Essay, Research Paper: Crisis Of The Music Industry

As the music industry enters the 21st Century, there are a variety of crises and issues plaguing different aspects of the medium. While some, such as the Napster on-line piracy debate, are prominently discussed due to their serious legal and economic implications, other issues lay hidden and remain largely ignored by both the public and the industry. Often such covert issues are in fact the most important, reflecting the true nature and struggles of the medium of sound recordings.
A prime example of the latter is the industry s current ethos of music as product and as mass-marketable commodity. Although seemingly unavoidable in nature, a tie between sound recordings and profit-driven corporations has resulted in the horrible mismanagement of the concept of music as an art form . Mismanagement is evidenced through the following: (1) major labels have strategically spawned a homogeneous web of manufactured, disposable, albeit immensely popular music for their profit-driven benefits and,(2) in doing so have chosen to neglect their own non-marketable artists and ignore up-and-coming non-marketable talent. The music industry, as a result, has become anything but a forum for artistic expression by placing its focus on an artist s image and entertainment selling power in lieu of its veritable musical integrity.
In a world of manufactured recording stars (where young, undiscovered talent is put together strategically to make picture-perfect groups, plastic songs are pre-written, pre-arranged and pre-produced by faceless, anonymous production teams and the extent of a star s musical ability is determined by his or her ability to sing and dance at the same time), there is little room for any authentic emotion or creative or expressive ingenuity - the artistic essence is completely lost. Songs are often shallow in their emotional scope and usually present feelings, people and situations in a one-dimensional model. The lyrics, once considered a form of poetry, are usually second or third in importance behind the melody or catchy hook . The goal is to make the music as easy to swallow as possible, in order to appeal to the lowest, simplest common denominator. Nothing is ever challenging to the ear, and nothing ever shows any real complexity. Culture and society gain nothing new except fluffy, meaningless entertainment that glorifies the importance of image and sex, while
a whole generation of music lovers grows up brainwashed by the complete lack of diversity in musical styles and influences.
How this ends up hurting the music industry (besides putting it to shame) is via the major labels focus on such ultra-marketable acts, while somewhat de-emphasizing their remaining rosters. Label money for production, promotion, advertizing and support is only spent on those artists who will guarantee returns. Other artists do not receive nearly as much financial backing and can therefore struggle to become successful. Thus a vicious circle is created: labels do not adequately support unmarketable acts, and these acts in turn struggle, making them unattractive for the label to keep. But how can an artist or band make it without being properly promoted?
It is nearly impossible. There are always the traditional methods of touring and building regional followings, but one can only tour so much and become exposed to only a limited amount of people. Word-of-mouth is always good, but it too is limited. Positive media coverage (mostly via print, electronic and video journalism) can be extremely beneficial, but the audience is usually a fragmented demographic of the music-buying public. If an act wants to survive, (especially on a major label), it needs mass exposure. The principle sources of mass promotion are via radio play, music video play and advertizing (magazines, billboards, radio, TV), and these all require considerable amounts of money to fund. Such marketing is mostly at the label s discretion, taking the fate of the band or artist directly into their own hands. Unfortunately though, due to the continuous and constant nature of advertizing, it is simply not in the label s best interest to promote an artist who is likely to account for only one or two percent of its sales as much as an artist who will account for maybe ten or fifteen percent (or more if continually promoted).
As mentioned earlier, a deeper consequence of such fickleness by the major labels (besides the struggle every non- manufactured artist needs to overcome) is the effect the current state of music is having on the public, especially the young. The fake, homogeneous sound is creating a similar effect as to what was occurring during the early days of the newsreel, when reality was being filtered through the decisions of a director (acting as a media gatekeeper) who controlled what information the public would be viewing. As such, the public was misinformed and delusional about many realities of the world, as is the case today with several generations being socialized to the sounds of today s plastic music.
It is needless to say that music, like all forms of media, acts as an agent of socialization. It influences the young immensely, seeping into the ways they act, what they say, how they say it, and, worst of all, what they believe. It has come to the point where the music industry must take a closer look at what it is mass-producing and who the main buyers are. Otherwise, society risks raising a generation irreversibly warped by entertainment and with a completely foul sense of values. For this, and for the side effect that the music industry s focus on such music is having on non-mainstream and different and up-and-coming artists, the industry must re-evaluate its current ethos in context of its underlying role of exposing and supplying all music to the buying public.