“Fear is making the record companies less arrogant. They’re more open to ideas. So, what’s important now is to find music that’s timeless.”

I think Black Sabbath's first three records were done in 10 days, total. And they still sound awesome.

Again, not saying you can't make a good record in three or four days. But there are a lot of great records that couldn't have been made in three or four days.

Marie Digby...? what's the deal?

Here.

Ms. Digby's simple, homemade music videos of her performing popular songs have been viewed more than 2.3 million times on YouTube. Her acoustic-guitar rendition of the R&B hit "Umbrella" has been featured on MTV's program "The Hills" and is played regularly on radio stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Portland, Ore. Capping the frenzy, a press release last week from Walt Disney Co.'s Hollywood Records label declared: "Breakthrough YouTube Phenomenon Marié Digby Signs With Hollywood Records."

What the release failed to mention is that Hollywood Records signed Ms. Digby in 2005, 18 months before she became a YouTube phenomenon. Hollywood Records helped devise her Internet strategy, consulted with her on the type of songs she chose to post, and distributed a high-quality studio recording of "Umbrella" to iTunes and radio stations.

that is very interesting

I think Black Sabbath's first three records were done in 10 days, total.

if the first three black sabbath albums were released today everyone would say they sound like shit and that they need more dynamic range compression or something

"Marie Digby...? what's the deal?"

She was sonned in internet beef.

Most indies will never have a 50,000-seller, and I'm not sure what "agile enough to roll with filesharing" means -- agile enough to not mind losing money?

You mentioned two large indies yourself--Sub Pop and Matador. I know Matador has had 50k sellers, I bet Sub Pop has too. Hell, so has Touch and Go, although it took them a while.

As for filesharing, indies may have a better chance at devising things to download that people will actually buy--the New Pornographers "Executive Edition" is at least an interesting idea.

By the way, watch the video in that Marie Digby link to hear a WSJ reporter say "acoustical guitar." Tesla fan??

Sub Pop has a multi-million seller.

(Bleach)

And what are the totals on the Shins records at this point? Gotta be up there.

Re: Independent record labels, people on here seem to be forgetting that independent labels aren't some sort of sentient entity. They require employees. I have a friend who works at a pretty big independent metal label, and he's making peanuts. As much as he loves his job and the music, he just isn't making enough to support himself considering his education. As bloated as major labels may be, they can (or could) afford to pay their employees well, and provide the necessary apparatus to get the music to the people in the first place. So yeah, 50,000 records sold is great for an independent label, but those labels still need people to run them.

"As bloated as major labels may be, they can (or could) afford to pay their employees well, and provide the necessary apparatus to get the music to the people in the first place."

Until they all get laid off because 90% of lost album sales seem to be coming from majors, not from indies.

If the majors really do die off like fat, stinking shit dinosaurs, then won't that give a long slow boost to big indies? Won't we end up with a playing field crowded with labels bigger than todays big indies, but smaller than the majors? If so, there'll be more money to go around, though less than at the Columbia top floors circa 1980-whatever.

Shit, totally forgot about Bleach. The Shins, well, they're kind of forgettable.

Isn't a big part of employing people at indies the fact that they'll work for pretty cheap because they feel strongly about what they're doing? If a label I liked called me and offered me a job at half what I make now (which isn't a ton) I would take it in a second.

x post

Well, the layoff factor is why I put in the "could."

And yes, the reason a lot of them do it is because they're passionate about it, but it isn't a great long-term career, not if you want to live very far above the poverty level. I think once you get married and have a family, it isn't nearly enough to support that, which is why a lot of the independent label employees I've met are single (or least unmarried) males.

Yeah that's true, but it's not like there's any shortage of young males who are passionate about music. I'm not suggesting that you don't need talent to run an indie, but most indies are guided into their fruitful years by one or two people with vision and a lot of chipper young help.

"We will employ passionate young men who quit when they turn 30 and are sick of not having health insurance, to be replaced with newer, greener passionate young men" -- this business model has not worked so well outside of retail work

I dunno: people's notions of how the music industry might be radically reconfigured tend to put a lot of emphasis on fresh, creative music, but I honestly don't know how well those notions would serve would serve the many, many people who rely on having solid, conventional, corporate-product music in the world. (And when I say "I don't know," I seriously mean that I don't know: there's plenty of evidence to suggest that people are happy to get their traditional pop music from near-amateurs and kids with great voices straight out of high-school musical-theater productions. I just wonder who the discontents of a decentralized system with passionate gatekeepers might be -- what, if anything, would suddenly go unserved.)

Nickelback.

diplo remix

Bob Standard may be right - the Matadors and Sub-Pops might become the new old majors, and perhaps their boost in profile might make up for the loss in CD sales. Plus they don't have a stock price to drive up, so maybe they can be a little more flexible with profitability. But make no mistake that they are being hit and will continue to be hit by file-sharing too. You think people aren't getting The Shins and Joanna Newsom from torrent sites?

Every time I see the first sentence of the thread title, I think of:

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/753/753021/tarkin_1167867382.jpg

I just wonder who the discontents of a decentralized system with passionate gatekeepers might be -- what, if anything, would suddenly go unserved.

that's why i brought up the (done to death) subscription idea upthread.

clearly the majors make shitty gatekeepers, but gatekeeping's a bit separate from fandom, too, and i think it's more than an rss app sponsored by targeted ads though that's obviously the first step.

i have to wonder what bill hicks would have to say about it.

Alfred COMPLETELY OTM. I've been reading it in my head with that voice every time.

Grand Moff Rubin

Drag City is gone from emusic.

http://www.emusic.com/messageboard/viewTopic.html?topicId=12450

One poster says he e-mailed the label and received a reply that emusic "pays peanuts."

That may not bode well for the subscription model.

I dunno, I wouldn't really call the Shins "fresh and creative" music. It seems like more and more the large indies are shepherding decent, but ultimately boring acts into the mainstream over a period of time. Large indies are informing a reasonable amount of mainstream taste these days. Obviously, this model doesn't account for the people who just need some Nickelback or decent teen pop, but can't you see some kind of new label entering the arena to fill this void?

Whether you think The Shins are "fresh and creative" is totally irrelevant - I'm talking about bands that are the bread and butter of their labels. If those bands make less money, the labels make less money, and they have less money to put out less accessible acts. If anything, a little boutique label that only focuses on "fresh, creative" music is the worst off of anyone - labels like that can't afford to take a 10% hit to their bottom line because a few people are getting their stuff for free.

i do like rubins 'if you make art people will respond' idea but the idea that we still need mega-mass marketed mainstream music needs a rethink IMO. and theres plenty of artists making 'art' on the fringes, some of whom ARE on majors, and i dont see any of that stuff shifting major units (obv, TVOTR were never going to sell much anyway but hey...) like rubin thinks they will...

If anything, a little boutique label that only focuses on "fresh, creative" music is the worst off of anyone - labels like that can't afford to take a 10% hit to their bottom line because a few people are getting their stuff for free.

I'm not sure if that is entirely accurate, considering how the boutique labels traditionally emphasize packaging, artwork, and limited editions. Check out eBay: OOP releases by boutique labels command relatively big bucks even though much of the music can be found for free online.