From the Inside: Fall of the Music Industry?

Artists of the Internet Era have overthrown the music industry. Through internet downloading, self production, the artists have liberated the music industry; but is it really all sunshine and rainbows, like the musicians are making it out to be?
I realize that some of the people I am addressing may not be musicians. But the truth is that everyone is affected. I’m certain that you’ve all at one time or another bought a CD, and your parent’s before you bought cassettes, and your grandparent’s all bought records. On average, a CD sells for about twenty dollars. Most of the time, you’re not in love with all of the songs on the album. You pay for those songs that you don’t like. With online downloading applications, prevalently iTunes, you pay $0.99 to $1.29 for an individual song. An average CD has about ten songs on it. If you wanted to buy an entire CD on iTunes, you’d only pay about 9 dollars and 90 cents, nearly half the cost of a CD in any store. Obviously, this is a much better deal. Moreover, there are downloading applications, like Limewire or Bearshare that allow you to download music entirely free of charge; illegal, yes… convenient, and possible, also yes. Music sharing with friends via iChat or file transfers also eliminates the pesky payment aspect. The majority of the American population utilizes online downloading or file sharing. Record companies have felt the blow. CD sales for the 2000’s are at an all time low. Numerous big name record stores have closed their doors, and franchises such as Borders Bookstores and Barnes and Noble have cut their Music sections in half. This is where the unraveling began.
The industry unraveled further when Mac computers came onto the scene. Mac’s come with a free recording program called Garage Band. It’s the simplest home recording program to use, and artists have snapped at the chance to record themselves. And why not? You can produce yourself, whenever you want; it’s at the tips of your fingers. Other software, more expensive than Garage Band, but ultimately less than the cost of having a producer cut your CD, such as Pro Tools, have emerged in recent years. People are building studios in their basements to record themselves. Therefore, there’s hardly any money in CD sales or music recording.
While all of this is well and good, it’s likely that an artist isn’t making money either. The music scene is saturated with talent; there’s always another So-and-So waiting around the corner for their fifteen minutes. Since there is such an overkill of talent, it’s harder to get discovered and it’s harder to get people interested. One of the beneficial aspects about being signed to a record deal is the connections that come with the leverage being signed gives you. From my own experience, the music industry is roughly about the size of a head of a pin. Literally. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone, if you’re in the music industry, that is. If you’re not, you’re just another Myspace Page or Facebook Friend with some idle music player, rotting away on your page. So without those connections, you’re still a nobody. You could be making the best music of today, and it wouldn’t really add up to any monetary sum unless you knew someone with an in. This is where a label or manager would step in. Get that golden meeting, sign that contract, and pretty soon, you’ll be sorted and suited to fit all of your musical needs, wants, hopes, and dreams.
Again, this is where the saturation of talent comes into play. The discovery stories of yesteryear are no longer; it’s rare that an A&R will just happen upon your show, love you love you love you, and bring you to their label within a month. It DOES happen, but not the way it did in the 90’s. There are just too, too many musicians now. Therefore, opportunity is scant. The chances one has at making a stable, profitable career and livelihood in music performance are slim. Without discovery, what are you? Besides waiting to be discovered.
There are pro’s of the Internet era, and there are cons. While it’s awesome to have the power of creation at your fingertips, and music literally for free, being an artist in these times without a label or proper management is rough. So has the music industry fallen forever, or merely fallen on its knees, poised to rise again at any moment? Time will reveal the truth.