Those poor folks in the music business ... As I read that article George
posted, I kept wondering, is it 1977 all over again?
I dont know much about the economics of the country labels of the time,
but I do remember what was going on in the rawk world. Back in the later
70s, labels were shrinking their rosters, mostly down to groups who all
sounded the same or who sucked. This was the period in which the great
minds of the music biz brought you folks like Toto, and in which a band
like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had a hell of a time getting signed
and got no label support.
The excuse was that it was just far too expensive to record and promote
and tour a band that couldnt sell less than 500,000 units. The industry
was only geared to serve bands like The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, who
could spend several years and several million dollars recording their
records, not to mention a 20-megaton stage and laser show that would have
to be dragged around the country, but all of that was OK because they
were expected to sell 10 zillion albums.
Not only do the people who drag the industry down into these sewers have
absolutely no taste for good music, they also have no good sense.
Then in 1979, along came The Police, who recorded an album for $6,000 that
sold pretty well and went touring the states without the huge stage show
-- they managed with a couple of old vans. And while they only played
small clubs, they actually made a profit doing it, a bigger profit than
one of those megamonster bands, the Eagles or the 'Mac, did that year (I
fergit which). And smart folks (who had some actual taste) started
churning out records on their own independent labels and making some good
money at it.
Does anyone else find it ironic that the industry is crying tales of woe
at a time when there is an awful lot of great music coming out? I
think that in the last couple of years we've reaped a fine crop, despite
the fact that only a few of those records have sold a good deal. Maybe
this oughta tell us something about whether a commodity as varied and
elusive and magical as good music is the kind of thing we can capture and
package and mass produce in endless units like Ford pickups or bars of
soap.
Will Miner
Denver, CO
