Music Predictions For 2008
WGAL 8 Susquehanna Valley, PA
December 14, 2007
The New Year will likely translate into still more woe for the major record labels. After years of endemic music piracy continually nibbling away at their profits, the label honchos now have an entirely new problem to defend their livelihoods against: rock star defections.
Radiohead made headlines and caused a considerable stir in the music industry a couple of months ago when the British art-rockers announced they were forgoing signing a new record contract and were instead releasing their new album via download. That revelation was quickly followed by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor proclaiming that he would also seek other avenues to distribute music without major label muscle.....
In 2008, look for big acts like perhaps classic-rock vets Aerosmith, who are currently recording their final disc for Columbia Records (owned by Sony Music), to potentially make such a move. While the group's audience is older than the iPod generation, the band is in many ways the prime candidate to strike out from the majors.
First, the band has a large and dedicated fanbase, which could support untraditional or less accessible distribution methods (Of course, what constitutes accessibility in today's music world is often determined by what year you graduated from high school.) Secondly, the group has the financial resources to hire lawyers, computer professionals and others smart enough to figure out such a scenario. Lastly, the band members know that because of their popularity and the kind of deals they have with their labels, they command a lot of label resources. In an era rife with negative profit margins and layoffs, those resources are no longer as plentiful as they once were. It would just make sense for the band to control their own future and reap the majority of the profits.
Don't look for record labels to disappear anytime soon, however. For newer and younger acts that aren't yet established, record labels will remain important gatekeepers.....
December 14, 2007
The New Year will likely translate into still more woe for the major record labels. After years of endemic music piracy continually nibbling away at their profits, the label honchos now have an entirely new problem to defend their livelihoods against: rock star defections.
Radiohead made headlines and caused a considerable stir in the music industry a couple of months ago when the British art-rockers announced they were forgoing signing a new record contract and were instead releasing their new album via download. That revelation was quickly followed by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor proclaiming that he would also seek other avenues to distribute music without major label muscle.....
In 2008, look for big acts like perhaps classic-rock vets Aerosmith, who are currently recording their final disc for Columbia Records (owned by Sony Music), to potentially make such a move. While the group's audience is older than the iPod generation, the band is in many ways the prime candidate to strike out from the majors.
First, the band has a large and dedicated fanbase, which could support untraditional or less accessible distribution methods (Of course, what constitutes accessibility in today's music world is often determined by what year you graduated from high school.) Secondly, the group has the financial resources to hire lawyers, computer professionals and others smart enough to figure out such a scenario. Lastly, the band members know that because of their popularity and the kind of deals they have with their labels, they command a lot of label resources. In an era rife with negative profit margins and layoffs, those resources are no longer as plentiful as they once were. It would just make sense for the band to control their own future and reap the majority of the profits.
Don't look for record labels to disappear anytime soon, however. For newer and younger acts that aren't yet established, record labels will remain important gatekeepers.....
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