Future of the music industry

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Permalink Reply by Raw Cut Records LLC. on January 30, 2009 at 7:57pm

I still by cd's to support the bands i really like. And the people like us that get on a fuken website called RAGINPIT MAGAZINE keep metal alive. We are the future of the metal and pump the blood and we are the blood of its veins.

What is THE CLEAR CHANNEL?

Be open to music and not just obsorb it but appreciate it. Get the right advice and just remember what your family would say whoever that is. Sometimes do you own thing. Drink lots of beer, whiskey and get your hold on some tequila.

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Permalink Reply by JBats on April 21, 2009 at 10:20am

I used to work for Clear Channel. They suck!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/10-companies-t...

Let them burn to the ground.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny aka DJ Rottin on April 24, 2009 at 8:05am

I think musicians all over are seeing a radical change that stems from tons of new technology and access to people. Your so busy you often wonder if your going to keep your day job and maintain long enough to see the fruits of your labor and craft. If your supporting a family and involved in music your straight juggling miracles daily.

New tech is definitely paving new roads for commerce all over. I know many do still buy CD's but for the most part that's all becoming obsolete. The way we gig, the way we handle merch now, the way we promote, it's all changing.

I know the internet has made things easier but to what extent? The big social site craze is pretty heavy now as people are learning to program their own versions of "Myspace and Pure Volume" and the like.

That's all really cool but I don't think many bands and others in the industry are seeing things from the fans point of view.

I talk to teens and adults and most who are not in bands are sick of being friend requested all the time by bands and promoters. At one time you heard about metal through friends, magazines and tape trading. To tell the truth I miss the hell out of that and many I talk to either miss it or wish they could experience music that way again. It was exciting because you went out to find your own metal and what you found generally defined you as a metal head and as a individual. Now people are lumped in friend list and categories.

I know many bands are sitting and wondering; "What the fuck do you do now?". It's a simple fact that people are more inclined to buy when your not trying to sell them something. One of my strongest skills is sales and that is a cardinal rule.

How does that work for bands, industry supporters and professionals?

We need to learn how to use all the new internet and cellphone mobile technology or at least get a working grip on it. Some of us are pro's at this already, many are not. There are many ways of getting your word out without spamming people. Those who do know how to use this tech need to teach and pass on what they learn. In the old days of bulletin boards and forums that's how we would role. You didn't mind telling your bros how you made that trick banner for your band in your forum signature. You could actually see this as bands in concentrated areas would all improve and advance together. The end result was much stronger shows and memories kids talk about well into their adulthood.

Networking can work so much better when elitist adult metal heads don't pick on new metal bands. Face it ya old farts, shit changes and at one time your shit was heavily under ridicule, considered to be revolutionary and radical. Fuck our shit went to congress! I still haven't forgotten the PMRC who came very close to taking our rights away when it comes to freedom of speech.

SIMPLY PUT! We take care of our own and our offspring who are warping metal in to ways we may never agree with or understand. That's the cycle of life and metal is life and how you feel about things for your time...at notch 11 lol.

I think major labels no longer serve the purposes they once did.

Music stores are closing up and mom and pop shop music community sites and iTunes are well able to get your music out to people for sale and you don't need to be signed to do it or take it up the ass from a serious mark-up of your CD. Stores had to do this to make a profit off of the consignment deal you had to make with them. The results are; today your music now sells in a broader market and you actually see the profits kinda. That depends on whether your music is good or your a half ass decent band really good at pushing sales. Don't forget you have to have the super convenient "buy me now" buttons in your music widgets.

Rumor has it people don't like following links because of Myspace's evil warning page letting you know your leaving and gonna miss them or get a virus not hangin out with Tom.

You can also contract or sub-contract almost everything and everyone you need to establish a show from a small pavilion or club up to places that will allows major gatherings. Same goes for touring. There is a management company or service for almost all your possible needs.

I think what it all boils down to anymore; is that if a band wants to be a success there is only two ways that can work across the board. They need to learn to entertain from two places, the shows live and performances on the net, either pre-filmed or a webcast which is really easy to do now and if your practice pad has internet and a webcam your gonna get people to check you out. Internet perfomances do draw people and if it's posted ahead of time, your fans are going to know when your planning to perform next. I've seen bands up on video streaming sites and skype doing this already with live chat rooms and the rooms are always full.

