To all DIY indie musicians – you’ve been sold a dream! WAKE UP!
It seems that the situation has gone out of proportion. Now, when every one of three people is a musician, every one of ten people has a song on Youtube, and every one of 50 people in the world is now working on his debut album, the listener still relies on radio, TV, and the major music distributors and marketers to screen the music for him. They said that “the major labels will lose all their power and the music industry will be controlled by the artists”. What happened with that? They said that “new music will be easier to find and share, and will be exciting and special”. Where is all that exciting music? I know that there are more than a handful of very talented musicians out there. I know that there are a lot of serious, hard working artists with huge potential, which will never get discovered because of all mediocre, uninteresting, unfocused ordinary music flooding the net every minute.
According to some sources, out of tens of thousand of independent releases each year, a ridiculously small percentage manage to sell more than 100 copies.
We thought that music will only get better, but in fact the situation is getting worse every moment. Those who look for ordinary mainstream music get what they want very easily. The mainstream music industry is focused, with songs that contain the same melodies and harmonies that have proven to work time after time. But nothing is really changing, except the artists and their presentation. There is always enough supply of new artists and music to the audience, that listens to whatever is played on the radio. Mainstream is working great.
But what about Alternative music? The kind of music that once used to drive new trends and once even became the mainstream itself? Most people I know that separate themselves from the mainstream audience still prefer to listen to the same artists they used to listen to for the last 3 or 4 decades, rather than looking for new artists to listen to.
I do see some artists that are having success going the indie DIY route. I sincerely applaud them, regardless if they do or do not subscribe to my personal musical preference or taste. Once in a while I even get hooked to a certain mainstream artist that has managed to cut through the masses with sincere emotion, interesting music and a compelling message. Unfortunately, they are only a handful among millions of other artists that are still waiting to be discovered.
This has to change.
Please comment below if you have anything to say about this. You may also contact me or send me interesting new music to theshtikfactory@gmail.com