Even though digital sales have increased, it is not enough to make up for the loss in physical sales. "We don't focus anymore on total album sales or the sale of any one particular product as the metric of revenue or success," said Mr. Caraeff, the executive vice president of Universal Music Group's digital division, "We look at the total consolidated revenue from dozens of revenue lines behind a given artist or project, which include digital sales, the physical business, mobile sales and licensing income."
Music industry execs should probably start looking at record sales as an indicator of trouble. Maybe sales have dropped because the public has lost faith in the supposed "artists" they are being asked to support. I know I have.
These "artists" that are being signed to major labels are the people that the record companies believe have the right look. The "right look" means the artist can be marketed, they have mass appeal or they can be cross-promoted with their acting career. Whatever happened to artists being signed because they have talent? Executives pass over these true artists for someone who looks good on a album cover. The labels are looking for people who will make them money right from the start. Example, Miley Cyrus had a built in fan base for debut album due to her success as Hannah Montana.
I am still an idealist. Music has changed my life. It has given me faith when I had nothing else to believe in. I believe that music can change the world, if artists and labels still care enough to change it. If the artists and producers put out music they do not believe in, why am I supposed to believe in it?
I know I am not the only person out there searching for more meaning from the music on the radio. The music industry can return to its glory days, but that's only if the industry executives and the artists they sign care about the work they put out. If the people making the music start to care about the music they put out the public will respond and record sales will increase. But, of course, this is just one person's humble opinion.
It's interesting that, as a PR person, you are critiquing the "marketability" of "artists" as a negative thing. While I don't disagree with your points, some labels (I'm thinking the pseudo-defunct DreamWorks records) sign talent based on talent and try to create a niche for the artist rather than fit the artist into an existing niche.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinions. And most corporations are "evil" and tend to kill more art than they support (just look at Hollywood). But at the same time, without the broad reach of the "evil" corporations, many artists (pre-internet) wouldn't reach a wide audience at all.
"Many have been killed at the corner of Art and Commerce" - It's an intriguing concept, and studying the media and how the "business" works you'll run into this concept/struggle more and more.