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ksmithUnless you're a writer, that is.
I've been following the tale of the apparent power shift in the music industry from the behemoth record companies to the indie labels. The indies do not have a majority of the market, but they account for almost 20-25% of sales depending on which numbers you look at.
This NYT article is all about the apparent power shift in that industry from the Big 4 to indie labels. I found it fascinating--I read the descriptions of the current state of the music industry, and in my head, I switch out the word "music" for "publishing" and "album" for "novel". Then I get to paragraphs like this, and I find myself nodding:
"They're all terribly under the gun to justify every investment and tie it to an immediate return," said Steve Gottlieb, chief of TVT Records, which is home to acts like Lil Jon and Ying Yang Twins, two of a handful of independent acts to secure placement on major radio playlists. "That type of discipline doesn't allow for the extra time or the extra album it took to break a U2 or a Bruce Springsteen. The majors are really just focusing on platinum artists and no longer have an appetite for artist development except in the rarest instances."
I'm a fan of two of the artists discussed in the article. I don't remember if I learned about Belle & Sebastian after clicking on one of those "If you like this, you might like these bands" link on an online music site, or in a newsgroup. IIRC, I first heard Interpol on the radio, then learned more while poking through the iTunes alternative section. I had heard of Arcade Fire and Spoon through iTunes, and might spring for one of Arcade Fire's releases any time now.
I can't remember the last time I bought a CD at a brick and mortar music store. I still listen to the radio on occasion, but I can't stand most DJs and I'm sick of all the commercials. I thought I'd lose my connection to new music if I stopped listening to the radio regularly, but that hasn't proved to be the case. I first heard Franz Ferdinand on the radio, but I heard of Sigur Ros in online discussions, and the New Pornographers from a Best Alternative Albums of 2005 list on iTunes. In other words, I hear about new music from many places, and if one place faded away, I'm betting something else would come along to take its place.
It took a few months with iTunes and an iPod to pretty much wean myself away from CDs. I had to buy one the other day--I really wanted a copy of a song, couldn't find it on iTunes, couldn't use the music service that did have it, and won't do file-sharing. So the connection isn't completely severed, but the thread in unraveling fast.
The point of this ramble is that I see a number of the same issues affecting midlist recording artists and midlist writers. Books don't lend themselves to the online marketplace as well as songs and albums, I don't think, so I have no idea if what is happening in music is a harbinger of publishing things to come or not. I have a nasty feeling that it's going to get a lot worse for midlist novelists before it gets better, but that could just be my Slavic fatalism talking.
I've been following the tale of the apparent power shift in the music industry from the behemoth record companies to the indie labels. The indies do not have a majority of the market, but they account for almost 20-25% of sales depending on which numbers you look at.
This NYT article is all about the apparent power shift in that industry from the Big 4 to indie labels. I found it fascinating--I read the descriptions of the current state of the music industry, and in my head, I switch out the word "music" for "publishing" and "album" for "novel". Then I get to paragraphs like this, and I find myself nodding:
"They're all terribly under the gun to justify every investment and tie it to an immediate return," said Steve Gottlieb, chief of TVT Records, which is home to acts like Lil Jon and Ying Yang Twins, two of a handful of independent acts to secure placement on major radio playlists. "That type of discipline doesn't allow for the extra time or the extra album it took to break a U2 or a Bruce Springsteen. The majors are really just focusing on platinum artists and no longer have an appetite for artist development except in the rarest instances."
I'm a fan of two of the artists discussed in the article. I don't remember if I learned about Belle & Sebastian after clicking on one of those "If you like this, you might like these bands" link on an online music site, or in a newsgroup. IIRC, I first heard Interpol on the radio, then learned more while poking through the iTunes alternative section. I had heard of Arcade Fire and Spoon through iTunes, and might spring for one of Arcade Fire's releases any time now.
I can't remember the last time I bought a CD at a brick and mortar music store. I still listen to the radio on occasion, but I can't stand most DJs and I'm sick of all the commercials. I thought I'd lose my connection to new music if I stopped listening to the radio regularly, but that hasn't proved to be the case. I first heard Franz Ferdinand on the radio, but I heard of Sigur Ros in online discussions, and the New Pornographers from a Best Alternative Albums of 2005 list on iTunes. In other words, I hear about new music from many places, and if one place faded away, I'm betting something else would come along to take its place.
It took a few months with iTunes and an iPod to pretty much wean myself away from CDs. I had to buy one the other day--I really wanted a copy of a song, couldn't find it on iTunes, couldn't use the music service that did have it, and won't do file-sharing. So the connection isn't completely severed, but the thread in unraveling fast.
The point of this ramble is that I see a number of the same issues affecting midlist recording artists and midlist writers. Books don't lend themselves to the online marketplace as well as songs and albums, I don't think, so I have no idea if what is happening in music is a harbinger of publishing things to come or not. I have a nasty feeling that it's going to get a lot worse for midlist novelists before it gets better, but that could just be my Slavic fatalism talking.
