Children of the Revolution
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
LA Weekly has a great article up today about indie record labels and bands, and how the musicians are once again reclaiming their art as theirs. I’ve hated every minute of the RIAA legal circus, mainly because they’re making examples of all the wrong people and really just making them into martyrs for the cause, not scapegoats. When you bankrupt a single mother who’s only downloaded a handful of songs, you know you’ve lost your soul. Though these types of stories may anger and depress you as much as me, there is still hope.
Bedroom Confidential: New Crop of Boutique Record Labels in Town is a great three-page article about the new homegrown record labels sprouting up all over the greater LA area, and how the real indie movement — not that KROQ “no, really, we play indie, like Foo Fighters!” crap — are starting to make a mark in the music industry as a whole. In recent years underground bands like Arcade Fire have broken through and made it onto the Billboard Top 100 solely on their merits and word of mouth, not a media blitz and overhype and cross promotion through TV shows that major labels would do to whore out their music. I don’t want to give away a lot of the article because it’s really best to read it yourself, but be sure to read it all!
Personally, I’m of the mindset that if the music is good enough, it will find its audience. With the Internet making music so readily available to anyone, labels and artists need to openly welcome this free advertising juggernaut and use it to the fullest of their abilities. While there will always be a few freeloaders who insist on getting everything for free, the vast majority of the public is perfectly willing to pay decently for music they like. Put up whole songs as samples on MySpace or Pandora or other sites where people can search and discover for themselves, and if it speaks to them, they will actively pursue it. Make quality the winner, not quantity.
