Unsigned Artists

With record sales on the decline, there will be major changes that need to happen in the music industry. Here are a few of my ideas;

I think that a lot of independent studios will hit the wall as the majority of musicians, good and bad, will use more a home studio. They will just use a recording studio to put acoustic sounds that perhaps they couldn't get at home. However, because of this I can see the quality of recording go down, not necessarily because of the fault of adequate equipment, but because the artist will not hear the recording from a music producers' point of view. See my article "Reasons for Contracting a Music Producer" :

http://www.marketingyourmusic.net/mat107.htm

I think that with this, the quality in general will decline and it will become more difficult to find the good quality stuff amongst the crud. I'm sure that you will hear more bad recordings than clear ones as time passes.

I don't believe that major recording companies will not go under. I think they will have to adjust their business model to be more regional and have local people on the ground.

Before, the concert was used to promote the record, now the record will need to promote the concert, so there will have to be a shift in the focal point of the companies' marketing from a mass globalized one to a more fragmented one that will capture local artists and use the weight of the recording companies' assets to promote and control the local music scene, wherever you are. In other words, all the succesful local bands in New York would be contracted by a major recording company and all the successful local bands in New Delhi would be contracted by the same company.

It will be the investment of the company in the artist that will get them the exposure to make these artists "successful" and also control the most important venues, so that the majority of the return of investment comes more from ticket sales, merchandizing and even rentals of venues, than the sale of actual records, even though the records will still be sold in the normal, albeit reduced number of, outlets.

I think that there will be a huge opening in the management market as these changes take place, initially as independent cells, eventually forming larger groups in regions, even countries.

I also think that as this moves forward, there could be an opening for more diverse types of band / artist as local people are more diverse than a global market, in other words the local markets will need to be satisfied instead of a principal national market for each country.

However, this shouldn't be seen as giving the artists / bands a free reign to do whatever they like, if they are wanting to make music their career, they will have to comply with what the management companies need (will management companies receive the same stigma as record companies do now?).

But with all this said and done, musicians who wish to become professional need to understand the business side of their music and not just the art side and understand how to market their music, themselves and stand out more in their local areas.

Best regards,

Steve Allen

P.S. To sample my production, check out: http://www.cdbaby.com/recifefest

Steve Allen is consultant and music producer. Author of "Marketing Your Music – Success Strategies", "Personal Management in the Music Industry" and "Street Teams – Expand your Fan Base"

http://www.marketingyourmusic.net

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