Sup Steem punks & Steem princesses.
Everybody who is involved with music knows that a bands dream come true the day they get a "record deal".
This conception comes from an earlier time in the music industry. I remember growing up and they were handing out record deals like handouts. All these one hit wonders arose. Good times. What about now?
The internet has taken over and the corporate machine that was the recording empire has started to fumble. The recording studios that used to cost millions of dollars to record in are now being built in spare bedrooms of homes. The secretive marketing and networking process has been eliminated by Facebook Ads and emails. The label distribution process has been fumbled by companies like spotify and Itunes. So therefore the lock on the industry that was help so tight has now been crippled by the internet.
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Driven by fans’ engagement with streaming – especially paid subscription audio streaming – digital revenues now account for more than half (54%) of the global recorded music market. Total streaming revenues increased by 41.1%. By the end of 2017, there were an estimated 176 million users of paid subscription accounts globally, with 64 million having been added during the year.
What does this mean for the labels?
The record labels are now having to take extra steps to be more strategic. Although the concept that you have "made it" as an artist once you land one of these holy record deals still lives on. People still believe there is some sort of corporate controller, a master of puppets, and when it comes to FM radio and certain situations....there still is...but the internet has opened the door for a ton of new artists that are below the surface to rise up and get the recognition that a label would grant you...but by their own means using the internet. The labels stand strong, and the corporate machine still reigns, but the underdogs are given an opportunity to use good marketing by their own means to rise above the ranks and get the recognition they deserve.
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What does this mean for the musicians?
If you learn business and marketing. If you love what you do as a musician and fight for growth. If you learn the ins and the outs of the industry and work out a good plan. You, as a musician, have a fighting chance in this industry thanks to technology and the power of the internet. This means you need to study the concepts behind what it takes for replacing the labels functions with a business of your own. That you run. That you are in charge of. That you get paid from. This is your empire.