from coolfer, who makes the argument that fans are better off today than six years ago.
Fans are better off. There are far more ways to acquire music. (Though there are fewer retailers, digital music has allowed for new online stores and services with millions of tracks.) Recorded music prices are no higher than they were in 2001 (thanks in part to the FTC and mass merchants). The iPod and iTunes made digital music easy, and for many made music fun again. Music blogs now give everybody their three seconds of fame. MySpace connects artists and fans. There’s now satellite radio, far more Internet radio and music-slanted social networking sites like last.fm. You can get a CD with your Starbucks coffee, or a new Prince CD with your Sunday newspaper. Music festivals are sprouting up all over the country. YouTube seems to have catalogued the history of music. Wikipedia offers in a split second what used to require fumbling through a Trouser Press guide. For all the griping about RIAA lawsuits and DRM, music fans are far, far better off than they were in 2001.
Letsetz counters (in my mind) with the Artist viewpoint, it’s hard to get noticed.
If you’ve got a pop confection, the major labels are the place to go. They control the old outlets, which can reach the most people most quickly. The only problem is the old outlets, the mass media, are only interested in the mass market items, and a great percentage of the public isn’t even paying attention. So, even if you’re the beneficiary of a carpet bomb campaign, a great percentage of America will still be clueless as to who you are, and won’t care that they’re out of the loop, might even be proud of being out of the loop. So, the question becomes how to reach these people.
You can’t reach them by asking them to buy first. Quite the contrary, it’s like catching a fish. You’ve got to drop quality bait and wait.
“Music blogs now give everybody their three seconds of fame.”
Good God man! You’ve had at least 6 seconds and you’re still rolling!
Love,
GsquaredF
Um, I think that should be GcubedF….coming from a Dsquared.
I so get what Lefsetz is saying. It’s time for somebody to start a “United Artists” for recording artists and have them work for themselves. All of these record company hangerson are living better than the artists and doing a sorry job in “webland”.
Time for all those wannabes to get a job and stop mooching off of others’ talents.
I agree with both articles, except for the notion that music blogs “give everybody their three seconds of fame.” I think blogs are about communication. Even if it is a bit one-sided for some, it’s still an interchange of ideas.
I think the “three seconds of fame” is kind of a useless analogy. For me, if I hit on a pure music blog where the bloggers musical tastes intersects with mine in a meaningful way I can read it to see what “pop ups”. What does this trusted person like that I can sample an d then perhaps like as well.
Obviously, I’ve got a few there on the sidebar that fit the description for me. Your choices may differ - but it isn’t about the blogger being famous at all. It’s about discovery of music via your friends, even if those friends only exist in the ether.
From “everyone” in the quote, I interpreted it as referring to the posters (hence the “three seconds”). How can someone be famous when shielded by a screen name? If he is referring to blogmasters, then it is a possibility for them, and I can think of at least one that I consider to be famous.