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It's no secret that the music industry is in shambles. Music stores are a thing of the past, the entire concept of "the album" has been turned on it's head, record labels are dying left and right and musicians aren't getting paid. Everyone knows this, and everyone seems to have their own idea of how to solve it but no one really knows what will ultimately happen. Two things I can say with confidence are that the public has an insatiable need for new music and musicians want to create and play. Therefore somehow this has to and will resolve itself because the mess is all about the glue between the most important pieces of this puzzle - the musicians and the consumers. They will remain.
Everyone knows about these problems and a new article or proposed solution seems to pop up every few days. Some follow it closer than others, notably the musicians who's livelihood depends on a solution, and soon. I also follow it pretty closely for my own reasons. As a music photographer my work has been affected by it at least as much as the general economic problems do. The main thing it has changed is who is paying the bill.
A year ago I had several record labels that would hire me to take photos of their musicians for album covers, myspace promotion and other needs. Now virtually all of my music clients are independent musicians that pay me out of their own pocket. They tend to have smaller budgets to work with which limits what we can do, and more importantly they are now paying to do what they love, often with little hope of recouping these costs. In order to put out an album more of them have to work "day" jobs, leaving them with less time to compose, record and perform.
While I love working with musicians and at the end of the day I shouldn't care who foots the bill, I do. I have always believed that a good work philosophy is to always try to make money from those that have it and produce for those that don't. I don't like it when I feel like the exact opposite is happening.
Record labels have traditionally had three primary functions. They license music, distribute it, and market it. We all know they've failed miserably at the licensing problems, and their attempts at draconian solutions have worsened the problem and increased the consumer's resistance to them. The need for their role as distributors has all but disappeared with the advent of iTunes, Pandora and other internet based distributors that tend to be label agnostic. Now they don't seem to be interested in the marketing side of their job either, expecting musicians to come to them with a finished product - photos taken, video done, album cover designed, myspace music page up, all paid for by the musician in time, money or both. So just what is their role? Where do they fit in? This is the question that keeps returning to me.
I believe labels should forget about their roles in licensing and distribution, at least until it becomes clear if there is a need for them in this role and what it is. Instead they should focus on investing in musicians they believe in and marketing and promoting them with every tool at their disposal. Let the musicians do what they do best - create the music. The labels should the photographer, the director, the graphic designer. Arrange the shoots and brainstorm on the best way to present the artist. Put the ads out there, get the articles written, arrange the tours. Make sure the whole world knows who your artists are and why they should be listened to. Most importantly, pay for it all. Then you will have earned your commission because you are doing something for the artist that she is not good at and honestly doesn't want to be bothered with. Put your money where your mouth is, support the artists and make sure that they make money without having to spend it first.
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