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KEEPING
THE FAITH
The dilema facing artists in an ever-changing music industry
by Bob McCoy
Once upon a time, it was simple: Form a band. Rehearse. Get
some gigs. Work hard. Build up a local following. Maybe record
a demo to send out to record companies. Decorate bedroom wall
with rejection letters from said companies. Work real hard.
Sign with an unknown indie label. Get ripped off but learn
from the experience. Keep working real hard. Eventually attract
the attention of someone in A&R at a major label that
may lead to a bone fide recording contract. What happens after
that depends on a number of factors; talent, temperament,
luck & how many units the band can sell for the major
label to keep them on board the gravy train.
That was then & this is now. The face of the music biz
& the recording industry in particular has changed beyond
all recognition in the past few years. Some of these changes
have been embraced by the indie artist as a way to create
a more level playing field when competing against the major
labels. However, the playing field is looking increasingly
more like a minefield. Someone has moved the goalposts to
the point that no-one is really sure where they are anymore.
This article is not meant to be a doomsday scenario but a
personal opinion on the changes & how they effect the
driving force within all creative artists which makes them
'keep the faith'. Faith in what? Personal ability, certainly.
But it goes way beyond an egocentric core. Before addressing
this question, it is necessary to review the changes that
have occured:
Living in Nashville, I have observed the current crisis within
the industry & the two opposite viewpoints. On one side,
many music critics, writing for various publications, bemoan
the quality of major label product & lack of desire to
promote talented artists that do not fit into any particular
mainstream market. On the other side, the major labels plead
that they cannot afford to promote such artists because of
falling record sales, which they blame wholly on the 'piracy'
practised on the internet both by Napsteresque organizations
& all individuals engaged in file sharing. Between those
two opposite viewpoints there is a Black Hole which neither
side seem capable of or are willing to comprehend. To understand
this Black Hole, let us go back to the mid-80s.By then, the
7inch vinyl single, which had been the big money maker of
the 50s & 60s, had been reduced to nothing more than a
promotional calling card. Even sales of the 12inch LP had
leveled off from the halcyon years of the 70s. The record
industry needed a new format & they found it in the compact
disc which heralded the advent of the digital revolution.
The technology companies that perfected the compact disc &
the cd player also needed the major labels to sell the concept
to the general public. In the case of companies like Sony
of Japan & Philips of Eindhoven, with their feet firmly
in both industries, it was of double importance to make the
new technology succeed. And succeed it did, thanks to a massive
'brain-washing' campaign with radio DJs around the globe extolling
the virtues of the new format over vinyl (don't tell me payola
does not exist)! An added bonus for the major labels was that,
because the format was so new, they could charge twice the
price of a vinyl LP knowing full well that the cost of production
would eventually be far less than pressing albums in the old
vinyl format.
At the beginning of the 90s, the majors with offices here
in Nashville, enjoyed an extra income boom period when country
artists like Garth Brooks & Shania Twain crossed over
into the mainstream pop 1
market, racking up sales that brought big smiles to the faces
of record executives but it also blinkered most of them to
what was happening under the surface. The technology developers,
who had been working hand-in-glove with the record companies,
were also pursuing their own profit making agenda including
software for use in the ever expanding computer market. When
Microsoft introduced its Windows format for home computers,
it encouraged a whole generation to embrace this 'new age'
technology. Music recording software, at first very rudimentary
allowing only the use of midi, quickly improved to include
audio vocal & instrument recording so that anyone with
a modicum of musical talent & the ability to run a computer
program could produce sounds far superior to 4-track analog
home recordings. It is true that the majors also accepted
this software, using Cubase, Cakewalk & Pro-Tools but
always thinking that they could do it 'better' than the home
based enthusiast & that this knowledge still gave them
'control' of the industry.
While all this was going on, a subtle change was occuring
in the way that the consumers viewed recorded music. The CD
format made it possible for pop lifestyle magazines to include
recordings in certain issues for the the same price, meaning
that the recorded music was a 'give-away'. Imagine the cost
& packaging problems of including a 12inch vinyl album
as part of a magazine promotional issue a decade earlier?
This concept was lampooned by the British adult comic, Viz,
in '91 when their "2005 Issue" included Phil Collins'
latest album on page such & such. Turning to the relevant
page, the reader was confronted with a neatly printed cut-out
strip, supposedly digitally impregnated, which could be played
through the latest digital paper strip player. The underlying
message was clear; when a product is cheapened to such a degree,
it becomes irrelevant. Add to this, the internet, MP3, peer
2 peer file sharing & CD burners & the result is pretty
obvious: If it's available, people will grab it for instant
gratification. And why not? The industry has been cheapening
music for years in the name of synergy. What is more important,
the music of Britney Spears or Pepsi Cola? Does either have
any real importance? This is the Black Hole to which I refer.
The great, yawning gap between what both sides of the fence,
the music critics & the record labels, think that the
public WANT & what the public feel they NEED to compliment
their 21st Century lifestyle.
So, this is the dilema that artists find themselves in today,
trying to build their careers on shifting sands. Many utilise
the current technology that affords possibilities not available
in years gone by. The major record labels look like dying
dinosaurs. Some of us may gloat at their passing but there
is an uneasy feeling to all of this. The route to a major
record deal may have been tortuous & corrupt but, if there
is no 'Land of Nirvana' anymore, in what direction does one
steer the ship? Put another way, digging for diamonds is fine
but what if there is no longer any market for those diamonds?
Does one keep digging in the hope that diamonds will again,
one day, become a sort after commodity? There are no answers
in this article, only questions which are open for the readers
comment & personal viewpoint.
This is all very interesting, you may say, but what has it
to do with Keeping The Faith? And what is Keeping The Faith?
Well, the way I see it, it is an invisible chain that goes
back to the likes of Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly & Jimmie
Rodgers who wrote & sang music for the common people.
It is the same chain that caused The Beatles to work endless
hours in dingy Hamburg nightclubs. It is the same chain that
kept Bruce Springsteen on the road through his drawn-out court
battle with his first manager, Mike Appel. It is the same
chain that makes Ryan Adams, The Strokes, The White Stripes,
The Hives & The Vines do what they do today. All of us
musicians, good, bad or indifferent, are part of that chain.
No matter how small our link may be, it is an inborn obligation
to polish it until it shines as brightly as it can. When a
link ceases to shine, it becomes rusty & will eventually
break. 2
My hope for future generations is that they will retain that
excitement in tuning up their guitars (or whatever instrument
is in vogue), doing the soundcheck so they will sound the
best that they can be & when they step out on stage know
that they are Keeping The Faith! I can't say it any better
than these lines from Jackson Browne's song, The Load Out:
"And these towns all look the same/We just pass the time
in our hotel rooms/And wander 'round backstage/Till those
lights come down & we hear the crowd/And we remember WHY
WE CAME".
copyright 2003
Bobbysox Music
The writer is a record producer/BMI songwriter/musician living
in Nashville, TN
Artist Profile:
Bobbysox Music Project
Email: bobbysox@darkhorsemail.net
Web: http://www.freendly.com/Bobbysox
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