I posted this on First of December a couple of days ago. G14 I want to know your thoughts:
Earlier I tweeted: “We are in the new frontier of the music business, the old way of thinking is becoming obsolete.” And I got a couple of followers asking me to elaborate. Well, my thought process is: now the creative entities (artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, recording engineers; etc.) have more control over the music and it’s output more than ever now. The game to be in is the independent game. The traditional way of breaking artists is becoming obsolete. If you have a hit record, now you have the means to get it to the public virally. This whole game is going viral and yet the older regime of the game is still holding on the old way of thinking. People still believe that you NEED to be signed to a label when the truth is, even when you sign to a label, they are going to expect YOU to get YOU hot anyway. The first questions they’re going to ask are: “What is your twitter follwing looking like?” or “What’s your youtube following looking like?” And they don’t have an understanding of new media at all. If they did, the way that they go about breaking artists should be different. Why am I paying so much money to get my song played on the radio when the majority of people are now discovering new music online? Why am I paying so much for a video when there are artists who are gaining momentum without having to spend a 10th of what the labels spend? And finally, why am I paying so much to get the record mixed and mastered when it’s going to be reduced down to mp3 form and the compression on it is going to make sound like every other record. My point is: WE HAVE THE POWER. The creative people have the power! So let’s execute it. Stop sitting around and hoping for a label to sign you or for a producer to discover you. Get on your grind and put your music out there to the public. Sure, it’s not sexy but in order to get to the sexy you have to work and by work that means more than just making the record. Do your research, get online and find out ways to market and promote your music. Move into the new frontier of music.
Soundtite
Well written B Cox …. school em and motivate at the same time. Righteous
Ruth Lowery
This is true. The net and tech has changed so many businesses.
Think Tank
I wholeheartedly agree. The best thing any aspiring artist can do is learn, learn and learn some more. The first thing they need to figure out though is if this is really for them. So many people have developed “American Idol Syndrome”. A few folks who know nothing about talent tell them, “You should be a star!”, and they take it to the head. The one thing they need to realize is only so many artists can saturate the market a one time. I always say, there are a million ways to become successful….all you need is one. If it’s not entertainment, you got 999,999 more to pick from. I know this got a little off topic but when I see people following you and JD all over G14 just to post their music on everything you guys do, it makes me think, “Why are they placing all of their eggs in an already overflowing basket?” Good post B.
Chun Yui Ko
I feel that is a sort of reality. It is much easier if you do have a major label though. It is an easier in on major radio. However it is much easier to do yourself now. You can now just put your own material on itunes and sell it yourself. Oversaturation is kind of whack though and originality is suffering a bit. I am not a famous ass hollywood type man and even I get bombarded with so much music everyday. I could not even listen to it due to time constraints. But you got it spot on with blowing up virally on the internet. Thats where you got people like Mr. Chi-city and Peter Chao who did it through Youtube or whatever.
Chun Yui Ko
Its all about the product nowadays
Duzi Twala
Agreed.
BiggVicProducedOrShotIt
Good post B. Cox you hit it dead On!!! My thoughts exactly…I hope the people listen.
Kasino Brown
Insightful.
Off-The-Topic.com
Prince has repeatly preached the same message. I think it’s krazie that PD’s of stations don’t really have the power for airplay. Everything still has to approved from VP of Programming who is in charge of various markets which is why we hear the same music artists in every city. Besides Clear Channel and Radio One, I can’t think of another urban broadcasting station.