A very insightful article on the Music Biz from this month's Music Connection magazine.

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There was a time when all you needed to do was make great music and you could get signed. If you got signed, you had a reasonable shot. Even the major labels gave you three records to build a fan base and sell a few hundred thousand units. If you were lucky, you might have a hit and go gold or platinum.

Nobody cared how old or attractive you were. Having great songs and an identifiable sound was often enough. I miss the '70s.

MTV ruined all that. Video didn't just kill the radio star - it was cold blooded murder. A great song was no longer enough. You had to look great, have a gimmick. Having a great song was no longer a necessity, it was just icing on the cake.

During the grunge years, coming from the right city seemed to be more important than the music itself. Tatoos, out of tune guitars, pitchy vocals and Doc Martins were a necessity. Timeless songs weren't important. Try and hum the chorus to 10 songs from the early '90s. See what I mean?

A&R lemmings flew from one city to the next trying to locate the next "sound." Publishers signed acts, not hit songwriters. "The Emperor's New Clothes" could have been written about that dark period in music. Was I the only person who saw what was happening? There must have been others.

Then came illegal downloading - the final straw. Today's music industry is dying. Even if you get a major label deal, there's a high probability that most of your music will be stolen once it hits the public's radar.

The common thread in the music industry of the '70s, '80s and '90s was the music attorney. Everybody wanted to hook up with the right guy - you know, the one who was connected, the one with clout. Attorneys were rockstars to the rock stars. In today's music industry, not so much.

Try to find one that still shops deals. Almost non-existent. No longer will an attorney take you on spec, betting that they'll commission the deal, or at the very least make $25,000-$50,000 to draft and/or negotiate the contract. I can't remember the last time I saw that happen.

But hey, we're on the cusp of the "new" music industry, level playing field and all. The internet will save you! Put your music on MySpace and let the world gravitate to your genius.

How's that workin' out for ya? I thought so.

It's hard to be found in a pond with three million other geniuses. How many acts can you name that were "discovered" solely on the internet who have sold 10 million units and become private jet wealthy? We want to believe that's possible, but we know deep down that it's not likely.

The days of the mega-rich superstars are numbered and the calendar pages are flipping faster than an open book on a windy day. The lights are about to go out on the era in which you could make great music and rely on your attorney and manager to make it all hapen while you snorted blow and got laid in your dressing room.

And while the playing field looks level, don't fool yourself. It's not. It's tilted heavily in favor of musicians who have figured out how to build a career for themselves. They know how to write and produce great music. They know how to tour 200 days a year. They know how to market on the street aw well as online. In short, they're succeeding because they treat the music business like...well...umm...a business.

I know it's antithetical for artistic types to be business oriented. But maybe that's a myth. Obviously, some are! Most of us know at least one exception to the rule - that one band or artist that's sold 10,000 CDs and 20,000 single song downloads. They might not be private jet wealthy, but you know what? They're making money doing what they love to do.

I was having dinner with Derek Sivers, ex of CDBaby. We agreed that the internet does make it possible for more musicians to make at least a decent living with their music. Some will make more money than others because they will be willing to work harder at it.

I told Derek that I had coined the phrase "Musician Middle Class" a few years ago because I saw the writing on the wall. Gone would be the days of the archetypal rock star. Gone would be the days of the haves and the have-nots. But just around the corner will be a new era in which many more deserving people will get paid for making music - they'll just make less.

We see it at my company, TAXI, every day. We have members who are in their 50s and 60s who are making music for film and TV. They might be too old for a record deal, but nobody cares about that when they're looking for a song about lost love for a scene in a TV show.

They might be overweight or "aesthetically challenged," but nobody cares about that if their bagpipe music fits a funeral scene in a cop show. Are you getting my drift? Create multiple streams of music income.

This is your time, but you're going to have to get up off the couch and claim your piece of the pie. You're going to have to work at it eight to 12 hours a day, at least five days a week to make it happen. It's going to take more effort than when a well-connected attorney could do the heavy lifting for you.

Welcome to the "new" music industry. It's the one that rewards you for working hard.

http://musicconnection.com/digital/

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tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

"And while the playing field looks level, don't fool yourself. It's not. It's tilted heavily in favor of musicians who have figured out how to build a career for themselves. They know how to write and produce great music. They know how to tour 200 days a year. They know how to market on the street aw well as online. In short, they're succeeding because they treat the music business like...well...umm...a business."

Familiar sounding words from my TD experience a few years ago, eh?

Thanks for sharing.....too bad we do not live closer...this subject merits a long chat over a cup of coffee.....

This guy co-oped a piece I wrote on this very site.....YEARS ago.

wow...

deep.