Why we shouldn't mourn the demise of the "music industry"

The music industry as we know it today was only ever a temporary aberration. In its current form it owes it existence to 3 technical innovations. These 3 innovations allowed a lucky few to profit in ways that previous generations of musicians could only dream of.

The first was the invention of the gramophone. This made it possible for a recorded performance of a composition to be duplicated and purchased and for an audience to listen to it where and when they wanted. The gramophone could not be easily pirated and an industry grew to exploit the vast profit potential. 

For the past 70 years or so we have come to accept this version of the "industry" as the norm. But it wasn't always like this. Before gramophones, music was either performed live to a small audience (opera audiences were bigger because opera singers are louder) or sold as sheet music for families to enjoy at home (many families had pianos). Music was much more about community and shared experience. Folk musicians in particular didn't expect to earn fortunes. They were part of a tradition that shared music.

The second innovation was commercial broadcast radio financed by advertising. Now a live performance could be broadcast to hundreds of thousands, and when recording technologies arrived those performances could be recorded and broadcast again and again for additional ad revenues. In order to maximise sales, the companies that bought the advertising began to dictate how music should be conceived and created and the 3 minute pop song was born.

The 3rd innovation was electrical amplification and the development of the PA. Now a live performance could be heard by thousands. Paying thousands.

Musicians and composers didn't complain about any of these innovations, why would they? But now the Internet and new technologies are undermining this business model. Yes, digital technologies are devaluing music as a commodity, but NOT as an art form. Now we may begin to ask ourselves why should music makers have ever earned fortunes from music when farmers, teachers, nurses and coal miners earn so little?

The true value of music can't be defined by sales figures, critics or the phoney awards given out by the industry as part of their marketing strategies. Music is an art form of the people and for the people. 

Now that everyone has the means to create, record, market and distribute their own music it would seem that music may finally be returning to whence it came and perhaps should have stayed. Music lovers will make, record, perform and listen to the music they love, not for money but for the shared pleasure of a great art form, and the critics, curators, middle men and exploiters can go to hell.

For us home and project studio owners this is good news. We can forget about the money and concentrate on the music. It doesn't matter how many or how few people hear or love our music, only that we benefit from the huge personal satisfaction that the creative process brings us.

Thanks for reading and watching
FairFax