The State of the Music Industry

As an admitted music nerd looking to break into the music business, I find it only fitting to begin this blog of mine with an affirmation that the industry is not dead, despite popular belief.

Last night I stumbled upon an article in The Economist that deals with the evolution of corporate record labels, and how artists are making money in today's world of iTunes, and YouTube.

The Oct. 7 article doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to the grim facts out there.

"For the past ten years sales of recorded music have declined so steeply as to become a cautionary tale about the disruptive power of the Internet."

This is not the first time such whisperings have floated around. Ever since illegal downloading began with sites like Napster and Kazaa, people have talked of the end of the tangible, recorded album. People like instant gratification, and only buying their favorite songs. I know I do. It's as simple as that.

But the biz is not leaving without a fight. To be honest, you don't really have to look further than Lady Gaga's "Monster Ball" Tour statistics to see that the music world is alive and well. A few weeks ago when tickets went onsale for her tour date in Austin at the Erwin Center, I figured I'd try to snatch up a few before the show was sold out (as it undoubtedly would). I was astonished to log onto Texas Box Office and see prices that ranged from $86 to $1450 (before service fees and tax). But in retrospect, what astonished me even more was that people were willing to pay this much for a show.

Now, I don't know about anyone else who spent last weekend at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, but I for one was slightly bemused by the slight jump in T-Shirt prices from $20 last year, to a pretty standard $30 for almost all shirts. Now, don't get me wrong, the extra $10 was not about to stop me from wearing my Muse shirt with pride and labels are taking advantage of that to compensate for falling record sales.

In addition to increasing ticket and merchandise sales, musicians are turning more and more to sponsorships and licensing. Interestingly enough, The New York Times published an article last week about how bands are moving away from the strict contracts of record labels to sponsorships being offered by brands. This might seem counterproductive to "saving the music industry" but it just goes to show that it is imperative to find new ways to make the business work, whether it's turning to a new form of branded entertainment, or appearing on an episode of "Glee."

All in all, I think we can breathe easier. The industry isn't going anywhere.