Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
OK, so that's one artist who has made money from recordings.
Meanwhile, global recording revenues fell from a peak of $26.9 billion in 2000 to $16.6 billion in 2012.
But let's not get too far off track. Namely: Music started trying to disintermediate as far back as 1997, with efforts like MP3.com. And yet here we are, 15 years later, and the structure isn't much different. Most of the top 100 are artists on big labels, with the occasional indie label poking in.
Despite the dreams of numerous musicians hoping to be free of the evil record labels, we have not wound up in a world where the overwhelming majority of musicians earn a living by selling their recordings directly to the public.
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I'd put that top 100 homogeneity at the feet of the radio stations all being gobbled up by Clear Channel. Everywhere I go, it's the same crap on the radio, whereas as late as the 90's there were interesting indie movements in many cities.
And that
one musician is a huge counterpoint to your "not materialized". Good talent can go it alone without the big names much easier than at any time in the past. Crappy talent still has a hard time breaking in.
It's easier to get work when you have a huge <insert field> firm doing everything not <insert field> related. But you can still be a successful <insert field> consultant all by your lonesome, doing everything yourself.