Death of the record label
The RIAA is fighting a losing battle. Supposedly protecting the interests of the artists, in actuality, defending the record labels themselves. Now some of the biggest names in the industry are rising up against the labels. But they’re not just the ‘biggest’ in the industry; they’re the real artists, the shining light of truth in the eyes and ears of their listeners.
It began with Radiohead, now free of any contractual obligation to a record company. In a revolutionary move, they opted to distribute their latest album for free online, expecting to make money from concert tickets and merchandise. It was a smashing success, google traffic for the band increased ten-fold a week after the announcement.
Now bands like Oasis, Jamiroquai and Nine Inch Nails are expected to follow suit. Recently, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails made headlines in a big way when he defied his record label and told fans to steal his music. Download it, rip it, whatever it took, he did not expect them to pay the exorbitant fee the label was charging for his albums.
Dave Peters, front man of the hardcore metal band Throwdown, of Ozzfest fame, recently wrote in a letter that he has a hard time seeing it as stealing when they don’t see any money from the CD sales to begin with. He goes on to write, “If you wanna really support a band, ‘steal’ their album… help bury the label… and buy a t-shirt when you show up at their show and sing every word.”
It’s clear. The record labels are not cultivating a positive atmosphere for consumers. Album sales have been dropping since the advent of the digital age. The labels are questioning how to deal with this changing market so they rocket up album prices. Of course this simply spurns consumers and convinces them to download even more. To top it all off, the record labels see all the downloading and attempt to crack down with a plethora of lawsuits.
The label’s actions only alienate the fan base even further, decreasing the likelihood they’ll ever buy an album. It’s a recursive loop. What’s an artist to do?
Of course, when you have loyal fans that just want to buy the albums and support the band, record labels keep increasing prices and an increasing amount of fans become disillusioned. Therefore, the artists are placed in a precarious position because loyalty is to their fan base.
The record labels are refusing to adapt, I believe many artists are beginning to get the right idea and adapt themselves.
Looking at it briefly, it may seem there are instances where the old system still works for the labels. Take for instance, industry insider Bob Lefsetz’s analysis on Kanye West. Kanye’s been pushing a mountain of albums. The problem is he’s practically on his knees begging for people to buy them. He also has global media fawning over him, trying to promote a rapper that’s not a killer. Of course this has nothing to do with artistry and everything to do with the recording industry’s attempt to control their product.
Take in contrast Trent Reznor, he begs for nothing, instead preaches against his record label at a mere gig. He becomes immortalized for frankness and honesty. Instead of the media pushing his statements, you have the fans, the real consumer base pushing it via youtube across the globe.
It is ironic seeing an industry that so prides itself on trends, always following the currents of culture yet it doesn’t understand why people don’t want to buy CDs anymore. The record labels just don’t realize the face of user demand is changing. Unwilling to change and unwilling to compromise, they unleash a firestorm of piracy related pre-litigation letters alienating their own consumer base.
The death of the record label is inevitable. Yet with many big artists now becoming independents, it’s exciting to see where the industry is going. A system pushed by the consumers for the consumers.