4 Things Every Musician & Music Fan Should Know About The Music Industry In 2020
By: Graham Alexander (Commissioner Of The Victor Co.)
A musician listens to a Victor Talking Machine Co. ‘Vertiphone’ Phonograph while contemplating all of the great things she has read and taken to heart in this article.
I may look young (I like to think)…and I may even BE young (I also like to think…..) but 2020 marks the 20th year of my professional music career. Over the years i’ve been fortunate enough to have a relatively kind career in the music industry that I am very grateful for. When I say ‘music industry’ I mean a plethora of roles over the years ranging from roadie, guitar tech, singer/songwriter, producer, performer, backing musician, frontman, studio recording engineer, concert promotion, venue operator, to musical director - and many of these things twice over through The Victor Talking Machine Co. - a music company with a long legacy that I had the honor of being able to reform while again expanding music industry related skill-sets; for example…assembly of music machines, record pressing technology, home audio product engineering and design, music marketing through our record labels, and much much more….above all; I consider myself a musician - I’ve been called an ‘Impresario’ which is a phrase I love because it sounds fancy…but I don’t know if I agree with it. The company calls me ‘The Commissioner’ - a term I prefer over CEO or President….to me the Victor Talking Machine Co. is a music industry tradition…not unlike baseball….it should have a commissioner to signify my desire for it to continue WITHOUT me someday; while maintaining our developing and increasingly high standards for the future of the music and music-at-home art industries.
One of the repeating concepts I see from artists, musicians, music producers, and even some music fans is a tendency to relate the modern music industry to the industry of old in ways that wind up actually causing measurably higher levels of frustration, depression, and upset - highly inverse concepts to the progress of music and music industry (and even music enjoyment).
Here are some things I wish everyone knew about the modern music industry…for their sake….for mine….and for the future growth of the industry;
1.
Most of the old brands of the music industry are dead in terms of real relevance…just because you know and see them…doesn’t mean they are working for musicians or the future of the music industry.
Getting some coverage in Rolling Stone, Billboard, or any other old-timey music industry platform may have been a nice concept at one time - and they may even get you some nice traffic….but they aren’t going to change your life; and they represent about 1% of the many building blocks you’ll need to build your career in music (your brand, band, self - whatever it may be…). Magazines like Rolling Stone were once ‘finger-on-the-pulse’ of the music industry…they’re now large corporate monoliths that care more about creating sales and profit than curating a music industry that favors quality over vapidity. Artists of all ages idealize these dying breeds - but are they really getting the views, clicks, and time watched to help your career? Not really. You’d be better off propositioning make-up video YouTube Channels - you’ll get more exposure that way in most cases (no kidding…). The point is; its okay to want to be in them …but don’t judge yourself by your lack of exposure in these publications…it isn’t 1980 anymore.
2.
Sales and song charts like The Billboard Hot 100 haven’t really mattered in a long time…they are promotional devices…not real barometers of music industry.
Looking to get a #1 hit? that’s nice. But It has never been less significant to be at the top of the hot 100... the numbers just aren’t there, its not a great system of tracking, it has poor measurements of digital exposure, it can be easily manipulated by wealthy dad-agers, mom-agers, managers, and the ‘Big 3’ remaining record labels. I see a lot of artists try to measure their success in terms of hits in this manner….but again…. it is not 1965. Once upon a time Bob Dylan could sell 2 million records and hit NUMBER 2 with ‘Like A Rolling Stone’…..held out of the #1 spot by The Beatles ‘HELP!’ at 4 million units sold that week in 1965. Now? it isn’t uncommon to see a week where the ‘units sold’ or ‘streams' that constitute units sold won’t equal 2 million across the top 10 COMBINED. Also, keep in mind; your label’s profit margin in 1965 on a single unit was often 250% of the manufacturing cost of the unit….a stream has a profit margin of nearly 0. Modern chart placement’s biggest asset? the ‘buzz’ that it creates amongst fandom, the clicks it generates from curious watchers/listeners and potential fans, and most importantly the OPTIC. In this day and age…almost everything is about ‘optics’ - the term ‘fake it till you make it’ applies more than ever.
3.
The ‘Big 3 Labels’ are largely service companies now….not development companies like in days of old. A ‘record deal’ largely does not exist in the manner you may think in 2020
I can’t stress this enough; there are many many many great people working at Sony, Universal, and Warner Music Groups. They are exceedingly limited in what they can do in terms of development based on one fact; the recording and distribution of music isn’t at all the business that it used to be. In a world prior to free streaming music that was plentiful and bounding with profit possibilities, record labels with savvy heads of A&R could stand to do very well in curating their catalog to feature new and groundbreaking artists. You must understand one thing about recorded music industry; IT DOES NOT EXIST WITHOUT THE TECH INDUSTRY. At one point all of recorded music industry was developed by tech- first with Victor Talking Machine Co. and its Victor Records…..Radio Corporation Of America and Radio Broadcasting…. Phillips and Sony’s Optical Disc Format and subsequent acquisition of CBS Records (and later RCA Records and many others along the way)…….the point is; there was only a brief window of time in which the uniqueness of the format’s technology, the distribution methods, and the business people behind it all lined up to create what we once saw as ‘the music industry’ (the recording industry). Big tech sees music, largely as ‘old content’….why would Apple Corporation pay to develop Taylor Swifts album (which only grossed around $300,000 in streaming revenue last year) when they could pay programmers to design an app that shows you where the cleanest toilet in the city is and make MORE from that sale? The point is hyperbolic - but it illustrates an exceedingly important point; the music industry/recording industry are seen as lamer content by gung ho tech companies…..it is non-interactive, it isn’t terribly social (with the exception of live music….which is booming for that reason), and its margins are near 0.
