http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/09/02/music-industry-99-problems
 
As an artist/producer with no hat in the ring anymore, this is not news to me nor does it disturb me.  I am not in the "business of music" anymore.
 
However, as a musician concerned with the plight of musicians and musicianship, this is quite disturbing.  With the exception of a select few, it doesn't seem that music is viable anymore.  I quite understand that there are options other than "stardom" in music but I feel those arenas (commercials, scoring, etc.) fall under the category of the previously mentioned "select few".
 
Thoughts?

The enthusiasm of the many undiscovered artists for the new era of free access to the audience via the internet, misses the point that the exploitative and undemocratic big label system was what held the big prizes for winners of the music lottery. There are far more losers than ever before, as cheap and easy recording and uploading enables every kid with a computer and a guitar to unload his stuff to an enormous and largely un-remunerative cloud, but even the jackpot winners are hard pressed to find a payout under the new world order. "Popular" music may well be going the way of poetry, with artists paying for the opportunity to perform, and only the lucky few with jobs in academia having a shot a paying job related to their art.

It's bad in Los Angeles.

There's a handful of big studios that seem to be doing well but dozens of small and medium size studios have gone out of business in the last few years.

I know a few musicians making decent money in tribute bands; but good luck if you're an unknown band playing original music. You'll probably have to guarantee 200 seats in order to get a non-paying gig.

More and more movie studios and television stations are using libraries to lease music and even placement in major motion pictures means very little money. 

It's getting tough out there.

The new crooks are worse than the old crooks.

That is an abysmally written article.

jamesg1213
That is an abysmally written article.

How so?  Please elaborate. 

Sure.
 
''The music recording is failing.'' I assume there's at least one missing word there, otherwise it makes absolutely no sense.
 
''There is little evidence to suggest that this downfall is being made up by touring, merchandising, or other non-recording activities.''
 
Downfall? Downturn or shortfall, maybe?
 
''Vinyl LP's are surging''..what?
 
''Merch table CDs, once a very solid source of on-the-road revenue for developing bands, has now evaporated.'' ..
 
''Meanwhile, the royalties that are being paid to SoundExchange often end up in massive, unpaid piles.  That is, hundreds-of-millions-large piles of unpaid collections.''
 
Apart from grammatical errors, the thing is stuffed full of conjecture and plain made-up nonsense;
 
''A massive, decades-long shift towards free (or near-free) music means that entire generations have never paid anything for recordings.''
 
Does this guy even know what a 'generation' is?
 
''Payouts to artists are not only hard to figure out, they are almost universally low and cannibalistic towards other, more lucrative formats.''
 
WTH does that mean?
 
''David Lowery, a top thinker in the space and an artist himself,''
 
'Top thinker' eh?
 
''Most artists are overwhelmed with tasks that go far beyond making music.  That includes everything from Tweeting fans, updating Facebook pages, managing metadata, uploading content, interpreting data, managing Kickstarter campaigns, and figuring out online sales strategies.''
 
Oh, the poor lambs. Imagine having to do 'other stuff'.
 
''monstrously-large video superstars like OK Go''
 
Look out, they're eating everything in their path!

Can't say this was a surprise. The music 'industry' has always suffered from greed and corruption. They have never really cared about the artists, other than what they could squeeze out of them.
 
As far as  the comment "people are now use to free music", well duh! Lets see, I seem to remember a thing called radio that streamed free music into your home through a box. You might have to change the battery to make sure the thing worked, but you could listen to free music all day long. That was back in the 1960's. Of course you had radio back in the early part of the 1900's - that was free too!! I guess after over 100 years of free music, yeah, you really don't expect to have to pay for it. Of course today, the free stuff really ain't worth what you are paying for it anyway.

Pretty poorly written piece IMO. Alot of grasping at weak straws. For example, the ones where the author makes the statement that vinyl is bad for the planet and so are streaming services because they require large servers that use a lot of electricity. If he's gonna make that argument, then he should ask that all live concerts be done with acoustic instruments with no PA and of course be done during the day so that there won't be those wasteful light shows.
 
Yes, the music industry has changed drastically in the last 10 years or so. It needed to change due to it becoming eaten by large corporations who knew nothing about music or artists. The publicly owned corporation business model isn't designed to deal with art.
 
I'm not concerned about the demise of music or musicians. We were around before there was a music business and we will survive the current changes of getting ones music out to the masses. I don't pretend to know the answers as to how, but I do know how you start. You learn your craft and never stop. You start writing songs and you never stop. You perform your songs for as long as you can find an audience no matter how small.
 
I don't perform or record for money any longer. I did for most of my life. I never got into it for the money. I don't know of a single artist with any level of success who did.
 
Randy

rsp@odyssey.net
all live concerts be done with acoustic instruments with no PA and of course be done during the day so that there won't be those wasteful light shows.

Sounds like the typical bluegrass festival!