A rapidly progressing development of computer software and digital download sites gave artists the tools they need to create and post music, though there was still the ever present issue of marketing and promotion. Traditionally, there is no way that an individual could sell themselves without corporate backing – like a golden ticket into the collusive world of those who produce the media and those who sell and air it.

But the revolution could not be contained. Pushing forth, fueled by another unceasing force working hand in hand with consumer capitalism, technological advancement allowed the next evolutionary step in the process to occur. YouTube, MySpace – these sites brought self-publishing to the artist like never before. Stand aside, Viacom, with your outdated MTV! Move over Clear Channel and your 1200 radio stations across the country! Digital music and streaming video are on the scene and music will never be the same again. Now, instead of endless hours spent in front of televisions sets, the TV tuned to MTV, the kid waiting in hopes that his favorite rock video will make an appearance that day on Headbangers Ball; that same kid can see his favorite band playing over and over with one click of a mouse on YouTube.

With bands like the Artic Monkey, the Libertines, and O.K. Go leading the way, releasing free digital music and creating their own videos, the first real shots across the bow of the Big 4 were fired.

Currently, artists are predominately using the Web to promote themselves into record contracts with the Big 4, but this is a trend that will change as the medium expands and the technology evolves. As artists become more self reliant and digital music becomes more of a standard format, the need for record companies can conceivably shrink to the point where they are literally a nearly-useless entity. But will the Big 4 stand by and allow this to happen?

The Inevitability

As in every industry that does business inside the U.S., the global corporate influence is always looming on the horizon. Perhaps the first sign that the Big 4 will eventually take control once again occurred when Google swooped down from atop their pious – "we're not Microsoft" – mountain top and bought up YouTube. While right now Google still maintains some semblance of its former "cool corporate" facade, the reality is that, while corporate American might not have much in the way of foresight when it comes to cultural trends, they are able to smell profit when the early returns are in. Soon enough, the mediums that initiated the revolution will be bought, violated like a Roman prostitute, and spewed back onto the public – a shallow shell of its former self.

It is the constant tug of war between culture and consumerism. The capitalist, consumer culture entrancing the masses; the looming corporate conglomerates thirsting for the demand of the consumer, hawking its supply, tailor made for the hordes — and the defenders of culture demanding that free expression survive amid conditions that stifle it; the two sides locked in a state of eternal contention. To make money or maintain dignity? To sell to the masses or create amazing art? These are the questions that are asked – rather esoterically – when, in reality, there is no alternative to capitalism, no way to truly change the system and, therefore, in the case of big business, there is only one true answer to those questions.