In order to make up for this; the ‘Big 3’ realized their own value in 2 main points.
Administrate their own cash cow back catalogs in as many ways as possible. Classic music from the golden era simply sells.
Sell the studios, scrap the big advances, convert the money-losing music development side of the business into a SERVICE that absolutely ANYONE can purchase into; if they are even moderately savvy. Labels have been known to openly ask questions to artists they are vetting like; “So, do you have an investor?”, “So where is your rich uncle?”…..they aren’t paying to develop your career….they wouldn’t give PRINCE an advance…..and they aren’t going to give you one either. The BEST they might do, in most cases, is to offer ‘services against’ - they pledge to market your music in their label offices by matching your third party investment in their time - thus allowing them to take astronomical amounts of your back-end profit including (many times) your merchandising and concert sales (they know that these will actually generate cash)
Without a competent marketing apparatus around you, you will be dead in the water…and you may even blame yourself for it….if you can afford to use the services of The Big 3 to promote your product….you may have great luck. There are some wonderful marketers working at these companies……but don’t value yourself against ‘the labels’ lack of interest in your product…..remember; they are a service. You are more than capable of forming a marketing team that is just as powerful in terms of their expertise in 2020.
In laymen’s terms; I see artists strive to be ‘major label’ artists - without realizing that while that may have been very cool in the year 2000….it is now the equivalent of walking by The Hair Cuttery ….hoping they see your hair and offer you a free haircut…and when they dont…blaming your hair for that. I don’t WANTThe Hair Cuttery to give me a free haircut …and I’m not going to feel like less if they dont….its a service company….the service of music promotion… sooooo stop measuring yourself by this insane outdated parallel.
4.
There really hasn’t ever been a better time since the 1900s-1920s for you to be in the music industry
The music industry is just finding its solid ground after many years of growing pains. Format changes in tech have been either upsetting or bolstering the recorded music industry for many many years….50 or so to be exact. Right now, for the very first time in the music industry, the BIGGEST music companies in the world create absolutely 0 new music. They are music aggregators like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal etc. The ‘Big 3’ is really an old name for Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music Group (it was once The Big 11….or something)…it should really be The ‘Medium’ 3….or ‘The Old 3’. These companies have no real exclusivity, they aren’t power developers of new music, and they largely are purveyors of back catalog - and service signings. Some executives at these companies hope that someday, with increased streaming use and revenues - that they too could re-enter earnest development of music minus a third party. I personally believe that that could very well happen - but we are watching the recorded music industry do what the book publishing industry once did; it reached a zenith of technological function and use….and then separated itself from the manufacturing and technological aspects that birthed the industry in the first place. We can see that - with the BOOM of vinyl records….the erasure of the dopey digital-analog hybrid CD format from the market …and the adoption of the purely digital streaming of music …..we have a trajectory for the recorded music industry to grow for many years to come….and this system delivers more power to the artist than EVER. It also requires that they do a LOT more work - a lot more studying and a lot more crafting of the parts of their industry that they largely had the pleasure of ignoring when artists could be ‘label babies’. Think about it this way; once upon a time….an artist (or label) paid a RADIO PROMOTER to get his or her song played on radio stations across the nation. Every few weeks…these promoters would send back overviews of exactly what station played your song - when and where and what time….and you either saw your numbers increase from this….or you didn’t. In the not so distant past this meant forcing the consumer of music - lets say…’guy in his car’ to HAPPEN to be in his car…..HAPPEN to tune in to the right station…..HAPPEN to hear the song……and (prior to a phone)…..go all the way home….HAPPEN to remember the artist and name of song……and HAPPEN to look it up online…..and HAPPEN to want to buy it at that point.
Now THAT is one enthusiastic music consumer.
The modern age does away with this system….allowing labels - and most importantly the artist to LASER TARGET their music - building a coalition of data and ears …and ideally; megafans of their music.
This IS the better system in the long run.
But… its going to weed out a lot of people that might not be that vested in learning these aspects of their business as a musician/recording artist…these 4 things I’ve mentioned should help reduce the tension as artist feels while building their business in the new music industry. I love those old recording biopics and stories like the rest of everyone - I too dreamed of a Sun Records Johnny Cash moment……every SINGLE musician sees these…..and on some subconscious level measures themselves against this unrealistic and outdated bar. My last piece of advice? Stop doing that. Lets hear your story…..you live in 2020. Let the dying old music industry live in 1970 if they want… lets all be part of the new music industry - and tip our hats to the old one.