Change, Adapt, Innovate Or Be Lost

Let me set this up before I get into it. If you are prone to pessimism, this could cause you to give up on your dreams of making it big in the music business. Read on at the risk of shattered dreams. For everyone else, this can stimulate the type of thoughts which breakthroughs are made of. Let us begin. 

This is not good or bad news; it's just news. Actually, it's not even really news because it's common knowledge to anyone paying attention to the current state of the music industry. Artists, songwriters and producers, please understand this; free is more of an incentive today than ever, figure out how to use it to your advantage. Of course, nothing is really free . . . except in this case where free really means . . . well, free.

"Your music is going to be free and readily available to others without direct benefit to you." Think about it. I don't like what I just said because I am still resistant to some of the current changes within our industry.

There are at least two types of free that I'm referring to when I say "your music is going to be free and readily available to others without direct benefit to you."

Pirating
Pirating has been around since one man was able to see another man's work and steal it. Next, he sells what has been stolen benefitting only himself, with no financial benefit to the original creator of the work. Laws and sophisticated methods of disrupting the pirating practice have failed to solve the problem completely. At best, these approaches have only minimized the potential losses.

The global pirate music market is bigger than any individual legitimate music market except for the USA and Japan.

For each artist's name who appears on a song, dozens of others are involved in the writing, recording, mixing and distributing of the music; all of these people suffer when a song is pirated.

The biggest losers here are the original creators.

Free File Sharing
Free file sharing didn't start with Napster, it just got very serious attention after they were so widely touted as the place to go to get free music. In some respects, the value of the "artist" and "artist experience" started to die when it became more about the song and less about the artist and the artist experience.

Some may ask what I mean when I say "more about the song and less about the artist and album experience." Well, what was once considered a great album would be comprised of eight to ten songs which gave you a connected experience with the artist through musical continuity and a few hits. Remember liner notes? Remember track segues and interludes? Maybe not, but these were all part of that artist and album experience.

Remember cassette tape, album and CD collections? These things are pretty much gone along with allegiance to the artist in many respects. Free file sharing is perpetuating an ever disposable musical mindset which means instead of your album creating buzz, it's just your song, or songs. Even if you have 10, 20, or 80, your songs are just a few among millions. How's that for being a little fish in the sea.

Even pirates, comparatively speaking, are making less money than ever before. Why? How many people will buy a bootleg recording when they can get it for free? Online subscription services with monthly fees facilitates easy stealing for redistribution of songs.

According to a recent survey, the average teenager's iPod has about $800 worth of pirated music on it. On average, every iPod or digital music player contains 842 illegally copied songs. The proportion of illegally downloaded tracks rises to 61% among 14 to 17-year olds. In addition, 14% of CDs (one in seven) in a young person's collection are copied.

Illegal copying in some form is undertaken by 96% of 18 to 24-year olds surveyed; falling to 89% of those aged 14 to 17. Nearly two-thirds copy CDs from friends and similar proportions share songs by email and copy all the music held on another person's hard drive, acquiring up to 10,000 songs in one go. 

Ask yourself, when was the last time you got a track without paying for it? Do you perpetuate the practice, which in effect, is stealing from yourself?

The biggest losers here are still the original creators.

Perspective
There is a decent living to be made in this industry, even by artists who are and will remain largely unknown. A new business model for the music industry which will be a cure-all for the financial woes of the music giants and the little guys will never come. Going, going, gone! For the few giants that remain, the end of days is in view.

In every area of life, as well as in music, the way things were and the way they are differ greatly. Greater opportunities exist. The proverbial playing field has never been this level. Just as back in the day, a record label's A&R department was swamped with new music submissions; today there is more "free" going on than ever before. The pirates aren't gone and the free file sharing won't stop. 

More music is lobbying for the listener's attention and much more poorly written, produced and mixed music is present to wade through. Will you ever be heard? Is it even worth pursuing success in the music business? To both questions, I say yes!

This is vital to remember: everyone must embrace change or experience the consequences of attempting to operate with old tools, methods and ideas while watching the money go to those who adapt or innovate!

Artists, producers and entertainment companies are working on new approaches to dealing with decreased overall music sales. What will never change is the necessity to connect with the listener. The more you connect, the easier it will be for someone to make a decision to pay for your work as opposed to stealing it.

In the June 2009 edition of Mix magazine I saw this: Lil Wayne sold 9.1 million units of “Lollipop.” This was the top-selling digitally downloaded single of 2008. These were paid for and people are still buying! Some folks will always be buying and others will continue stealing, but you will have to make a real connection with your audience and change, adapt, or innovate to stay relevant to those with short attention spans and an overabundance of choices.

Change, adapt, innovate or be lost!