The Internet: All the music in the world that nobody's buying…

[Bonteburg]

Remember when all this music was supposed to be a good thing, and how the mp3 was forever going to revolutionize and democratize music? Blog post right here wonders why there's a ton of new music every day on download sites like iTunes and Beatport, even though nobody seems to care...

http://phatsobrown.wordpress.com/2009/1 ... ys-buying/

Haven't read the article yet, but in my mind to all intents and purposes said revolution and democratization is in full swing/has already happened. Whether or not it's for the better is up to oneself to evaluate (I greatly appreciate it!)

This is only 2009... ten years ago I didn't even know what an 'mp3' was. It makes me curious for 2020.

Marco

[vespers75]

All the music is free, and anyone can submit a track to be hosted and promoted on the site, but we reject at least 90% of what gets submitted to us. Thus when you hear something on our front page you know it's going to be good.

Only good by your tastes and standards then, yes?

Which brings me to this:

I'd rather have a cluster f*ck of dodgy music than be spoon-fed the 'taste' of some coked-up A&R chimp. I'm old enough to remember how shyte it was to have a few dominant companies that dictated what was worthy and what was not.

Totally agree.

[Bonteburg]

I'd rather have a cluster f*ck of dodgy music than be spoon-fed the 'taste' of some coked-up A&R chimp. I'm old enough to remember how shyte it was to have a few dominant companies that dictated what was worthy and what was not.

Totally agree.

Haha! Exactly. My current favourite station is my hometown's citizen radio. It's very fan-driven, you could hear a dutch polka, cannibal corpse and Myna Miller (whatshername) of recent "party in the USA") fame within two hours of each other. I'm currently thinking about grabbing a little space there (don't know yet).

[podo83]

there is no way that u make a track upload it somewhere and in a week or two ull get a massive check. and anyway big artists dont make money out of music but advertising and supporting big brands, live gigs and shit like that. x x

[ghettosynth]

...

[ckatrun411]

big artists dont make money out of music but advertising and supporting big brands, live gigs and shit like that. x x

+1

The music, if it ever was about the music, is a far cry from selling the actual recordings now. Its all about selling a body, or an experience, or a dream. It is selling this, non tangible, ideology............

[CypherOne]

Then, that, I'm afraid, is the value of music. Who here doesn't pay for food? Ah, so now we know the value of food. Who here doesn't pay rent/mortgage? Ah, so now we know the value of shelter.

+64bits

[robogone]

I'd rather have a cluster f*ck of dodgy music than be spoon-fed the 'taste' of some coked-up A&R chimp. I'm old enough to remember how shyte it was to have a few dominant companies that dictated what was worthy and what was not.

Just out of interest, I'm wondering what period you're talking about? I know it got to that when the larger record companies ate up all the smaller ones a few years ago, but there have been times in the distant past when a larger number of companies would find great stuff, or at least distribute the output of small record companies (I'm mostly thinking back to vinyl).

The Internet has at least turned the tables on the record companies, even if it's increased the amount of music hugely by adding that cluster f**k of dodgy music (love that term by the way )

[androidlove]

i pay for my music, and 99% is a&r approved. even when i go looking for undiscovered talent, i usually can't find it. i appreciate what record executives do. they haven't found much for me lately, but i'm not sure that's their fault.

[podo83]

A&R people hardly ever get it right. mainly because they have no idea about music. independant labels probably have more passion for music than majors and produce music rather then stars that are often only tools for advertising and marketing of all sorts of other shit often not related to music at all. thats new way of major labels to earn some money..

[rp314]

I kinda hate to say it, but I don't think it's the amount of music out there that's the problem, I think it's the lack of people willing to pay for it.

Well, this is always an interesting question. Perhaps the internet has made it a bigger problem for the obvious reasons but there still are questions pertaining to the old model of over-production/over-consumption and economic recessions.

For example, an acquaintance of mine sometimes goes down to La-la Land to work on minor film projects in various production capacities. So, lately there's no work and when he was down there the joke was that the downturn has been so bad that it's actually even affected the adult film industry. Well, the usual complaint is that with internet file sharing being so easy everyone has decided to no longer pay for the stuff. However, apparently there are a few in the industry who've wondered whether the typical consumers, i.e. young males, maybe just got around to the realization that with the amount they've already purchased and stored on their PCs maybe it's time to postpone additional consumption until their economic outlook improves.

To the individuals who can no longer make a living from their music it might make little difference one way or the other, but it is possible that the consumer is just in absolute retrenchment mode and has just decided they have enough music to listen to for now.

[P.T.]

All the music is free, and anyone can submit a track to be hosted and promoted on the site, but we reject at least 90% of what gets submitted to us. Thus when you hear something on our front page you know it's going to be good.

Only good by your tastes and standards then, yes?

Which brings me to this:

I'd rather have a cluster f*ck of dodgy music than be spoon-fed the 'taste' of some coked-up A&R chimp. I'm old enough to remember how shyte it was to have a few dominant companies that dictated what was worthy and what was not.

Totally agree.

But the thing about this is that all of the people who agree with that taste know where to find music that they will enjoy.

It's the same for film critics. It's just their taste, but if you find some critics who you generally agree with then you can use them to more easily find things that you will enjoy.

With multiple filters and taste makers everyone can find the music that they are likely to enjoy more easily.

[P.T.]

I'd rather have a cluster f*ck of dodgy music than be spoon-fed the 'taste' of some coked-up A&R chimp. I'm old enough to remember how shyte it was to have a few dominant companies that dictated what was worthy and what was not.

Totally agree.

Haha! Exactly. My current favourite station is my hometown's citizen radio. It's very fan-driven, you could hear a dutch polka, cannibal corpse and Myna Miller (whatshername) of recent "party in the USA") fame within two hours of each other. I'm currently thinking about grabbing a little space there (don't know yet).

That's the point. You just found a taste maker, filter, that you like.
They are not just playing random tunes. They are filtering content and doing it in a way that you enjoy.

[vespers75]

But the thing about this is that all of the people who agree with that taste know where to find music that they will enjoy.

It's the same for film critics. It's just their taste, but if you find some critics who you generally agree with then you can use them to more easily find things that you will enjoy.

With multiple filters and taste makers everyone can find the music that they are likely to enjoy more easily.

True, which is why I tend to like certain independent/underground labels which often specialize in certain styles and genres. There's a good chance you may enjoy a new release from a label you generally like.

[cosmonauttransfer]

Musical taste is subjective. I like loads of bands that many people mighty find boring, irrelevent, out of date, but I like them and that is enough for me. Personal choice is the only true democracy there is. Making a living out of music is a slightly different question. Due to the huge amount of music being made, probably the only way to approach this is to play live and build up a following.You may make a little money, but you will certainly have fun. If you play live people will get to hear that music which isn't being bought. The only fly-in-the-ointment is that in the UK at least, the government is doing it's best to make it difficult for new/upcoming/local bands to play live, with their STUPID entertainment liscences, regulation, health and safety acts etc... Mind you politicians don't tend to have aesthetic values, only machiavellen ambitions, so we can hardly expect them to have sympathy with struggling musicians.