SkeeK
The Original, Rock n' Roll Doggie, VIP PASS
Grabbed this off Moby's highly entertaining web diary at www.moby.com:
A little update about the state of the music business...
Well, a lot has been said and written recently about the demise of the record business. Last year was the first year in a very long while that income from the sale of records (cd's) actually went down. And apparently sales are down between 10-20% so far this year. Obviously this is primarily attributable to cd burning and downloading. I'm not going to write about whether I'm pro-cd burning or anti-cd burning. In some ways I find it absurd to have an opinion about something that is far beyond my control, like whether the moon is a good or bad thing, or whether winter should be banned.
But I did have one little thought...as time goes by and cd-burning and downloading become more commonplace it is safe to say that the profitability of the record business will continue to decrease. Again, I'm not going to offer an opinion as to whether this is a good or bad thing. But if the record business ceased to be very profitable it would mean that people who are involved in the music business SOLELY to make money would have to move on and do something else (I recommend kiwi farming, apparently kiwi fruits make great wine).
So just a little thought: could you imagine if the only people involved in the music business were people who loved music more than money? It is safe to say that if the record business ceases to be very profitable that manufactured boy bands and girl bands and pop artists will disappear pretty quickly. Ok, I'll offer an opinion because I can't actually contain myself anymore...a world wherein people made music purely out of the love of music as opposed to the love of money would be FUCKING AMAZING.
There, I said it.
I'm sad that the record business is suffering, because I have a lot of friends who are musicians and a lot of friends who work at record stores and record companies and I hate to see them nervous and upset. I love buying cd's and records. I love unwrapping them and reading the liner notes and looking at the pictures, etc. And I don't think that the marriage of art & commerce is always such a terrible thing. Lots of great pieces of music have also been commercially successful. But the marriage of art & commerce seems to have gotten WAY out of hand in the last few years.
I think that a world wherein the profit incentive in the record business was greatly diminished might not be so bad.
I certainly don't want to see record companies and record stores disappear. But I'd love to see the end of people getting involved in the music business just because it can be an easy way to make a lot of money and increase shareholder value. I'm hopeful that if we're all (we=people in the music business) flexible and smart we can actually turn the hard times in the music business into something very positive. That's my hope. And I can't express how excited I would be to see the end of music that is made purely for money. Just think of it...it boggles the mind...to think that we might see a time when the majority of the music being made in the world is made for the love of music and not the love of money...that would be wonderful.
And I'm certainly not saying that there's anything wrong with making money from performing music. But the priorities need to be readjusted. Music is more important than money. Making music for the love of music and eventually having it be profitable is certainly ok. But making music only for the purpose of being profitable is offensive to me.
-Moby
A little update about the state of the music business...
Well, a lot has been said and written recently about the demise of the record business. Last year was the first year in a very long while that income from the sale of records (cd's) actually went down. And apparently sales are down between 10-20% so far this year. Obviously this is primarily attributable to cd burning and downloading. I'm not going to write about whether I'm pro-cd burning or anti-cd burning. In some ways I find it absurd to have an opinion about something that is far beyond my control, like whether the moon is a good or bad thing, or whether winter should be banned.
But I did have one little thought...as time goes by and cd-burning and downloading become more commonplace it is safe to say that the profitability of the record business will continue to decrease. Again, I'm not going to offer an opinion as to whether this is a good or bad thing. But if the record business ceased to be very profitable it would mean that people who are involved in the music business SOLELY to make money would have to move on and do something else (I recommend kiwi farming, apparently kiwi fruits make great wine).
So just a little thought: could you imagine if the only people involved in the music business were people who loved music more than money? It is safe to say that if the record business ceases to be very profitable that manufactured boy bands and girl bands and pop artists will disappear pretty quickly. Ok, I'll offer an opinion because I can't actually contain myself anymore...a world wherein people made music purely out of the love of music as opposed to the love of money would be FUCKING AMAZING.
There, I said it.
I'm sad that the record business is suffering, because I have a lot of friends who are musicians and a lot of friends who work at record stores and record companies and I hate to see them nervous and upset. I love buying cd's and records. I love unwrapping them and reading the liner notes and looking at the pictures, etc. And I don't think that the marriage of art & commerce is always such a terrible thing. Lots of great pieces of music have also been commercially successful. But the marriage of art & commerce seems to have gotten WAY out of hand in the last few years.
I think that a world wherein the profit incentive in the record business was greatly diminished might not be so bad.
I certainly don't want to see record companies and record stores disappear. But I'd love to see the end of people getting involved in the music business just because it can be an easy way to make a lot of money and increase shareholder value. I'm hopeful that if we're all (we=people in the music business) flexible and smart we can actually turn the hard times in the music business into something very positive. That's my hope. And I can't express how excited I would be to see the end of music that is made purely for money. Just think of it...it boggles the mind...to think that we might see a time when the majority of the music being made in the world is made for the love of music and not the love of money...that would be wonderful.
And I'm certainly not saying that there's anything wrong with making money from performing music. But the priorities need to be readjusted. Music is more important than money. Making music for the love of music and eventually having it be profitable is certainly ok. But making music only for the purpose of being profitable is offensive to me.
-Moby
