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Musical Independence Worth The Effortby George Ziemann -- July 5, 2006 I was reading the comments at a Hilary Rosen blog post and was mildly amused by a commenter desperately trying to prove that every musician needs a record label in order to be a success. The amusement is because I have seen this same argument, over and over, at any commentable site that broaches the subject of why you may and may not need a record label. The diatribe echoes Hilary's personal arguments that I've heard her say in recordings in the EFF archives, but it's more than one person's opinion, most of which seem to be involved in making money off the artists. The current version goes something like this: Either sign with a major label or resign yourself to playing in your local "tub" for the rest of your life. Name 10 independent bands that made it without the major labels -- they all get distributed by ADA, which is owned by Warner, which means the big, bad RIAA still gets its paws on it. You need their studios, their producers, their bankroll, advance, promotion, etc. etc. You can't do it yourself. You need thousand-dollar microphones and a $100,000 mixing console and a big-name producer in order to take yourself seriously. If you don't do that, your recordings are just crap and you're a failure. There's no such thing as a successful independent. Sign up or give up. My first impulse is to always argue this rhetoric point by point, starting with the reality that the record labels will rip you off if you ever actually earn any payable royalties and laugh about it if you catch them because they still keep 90 percent of it. Or argue that it sounds like maybe it's time for government intervention if they are so all-powerful. Might as well play Pink Floyd in a country bar. They just won't listen. If you are a musician, the biggest argument against signing a record contract is that it is not an indication that you have a speck of talent or musical skill. It simply means that they see you as a marketable commodity to be exploited for maximum profit potential. Is that success? Maybe. If you can out-sell William Hung or a band of cartoon monkeys. That's where all that high-priced gear comes in, I guess. Better call in the string section, too.
The Chaos Theoryby George Ziemann -- July 8, 2006 I feel as if my last column (above), expressing my conviction that success is possible without a major record label, was left unfinished. I never really offered a solid argument as to why one could hope to achieve success without one. Leonard Mlodinow did an interesting piece for the Los Angeles Times just a few days ago, making a great case that the box office success of films is random chance. No matter how you plan, how you try, what your formula, your method, your budget, cast, skill or equipment, it's still a big crap shoot. The natural chaos in the entertainment universe is the great leveler, making all things equal. I realize that music and movies are not the same thing. For instance, in the movie business, the independents also have market access. But they are both subject to the whims of the public, which is where the chaos comes in. Every constraint in the name of control inevitably turns out to be a limiting factor. Every rule established to define "the way it is done" eventually is mocked by someone successfully and deliberately violating it. The music industry has put a lot of effort into controlling the chaos, which naturally makes it even worse. This year's best-selling album so far has been Disney's High School Musical. It came from a Disney movie of the same name which seemed to play non-stop for about three months on the Disney Channel, along with a sing-along version (with the lyrics on the screen) and how to do those ultra-cool teenage dance moves. They've sold 2.7 million copies in the U.S. so far this year, which is not quite 1 percent of the population (about 300 million). The same sales figure in the 1960s was a much greater feat, since there were less than 200 million people, no one owned a cable channel, and all radio stations did not play the same songs. So even a hit record is a niche market. There are a lot of niches out there that aren't being recognized, much less served, by the major labels, radio, or the press. As I stated earlier, the true chaos comes from the person that buys the CD, especially if their final buying decision is influenced by any of the following:
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