The problem with “mainstream” music
I recently received a marketing email (not spam, because I invited this one) from a local retailer which invited me to “Grab a CD Bargain”.
The first thought that passed through my mind was “I bet there’s nothing here that I want to buy.” This was quickly followed by a second thought of “I suppose they can only stock what they know they can sell.” After this, the epiphanic third thought crossed my mind. But I’ll save that for the moment. Let’s take a look at who made the fancy graphic in this email.
Anika Moa is current and popular in New Zealand. Dave Dobbyn is a New Zealand legend. Dido and Eric Clapton are both accomplished international acts. The Feelers are another NZ success. Finally George Benson, Tony Bennett and Phil Collins are all successful international artists. The question I have is how can this retailer be sure they will sell these CDs and not sure they can sell some others?
Whilst there will undoubtedly be marketing from the artists and the labels involved, the simple fact of the matter is that these are artists that the public at large know. So, how do they know these artists? Because we’re talking about the public at large I think we have to assume that radio and television are almost entirely responsible, with a little help from word of mouth and general social contact.
So where is the Ammp CD? You’ve never heard of Ammp? I have. They’re really good. Really, really good. Better, I venture, than some of those in the list above. Why don’t they appear in all the big retailers’ promotions? Ammp are clearly very good (did I say that already?) so just being very, very good at what you do doesn’t seem to be the only requirement. There must be something else required. That’s right! You have to get on TV and radio to be known to the public. So, how do you get on TV and radio?
Well, many artists appear on TV and radio, but a much smaller number are regularly featured. Those featured artists are the lucky ones. How do they get this luck? Well, for a start they need to be good. (Well, almost always). The next thing is they need to be discovered. Errr, so how do you get discovered?
Well, I guess discovery falls to the people who put the big money behind the artists to make sure they get all the publicity – the “big labels”. Now, next question. Who is a label going to back? Well, they’re a business so it is only right to expect they will back those artists who they see as being successful. A business definition of successful is “makes money”.
So how does an artist make the label their money? (Never mind the artist making a living for now.) Well, they need to sell lots of music. So, how can we do that then? I know! Play them on the TV and the radio and, hey, why not promote them with retailers? If the labels do that with their chosen artists, then everyone will be happy, right?
Well, no. I doubt Ammp are happy with the situation. They’re not ‘chosen ones’. They’re really good (I think I said that before), but they’re not in the loop.
And that’s the rub. The loop. Did you notice how my progression wound back around on itself? There is a giant circle of dependency here and the only way to get on the merry-go-round is to be chosen by a label – which is purely a business decision.
An artist’s definition of successful is likely very different. Forgive me if I speak out of turn, but if I were creating music I would consider success to have arrived when a lot of people really enjoy my music. When I have a great time making the music, and others have a great time consuming it. If I were able to make a living from doing what I love, then that is a bonus. After all, not many artists of any other discipline (e.g. painting, sculpture) are able to make a good living from what they do – hence the stereotype of the ’struggling artist’.
And so, finally, to the epiphanic thought.
The music industry as we know it today is just that. An industry. And it’s fundamentally not fair to the artists. We don’t see many of the best artists and sometimes, frankly, what we do see is chosen on the basis of soulless marketing strategies rather than artistic merit. So how do we change this up and give everyone a chance?
It’s actually very simple. There are an ever increasing number of artists who are reaching out to you, the listener, through non-traditional channels. These include very popular web sites like MySpace and Facebook as well as their own sites. But how do you find the wheat amongst the chaff? Let someone else do it for you.
That someone could even be me. Once a week for over two years now I have recorded and published a music show as a podcast. It’s called The SittingDuck Podcast and you can find out about it on the web site. I typically play four tracks each week (it was five for a long time) and in total now I have played well over 500 different songs from over 250 different artists. I only play what I like and have so far purchased over half a dozen CDs from these artists (more CDs than I’d bought in the previous 5 years).
If you want to expand your horizons further, don’t stop with me. Here are a few more great music podcasts that I know of. Some I listen to occasionally, some regularly and they are all deserving of your attention. I’d listen to way more if I had the time.
One final point to note. All of these podcasts are 100% legally playing the music and all are 100% free to you the listener. You can’t get a better price anywhere!
In summary, the problem with mainstream music is that it is a self defining, closed community built on the money mountain and controlled by a small number of people. Break free and find your ‘next big thing’ in music.
