Hate and the Music Industry

It's no secret. The music industry has a bit of a problem with its public image. Yesterday I spotted two articles that exemplify the problem.

One was "Why Everybody Hates The Music Industry" by TechWeb's Fredric Paul. Written after Paul read Forrester Research's "Music Lessons: Is Your Industry At Risk?" report, the article traces the music industry's recent stumbles not to Forrester's conclusion — the "rigid monopoly-oriented thinking behavior" of media monocultures — but to the fact that everybody hates record labels.

"Musicians hate them for habitually sucking the creativity out of the music and the profits from the CD sales. Usually they do it legally, if not morally, but all too often naïve musicians with few options end up swindled out of their rightful earnings. And music lovers—don't call us consumers; music can't be consumed—see the record companies as greedy, clueless profiteers quick to jack up prices while placing limits on what music gets released and how you can listen to it."

Mixed in with common mythology (record labels "add little real value to the process of creating and distributing music," the irrelevance of which label an artist is on) are some very valid and substantive arguments — although they're mostly the bullet points taken from the Forrester's report. In the five stages of death and dying, the music industry is around stage four: depression. The strategies aren't going so well, he writes, and it's getting them down. Next will come acceptance "as the industry tries new download services."

I'm not sure depression is accurate because (a) the industry has been given new optimism from the Grokster decision and P2P companies' sudden willingness to play ball, and (b) I think it's too stubborn to admit yet that a rethinking of strategy may be a good idea. There's little that hints to remorse over a failed policy (at least publicly) and a lot of hints that there's a strong resolution to stay the course.

Paul's article was well though out and not nearly as judgmental as most. It certainly wasn't as judgmental and lopsided as "Music Industry Is Monopoly" op-ed in The Current, the newspaper of the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Though it shows a fundamental lack of perspective and insight, this should worry the industry much more than Paul's article. If labels want to know what a young college student thinks of their industry, go no further. Op-ed author Zach Meyer uses payola as a basis for his rant.

"Thanks to major music label industries and greedy communication companies, the radio waves are not what they could, or should, be. Independent record-based bands are scarcely heard and even big time acts receive a diminutive amount of the royalties. And yet, this blasphemy as has been occurring for years."

Article Author: Glenn Peoples

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