Music Rant: A lot of people keep posting articles about the death of the platinum record in 2014. I think it is important to point out that this is just more positive evidence that artists need to focus on their INDIVIDUAL objective, and the platinum LP award may not be the end-game that truly defines an artists success anymore. Some artists can survive very well both artistically and financially by putting out great singles in short succession without relying on album filler to support it. This allows the artist to simply release great songs more frequently without a strict deadline and redefine themselves over and over without becoming pigeon-holed or confined by the restraints of an album release cycle. Other artists may feel that their compositions are best offered in larger doses to help establish their sound in the context of having all the songs compiled together to clearly define a particular moment in their career. Both options are good options and certainly are not the only options, but both cases, historically speaking, full length albums were developed to be an economic delivery and storage method for artists, record labels and record stores to efficiently conduct business. Economizing the physical duplication and availability of music to the consumer was paramount to mass distribution and profitability, but that is simply no longer the case in the digital world. As soon as we are another generation deep into these tides shifting, youll see the expectation from both the industry and the fans be much different than it is now. We are just in a long drawn out period of flux, met with serious resistance, dissolution, delusion, and mal-aligned expectations from the music business. Consumers ultimately dictate the economic flow of any industry, and art/music is no exception. Consumerism is a living breathing organism and we have reached a critical mass in our society where internet based stores have begun to trump many brick and mortar storefronts in every category beyond just music. Digital delivery and storage is more convenient and efficient than CDs, tapes, vinyl, etc. It all makes sense when you take a step back from it and view it objectively void of opinion. As a member of the working music community I see my peers arrogantly try to stop the bleeding and forge on with business as usual hoping this is just an uncomfortable but temporary bump in the road rather than try to adapt to survive. The strong ultimately survive and I think this is still an exciting time to develop a career in music as long as ones expectations are realistic for the present and future, and only use the past as an example of what has worked rather than the benchmark for what will always prove successful. And if being a champion of the yet-to-be-defined method of success in the new school is too intimidating, I hear farming is actually quite rewarding and mentally therapeutic.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:15:16 +0000
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