The Music Industry.

The music industry is at a very critical time right now.  The last decade or so its been going through a renaissance, sparked by Napster and the file sharing generation.  There seem to be more bands out there these days, but the bands aren't lasting as long because they don't have the money.  Many artists are forced fund their own records and tours and do much more of the work on said records and tours.

Record companies are about money, we all know that.  That's how the business got to the point where it is.  But also, the internet has fueled more artists to have the tools to do more of the things on their own.  They can promote themselves through social networking outlets and youtube and blogs.  They can gain popularity by playing shows and friends sharing pics and videos of the shows with these same types of things.  There do seem to be many more labels today with all of the indie labels that have popped up, but most of these don't have the money to last long.

I am very interested to see where all of this goes, I hope it turns out well with the more artists putting their music out there, but the record companies it seems have stopped promoting as many artists as they used to.  This is why mainstream radio isn't really relevant anymore.  Everyone gets annoyed with Top 40 stations because it seems they only play 5 songs.  And rock fans don't like rock radio because its all generic and sounds the same.  With the internet and the iPod generation we seem to be growing apart musically.  We all have our own taste and our own artists we enjoy, but because of this the artists don't last as long due to lack of funding.  I hope someone finds a way to make music easily accessible and lasting at the same time, soon.  I want the music industry to thrive again, but with people who do it because they enjoy the music, not just because they want fat checks.  I understand we all want fat checks, but the art form needs to be respected all the same.  I think we would all like some more variety instead of what seems like the same songs being put out over and over and over.  We've all got our own tastes, and that's something I love, our differences make this world a lot better, but it seems to be at least part of the downfall of the music industry.

I'm in support of us all having our own tastes, but I would also like for the artists that I enjoy to last longer; I guess they'll live forever in my iTunes, but I wouldn't mind them being able to maybe make a few more records.