Future Music

In the first of a series of articles, Luke Oram, writing exclusively for triplew.me, takes a look at the future of the music industry, what it means to be independent in an ever-changing industry landscape and how labels are adapting to a new world.

These days, the word ‘independent’ could be one of the most contentious words in the music industry.

For some, it’s become nothing more than just another vapid genre tag – kinda like ‘punk’; which used to be an aesthetic, but has now been narrowed down to a ‘sound’.

For others, it remains one of the most liberating words in a band’s lexicon – as the recording industry continues to undergo its drastic evolution, the idea of ‘independence’ is becoming more alluring to bands as an ethic.

Earlier this year, amid rumours of disharmony, Chicago power-poppers OK Go publicly cut ties with their label, Capitol Records. The cracks in the band’s relationship with their label had come about because of complications around their latest video for their single 'This Too Shall Pass' – for fear of losing revenue, Capitol had forbid the band from allowing the video to be embedded [into blogs, websites], restricting it to YouTube as a platform – the only platform which allowed Capitol (part of the EMI group) to earn money from it. This was ironic, considering OK Go’s huge leap to fame had come about in the form of their video for 2006’s 'Here It Goes Again' (you know, the one with the treadmills.)

'Here It Goes Again' had spread through the internet like a pop pandemic, getting over a million YouTube hits in its first 6 days of its online life – allowing the video to go viral. The video, while not being a money-spinner for the band, had more than paid off in exposure; that video essentially started OK Go’s international career in earnest.

Things have changed since then – by the time 'This Too Shall Pass' had rolled around, YouTube was a slick revenue-earning machine, and through deals with major labels, Capitol were gaining all that revenue as owners of OK Go’s music. The end result being OK Go being disallowed from making the single viral through embedded videos and the like.

OK Go have since parted ways with Capitol and formed Paracadute Recordings, an independent label which gives them the rights to their future music, and how that music is distributed.

There are similar stories across the music industry. And there are plenty of different theories about how bands can take charge of their careers - one thing everyone can agree on is the problem that sparked it all.

Of course you’ve heard it all before. The digital age is cheapening the value of music to the point where artists struggle to make a living; thanks to the internet, music is stolen, not bought – and the number of people who are pirating music as opposed to paying for it has leapt into the vast majority over the years; I’ve heard one label exec put the figure of pirated music at 95% of total consumption.

So while bands struggle to reap financial rewards from their work, the necessity of record labels is being seriously questioned. Labels have historically played banker to bands, funding their recordings, in return for ownership of those recordings. Due to low record sales, labels have had to find other ways to make money from their artist’s music through digital licensing, online revenue, you name it. And all this has changed the focus for bands – now, as the New York Times says, “the goal is not necessarily to go multi-platinum, but simply to be heard.”

The money thing is still an issue in an increasingly independent industry. If no-one’s paying for music, and the little money your music does make goes to the record company, why would you put up with them as a middle man?

A band like Arcade Fire have quickly become a poster band for the independent ethic; as their latest album The Suburbs sits at the top of the international charts, people are looking to them for a new industry model.

Granted, Arcade Fire haven’t completely shunned labels – they’ve been involved with American label Merge for years, but they have taken important steps when it comes to handling their music. Firstly, they’ve ensured that they own it, recording it on their own dime and licensing it out on their own terms. For Arcade Fire, more control means more profit.

All this being said, it’s unfair to paint record labels as ultimate villains – because not all of them are. Labels are waking up to the fact that the key to their survival is in them evolving within the industry too. Arcade’s label Merge provide a good example of this evolution; while they didn’t fund the making of The Suburbs, they are still a key part of the album’s success. Merge have segmented their business, taking care of the band’s manufacturing, distribution, marketing and digital servicing – as a well connected entity, they can do these things to a much greater effect than Arcade Fire could do on their own.

Maybe your band decides to go the way of OK Go, or Arcade Fire – hell, maybe one day you get big enough to really screw with the industry and give your albums away for a consumer-driven price like Radiohead. Whatever the case, it’s an exciting time to be considering independence in the music scene – as bands explore creative ways to get their music heard, and labels begin to throw out old models, both parties head squarely into some kind of revolution.

Then we’ve just gotta find a way of convincing people to pay for it…but that’s another plan altogether.

Luke Oram is a freelance music journalist from New Zealand and is writing a series of articles on the changing face of the music industry for triplew.me. Get in touch with him via our 'Contact Us' page.