14/07/2021
Making Music Work
So, we enter upon a new path, sheet charts in one hand, an instrument of choice in the other, striking-out to make our mark, and with such gesture comes many questions, what to do, when & where to do that, and a long and somber "Why" or as through my position "Why Not"! The first quandary I suppose, is what one is to do, when handed an empty box, with the directive "fill it"! Well, based upon common conjecture that sounds easy enough! Although, it then leads to yet another question, "fill it with what"?
Now the questions are rhetorical, yet seemingly of purpose, as this is the situation one finds oneself in when one agrees to engage with the Indie artist world, and the infamous Record Label.
Perhaps some back-line is appropriate, suggesting first and foremost one understands just what a record Label is. Simply put - it is a Brand, a name by which something, in this case music, is marketed.
Historically the "record Label" was an entity supported by a publishing concern, as it is within the business of publishing that one applies "Rights", or recognized property ownership, and as such pursuit of capital gain derived from those rights. But having those supposed rights is just the first step, gaining revenue from those rights, is another issue all together, and profitable gain in this situation, is heavily dependent upon social recognition.
Rule of order - to sell a product, the consumer must know your name, and be familiar with your product, or you essentially have nothing, so it follows that marketing is required, but what does that really mean? If you had the forethought to enroll in a two-year college program on marketing, you would know some of what is needed, otherwise – well! As the story goes, this was one of the various elements which the Label brought to the processes – not so much anymore.
Now in the music business, much is dependent upon people hearing the music, liking the music, and then being of a mind to own a copy. In the beginning, this approach, referred to as “Barn-Storming” as such the early version of the tour circuit, was the preferred method. Essentially, the concept was to send the music around to where large numbers of people could hear it - live, and then draw them into buying it for their personal re-visitation. Enter the world of Mass-Media, i.e. Radio, now all the Record label had to do was get the record played on the air, throw in a little spin "Man everybody is listening to this tune, so should you" and the wheels start turning. However, media was not in the business of selling hard goods, far from it, so, using the media to drive desire, the recording industry built its hard sales position upon insider deals with retail vendors, what made the whole thing work was the exclusive access to prime shelf space at select retail outlet.
The story from that point is history, everybody knows what happened, but the model is no longer applicable, mass-media i.e. the radio has been replaced with the internet, don't tell them that, you'll make them cry. The world of the retail outlets offering music, also suffers from the same circumstance, utterly replaced, and as much non-existent!
So where does this leave the entity known as the "Label", what is its role in the greater scheme of things now? Well, to be honest, this is uncertain, the role of the label must evolve, the premise must adjust, and a new model must be constructed ...
So do I have your attention now, well good, stay tunes, as they say, and there will be an attempt to show you a new model, and remember you will hear it here first!
By Design, Direction, or Default
Cowboy Bob
