MicrostockGroup

I think it saved the music business.

JCM is 58 years old. Touring is hard enough work when you are young, let alone for someone pushing 60.

The Internet is a great way for young musicians as a way to be seen and heard. But for an established talent who would rather stay in the recording studio and just sell "records" it is a catastrophe.

This goes with the timing is everything statement SJ made earlier regarding microstock. May not be everything but is a key component.

Oh and "Video killed the radio star"...

So there will always be "another one that bites the dust"...

I like a lot of the more modern music.  Muse, La Roux, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Keane, The Hives, The White Stripes, I could go on but I think these are all much better than 90% of the 80's groups.

Did many musicians make money in the 70's and 80's when the record companies were ripping them off?  Even some of the very successful ones ended up broke and not owning their own music.  Those that did get a good deal were only getting a small percentage of the CD sales.  At least now more people seem interested in going to see live music and they can make money from that.

Record sales have gone down but is that just because of illegal downloads or is it because younger people spend more money on other things like computer games?  I remember lots of tape swapping going on in my school, not many of us could afford to buy an album.  I prefer it now that I can use spotify legally and pay for the downloads I want to keep.

This is a conflict of two mentalities (we saw it before), one progressive and other traditional...
Often progressive was turned into a traditional. we have a bunch of evidence in history... Only because of interests...
Jesus was progressive for his age, now is part of traditional worldviews...
Also, people without any kind of ideology, often chose side only because of the keeping their property or way of life...
It was easy to be a revolutionary if you had nothing,  same man with the possessions probably would chose "old stream" ...

This is just an echo of traditional and retrograde world in multimedia....

Computer Programmed radio destroyed the music business.  It's why the "classic rock" station in every town still plays Barracuda, Come Sail Away, and More Than A Feeling every 5 minutes.  Not that I'm a big fan of disc jockeys, but I'll take their music mix over one decided upon by a corporate board and a piece of software.

Same thing is happening at Sirius.  It's almost 100% programmed now, and they are getting more and more repetitive.

The only hope for music is the internet.  Pandora, LastFM and the similar sites are hardly perfect.  But if you want to hear something different, that is where you can go.  Mellencamp should know what killed the music industry.  It was dying before the internet made its mark.

Have you tried spotify?  I love it, here's one of my playlists
http://sharemyplaylists.com/alternative-and-mainstream-songs-from-5-decades/

No, I've never tried it. Thanks

Odd how that is, because the people I know have found that they don't need a record company or agent and they can produce and distribute their own CD on the internet, without all the complexities of a studio recording, pressing and record stores to make the album. They can also print the CDs and the covers at home without expensive exuipment.

No big 15" reels at 15IPS and huge studio equipment, since it's done digital now, multi-tracking. My 4 track Tascams and Teacs cost hundreds, DBX was another bite and then the mixers, and snakes to connect everything.

Now it's done with a computer and external box! 16 track is small. 

As for original music, the time is ripe for anyone who wants to splash their music on the web for the whole world to find. YouTube, websites, online sales... somehow I think it's much better and easier to avoid the record companies and the monopoly they had on the whole industry.

Every band I know that's worth 2 cents, sells CDs at the jobs. Play and marked on site.

No, but they wouldn't even be making a record because of the costs and the distribution monopoly. Now they can! If you mean are they making a living playing music? Sure just like all of us rich microstock photographers! 

If you had played in bands for forty years and dealt with agents, promoters, record producers, radio stations (bribed to play your music on air) bar owners who stiffed you, wedding grooms who wrote bad checks, places that took your money and rode on your back for 20% and they tried to screw you at the same time, then you would have an idea of the "music business". Actually it's very much like micro. Independent hopefuls struggle and work for years, always looking up to the stars of the industry, but very few make it to the top and make a professional income from their work.

People point at the top IS sellers and people like Yuri. Heck, you could go from your garage or basement to being the next Rolling Stones or U2? Ya, right... get real! 

BUT now with the technology you don't have to give up your rights to your music and sign a contract or sell your soul to the devil (Robert Johnson) to get your crappy songs recorded on some vinyl or pressed on a CD. You can make your own digital recording at home, and sell them to the world, on the internet. It's better in many ways, unless you are John Cougar Melencamp counting on royalty checks for sales of music you recorded 25 years ago, that doesn't earn like it used to.

In a similar way, music has gone independent just like micro. The big agencies and private collections have been broken up by the little guys, offering a high quality products for bargain prices.

The Internet didn't ruin anything, it has created new opportunities and freedom. The information superhighway isn't just a cliche for electronic communications.