RGG July 2015 - p.7
Having more metal bands in the charts creates
the risk for labels of having to learn all over
again the pitfalls of setting up world tours
without lip syncing spending more on
mind altering drugs to control their slaves
during tours the price of carting four or five axe
welding hairy or bearded composers around the
globe with a crew of passionate zombie like
roadies and dedicated trained guitar
technicians the awkwardness of arranging TV
and Radio interviews for prima donna bands
with multiple mouths all talking bollocks at the
same time when it's far easier arranging media
for one auto tuned prima donna solo artist to
talk bollocks or better still an actual Madonna
Meanwhile there's a growing trend of plop
artists bitching about their music being played
on streaming services (ooh the pain) and
complaining about their fair share of royalties;
just to quickly educate you on how the majority
of payouts work; music labels receive
something like
of the total post tax
payout songwriters and publishers about
and the artist receives around
Now an
swer me this; since the near extinction of the
Compact Disc and digital downloads becoming
the way most humans consume music
nowadays
why are labels still receiving
the same large chunks for simply uploading
songs? In the past they required huge
distribution fees to stock worldwide retail
outlets there isn't any manufacturing or
shipping cost as distribution is a mere 'upload'
button
In the early 's Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and
MTV along with the introduction of the
Compact Disc saved the record industry after
disco had crashed it At first the record
companies were skeptical about the rise of the
music video as they were pretty much giving
away their artists music but out of the ashes of
disco came a brand new way to promote music
on an international level and people began
buying again albums started to become in
demand once more
I’m sick...
The CD boom lasted years but there was a
slump during that time as everything started to
become clinical safe polished and sterile and
you could argue that a song titled 'Smells Like
Teenspirit' helped boot things forward again
Suddenly the music industry re branded itself
overnight like a Parkinson's sufferer holding a
tin of paint and A&R men started hunting down
lo fi bands and handing recording contracts to
anyone wearing cum stained shorts and
sneakers Now if you take a look at today's
industry; the MTV channel plays mind numbing
reality TV shows all day long and kids watch
music videos on YouTube with almost no clue
as to what an album is like and no motivation
to download one thanks to dreadful sponsored
content spunked into their faces every five
minutes The industry has reverted back to the
worn out age of the hit single but it's terrified
of changing At the moment it's ignoring public
demand and marketing artists that aren't really
creating enough interest relying heavily on it's
former star players creating disposable clones
of them all and driving two hundred miles an
hour down a one way street wearing horse
blinkers praying that if they keep their foot
firmly on the accelerator that it'll eventually
take off
For spending habits of music consumers to
change then there has to be a good enough
reason Digital downloads have replaced CD and
we have a generation of streamers; that seems
unlikely to change so what is currently
working? Well bands especially the metal and
rock variety have dedicated fan bases that will
not only buy albums but also purchase their
back catalogue and merchandise; many of these
bands do not receive the excessive media that
pop artists currently rely on You could easily
say that I'm biased about guitar based music
and I'd agree with you; it's also easy to watch
major record companies piss away their money
on today's pop artists because it will cripple
them in the longterm Bands need to come back
into the front line of the mainstream in order
to save the music industry which will in turn
reward them all by fucking it all up again
That's all for this month now bog off