For the publicity end of things and getting your name out proper:

1) Webzines-approach them with professionalism always, big or small. If your sending out messages on Myspace and e-list saying the same thing that the other 1000's of bands before you said; "Hey check us out!". I don't want to burst your bubble, but odds are they won't. I will state from my own experience, that I do get excited when a bands goes all out with a killer clean EPK or single webpage with everything I want to know right there at easy access.

It takes time to put a solid article together about you. Help us out and make sure everything is clean and easy to read or listen too. Most Myspace pages are so loaded full of video widgets, flyers, and promotional widgets that it's a real hassle surfing through one band page after another and another and another... you get the picture. Also we want to see links to all your past reviews, good or bad. That's a great place for journalist to look for follow-up questions on how your band is coming along.

SETTING ALL YOUR MUSIC AND VIDEO WIDGETS TO AUTO-PLAY, PISSES ME OFF! Sometimes I don't have the volume down on my pc and being blasted sucks ass. Let me hit the play button if I want to. Having them posted everywhere is fine, but let me stay in control.

2) Internet radio has never had justice due till as of the last couple of years. The problem has always been getting people to tune in. People tend to shy away from anything that opens their media player software from the net. Viruses have made sure that has kept the popularity down to a minimum too, people don't like things shooting data streams to their pc and sucking up bandwidth either.

A special thanks is due to the determined broadcasters with flash programing skills working the bugs out of flash players for radio streams. You can also now listen to internet radio on the go with the Shoutcast application for iPhones and some others like the Blackberry using windows mobile.

I think labels should consider being a lot more lenient to webcasters and work out cheaper royalty deals. I know security measures can be put in place to protect the artist now and also internet broadcasters are traceable now with data on every play and how many were tuned in at the time of play.

If you look closely at how things are panning out. Internet radio is our new future and will only get better and better. DJs want to entertain and get music out, labels want people to listen. They need to go where the people are. When was the last time you seriously listened to your regular radio? For me it was a couple of weeks ago and only for about 20mins. People tuned in at the office on the net, stay tuned in there for hours.

Bands have a web page with working downloads 128kbps or better. You can also zip file of all your tracks and track list. Make sure to accompany your your email with written permission for the internet broadcast to play your music and a short but quick news update on your band. This gives DJ's something to say about you while on the air. Internet radio is on the way to giving you more freedom to be played with much bigger bands. The playing field I feel is going to level out here pretty soon between the signed and unsigned.

3) 2.0 music technology. I have to be blunt here and ask if people really think that using friend adders on Myspace or other social sites show your true fan base? A better question is, do you think the pro's out there signing bands to sponsorship deals and labels are fooled by any of it? That's what you really need to think about. What good is a huge "friend" base if you don't have interaction going on?

Your first hurdle is that most teens and adults don't want to be spammed. They don't like their comments being flooded with one flier after another. I can't tell you how many people I know who have a personal Myspace locked down with all privacy settings and one for bands to clutter up. It's very true and very seldom do these people go to their I quote; "band page" to see what's going on.

They will add their most favorite bands on their own. I hear that right after the complaints. I ask what makes them do that? I usually get the same answer which is the band had some cool music on their page or THE BAND TALKS TO THEM!

Many people take the "friend" thing seriously and I see post all the time about people getting ready to delete people who are not talking to them and are just adding people. Keep all your stuff clean on your profiles and up to date. Use your blog features and post blogs about YOUR thoughts on the show. Give props to your fans who who come talk to you after your performance on the net or at the clubs.

It's a fact people could care less how great you are, but they will listen when you tell them how great they are. That's how you make real fans and not just another fucking friend link lol.

It's hard to see how things are going and it's complicated trying to predict how the industry is going to go but I feel myself and lot of our crew are getting a handle on it. We have a few of our own idea's to try here yet. I think that the U.S. show attendance is picking up for metal and getting better. I also feel that it's coming back to a time for us to relax and just do what we do and entertain.

I think that the more we help each other the better the chances are that bands will be successful on their own with out label support. I also think that we have most everyone's attention either from the net or on cellphones. It's time to show everyone why it's really bitchin they chose to add you as a "fan" and not just a "friend".

I didn't mean to write a book on this but I really feel strongly about this and I feel this still doesn't cover all the bases.

Just my thoughts on it anyhow : )

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