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RE: The ideal music industry
Some muscians have enough clout so that the Record Label doesn't own their songs, but they are few and far between.
Well, like Courtney Love pointed out in the article I linked, it's very significant that the copyright on a book is almost always owned by the author, but the copyright on a song is almost always owned by the publisher.
I think that really indicates where the root of the problem lies.
Back in the early "rock and roll" days somebody got really clever and set up a "standard" for the industry where the artists signed over their rights to the publishers. You could even argue that the pattern Love describes actually made some kind of sense, once upon a time. But today, the real costs of producing a CD is almost nothing. For a few thousand dollars, anyone can set up a high quality recording studio. Production costs for CDs is likewise minimal.
But when the recording industry gives a recording contract, they get to specify which studio the artist use - and of course, it's one the publisher owns. And of course, they do the CDs. So is it any wonder the artists are billed rather a lot more than actual costs for these things?
The reality is that the recording industry doesn't add much "true" value to the process anymore. They control - albeit indirectly - what gets played on the radio. That's something valuable they offer the artists - an audience - but they control that illegally. Every other aspect of the process can be done for a tiny fraction of what it used to cost.
The net of it, in my opinion, is that the recording industry actually takes value out of the process. Rather than artists becoming popular because people like their music, the industry "decides" who they think will become popular and that's who gets the play time. They "manufacture" popularity. The result is that we get mediocre acts that appear popular because they get a lot of air time.
The recording industry needs seriously overhauled. What Radiohead is doing here and the similar giveaway Prince did in July are great news. They're finally taking back control of the industry.
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RE: The ideal music industry
She goes through the numbers.
It's a crappie (fishy?) situation any way you slice it. The only musicians making any real money are the ones who own their record labels or have studios in their homes. Some muscians have enough clout so that the Record Label doesn't own their songs, but they are few and far between.
Digital music isn't any better either--check this which includes a comment by Wierd Al Yankovic. Apple takes roughly 20-35% for themselves, and gives the rest to the label. Further down, the article cites the Allman Brothers lawsuit; it looks like the artist may only get a measly 4%. Fans buying songs by CD might actually allow the artist to get paid more.
As to the payola in the Radio market; it's always existed..it just changed forms.
Although..I'd like to see statistics drawn up by Christian Artists...maybe I'll dig for that later tonite--makes me wonder if the Christian labels are more just.
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