplace as before because creative people can do alot of what the old style labels used to do…most importantly, distribute the works for sale. Let’s all say a big YEAH for the Internet.
Again, wires aside, the points of connection, which are usually truly unique human beings, make up the value of the company with which you work.
Look under the hood…see what makes the engine roar..then make a decision as to who, when and how you work with in the role of “record company.”
As of this writing it means one thing….as soon as you read this…it will mean another. That is the music industry as we have come to know it…changing, changing, changing.
Have a good day….
Again….looking for a young truly southern rock band ala LS, AB, MT, OTLWS,, etc.
Good day, y’all
Mitchell Fox
mitchell.fox@comcast.net
Pop Like Barcelona: un disco 2.0
Un proyecto musical recopilatorio realizado a partir de los principios de colaboración de la Web 2.0.
Que Internet ha cambiado el modelo de distribución de la música, es algo que hemos escuchado muchas veces. En este caso encontramos un ejemplo de un original proyecto musical basado en los conceptos de la Web 2.0
Se trata de Pop Like Barcelona, un disco recopilatorio que se ha producido a partir de la cooperación de diferentes personas, que se han encargado de las labores que tradicionalmente realizaban las discográficas: línea artística, producción, distribución, promoción y administración.
El disco reúne a 19 artistas de diferentes partes del mundo, cuyas obras han sido seleccionadas por tener relación con Barcelona. El objetivo es que el conjunto del disco forme una especie de banda sonora que recree diferentes estilos y ambientes de la capital catalana.
Las canciones se pueden comprar en formato mp3 a través de iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon MP3 o Rhapsody, entre otras tiendas digitales, al precio de 8,99 euros, o dólares en EEUU. Hasta la fecha se han vendido 300 copias, incluyendo singles y el álbum completo.
Para la promoción del proyecto se ha utilizado, como no, las redes sociales. Una página en Facebook tiene más de 1.000 seguidores, y también hay un canal de vídeos en YouTube, El proyecto también tiene presencia en Twitter, Friendfeed, Noovo, Tumbrl, iLike, Last FM, Mystrands, Sondcloud o Netvibes.
Pascual López es el impulsor de Pop Like Barcelona desde CasiMusica.com/, una productora digital que pone a disposición de artistas y compositores las herramientas necesarias para sacar adelante su proyecto artístico. Para ello ofrece tres modalidades:
* Editorial Online: valoración y presentación de canciones para su selección a repertorios de artistas.
* Sello Digital: el proyecto musical se incorpora a las principales tiendas digitales (iTunes, Amazon etc.).
* Comunicación Digital: crear y editar el perfil artístico en las principales redes sociales, con audio, video e imagen.
La productora se ha encargado también de gestionar todos los derechos de las canciones como editorial musical, administrando el copyright con la SGAE. Los ingresos que genere el disco se repartirán al 50% entre los artistas y la productora, que a su vez los reinvertirá en futuros proyectos.
http://poplikebarcelona.blogspot.com