We’d like to welcome back Ryan Holiday for a look at how the music industry got to the point it is at as well as his take on how to save it…

With the music industry in such a shambles, young bands have the unfortunate duty of figuring out which way to take their careers. On the one hand, some bands are taking the traditional route of getting signed; other, less conventional musicians are trying to find innovative ways to sell their music on their own.

However artists go about eking out their livings, one primary problem remains: any way you look at it, no one is buying music anymore. How did the industry get to this point? The simplest answer is that we have all gotten greedy. Musicians bought into the idea of selling out arenas, dating supermodels and being on Behind the Music as the only benchmarks for success, while the industry brainwashed bands into thinking that major labels were the holy grail of a noteworthy career. The new, casual listener became king and instead of building a loyal following for acts through hard work, record labels began to strip-mine and water down the talent. The consumer? Well, he’s just looking for a deal. “Free” is everyone’s favorite four-letter word.

READ ON for an example of why the music industry is failing…

Throughout the Nineties, major labels made money hand over fist with the astronomical CD sales revenue that allowed them to pick bands out of garages, throw them against walls, and see which ones stuck. A friend’s band, Dragpipe, was one such casualty. The band was signed to a one-album deal worth more than a million dollars. Mind you, they hadn’t played more than two shows. But what they had was the look and the sound the majors wanted.

In fairness, it is worth mentioning that Dragpipe’s music fell in line with that of Korn’s and White Zombie’s: they were guys with heavy grooves, metal riffs and drop-D tunings. Dragpipe was a tight band which was right for its time. Whether they were perched in that sweet spot for success, we’ll never know. A couple of months after the album’s release, Dragpipe was released from their contract. Although they had managed to sell about 30,000 copies of their debut, the label had decided to put their money behind another “here today, gone later today” act.

In that last decade of that last century, it was cheaper to run the industry this way than it was to develop and nurture acts to artistic and commercial maturity. Pessimistic industry-watchers said that, after flooding the market with shitty bands, people got tired of paying $20 for a crappy album with one good song. The argument holds water: does anybody remember Dishwalla? When Napster came along in 2000, consumers thought, “We don’t have to buy that ‘crappy, one-good-song album’ anymore. Let’s just download it!” Unfortunately, this led people to stop buying good albums, too. Almost a decade later, the industry is all but dead and no one knows quite how to save it.

So what happens to the unknown band? What do they/we/I need to get the attention of any listener, and possibly make a living in the bargain? In one word: exposure. Bands don’t need record labels, CD distribution, expensive recording studios and producers. Artists of today are in their basement studios creating quality stuff using interfaces that are inexpensive, easy-to-use and available to anyone who wants it.

There are no more barriers between artist and listener; only the perceived one between the media and unsigned artists. But if it’s possible to give an unsigned artist the same exposure Radiohead gets, I am certain that people would support an unsigned artist through concerts and merchandise sales, allowing them to make some kind of living. How does an unknown artist get the exposure Radiohead gets? Y-O-U!

Blogs, web-zines and internet radio reporting on unsigned artists alongside established ones may be the only way to legitimize the unknown artist. With so many unsigned artists out there, all of them enjoying distribution, there are a lot of potential diamonds that get lost in the sea of crappy music. Blogs, internet radio and web-zines have a unique opportunity to become the next tastemakers of the new music industry. Individually-owned and -operated internet media outlets have grown into a legitimate force because unlike Rolling Stone or Commercial Rock Radio, they don’t have to answer to shareholders or corporate owners. So why can’t unsigned artists go down the same path?

HT Staff

Hidden Track was started in October of 2006 and features a team of dedicated contributors from across the country. This article was written by one of the newest members of our team or was a collaboration by more than one contributor. Want to contribute to Hidden Track? Send us a pitch to scott at glidemagazine dot com.

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