Composing the Digital Music Landscape
A while back, on my now defunct MySpace blog, I pushed for music artists to take control of their own music and bypass record companies in making their work available to the masses. Technology has certainly allowed for this necessary evolution. Many independent artists, which are comprised of mostly little known bands, have utilized Internet technology to share or sell their music to far more people than would have been previously possible, increasing both an artists ability to gain notoriety and competition between these artists.One of my main arguments was that record industries and online outlets, such as Apple’s iTunes music store, have an expectation that people should pay an equivalent amount for digital music as they would pay for this same music on a CD. In my opinion, this expectation is unreasonable as the cost to dispense music digitally must be less than the cost to produce CDs and ship them to stores or directly to consumers.
Currently, the major roadblock keeping well known artists from providing their music directly to fans are the contracts between the artists and the record companies that support them. Dissolving these contracts is difficult, and I’m sure the thought of not renewing these contracts may cause some uneasiness as artists set out on their own.
One band, RadioHead, has done just that; as they’ve shed the fetters of any record company, and are providing their music independently. Not only this, but they have embarked upon an amazing experiment in digital music; allowing fans to name their own price to download their newest album. While it is totally possible for fans to purchase this album for nothing at all, many are purchasing the digital album for close to retail in a show of support for both the band and the idea of independent music. Many comments from fans have noted that they have absolutely no problem supporting the band directly, but are malcontent to pay for music if a large portion is absorbed by a record company.
Personally I paid $5 USD for the album, keeping with my feeling that digital music shouldn’t cost as much as music on a CD. I’m not even a RadioHead fan, but I wanted to make sure I put a few dollars where my mouth is and support the concept of artists distributing their music independently. It is my hope that more artists will break free of the aged record companies and embrace of opportunities that technology can provide them.
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