The State of the Industry Post (aka. Ben used his brain today)

Tell you what, even though Phil is the one away sunning himself, this week feels like we have been the ones on a break. No more emails going round at 9:05 exactly detailing what we need to do that day, no more gig, recording and rehearsal schedules organised with military precision, no more phone calls to find out whats wrong if you dare to reply to an email in a less than orgasmically joyous manner...

I'm hard on Phil. I can't help it. Without his tireless efforts, things would fall apart, but he is so much fun to mock.

Apparently, Gethin has been manning the band's email account in Phil's absence and has replied to two emails. He won't tell us just what those emails are though, so I personally thing he just got a the 'Lowest priced viagra on the web!' and sent some bank details over to an African prince who needed his help to get $50m out of the country, and we had been recommended to them through their network of business networks as being trustworthy and reliable. Emma and Adrian are still under the sofa, it appears.

Anyway, today I'm going to break from the norm and offer an intelligent point of view. I know, I know. Bare with me.

If you think about it, these days the business model for record labels has returned to the good old days. Labels aren't pouring their finances into pre-manufactured pop bands or just studio based artists any more. It appears those days are dead and gone. These days, labels are looking back to the guitar based band for their hits. Sure, you do still get all the proper pop durge as per normal, but think back to last year. How many bands popped up, had a top 10 hit then promptly disappeared last year? And how many had names along the lines of “The Whatevers”? Exactly.

But if you think about it, this is just a throwback to the way things were done between the 50's till the end of the 70's. The way hit singles got out, before the electronic music revolution became truly epidemic, was a band wrote and rehearsed and practised their little hearts out, got a single they were proud of and then tried to find anyone in The Biz to listen to it. If they succeeded then a label might take a chance and give that single a push, or they may have to go back to the drawing board.

Now look at today's market. There is a reason no label really has an A&R department any more, and so no more Artist Development. The reason is this – it is more cost effective (and fashionable) for a major label to either recruit new popstars via talent shows and media, or to urge old bands to reform\make new bands out of old members of old pop groups. So where do labels get their proper, guitar based music from? Gethin began the rumblings of this thought a few weeks back.

Recording costs are pretty low these days. You can record, mix and master an album for less than £1,500 these days. And that is if you do it well. Bands can use the internet to generate their own buzz. All labels really need to do if they want one song a band has written is sign them, release it along with an album, push it and then release the band. Sure, the band can bounce back but it is a hard adjustment.

What has gone missing from all of this is labels forgetting where their income comes from – from artists, and long term artists at that. The last band I can think of that went through a few years of A&R were Coldplay. These days labels are so intent on pushing their main cash cows, they forget about developing new talent to replace their older stars. They battle against new distribution channels rather than embrace them, still refusing to believe that its past the year 2002.

What labels need to realise is that rather than signing a flash in the pan band, it is far more benificial to sign bands up and develop them. Get them working with producers to help encourage their sound. Get them understanding the business. Even go as far as to ensure they have music lessons! It is time labels did their job and developed artists.
Of course, some bands still succeed these days. The Darkness, Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen were all signed off the back of some serious underground buzz. Lady GaGa had written hits for pretty much every band in the States before bringing her own unique style to the forefront. Biffy Clyro fans actually sent death threats to reviewers who panned one of Biffy's albums. There are still success stories who thrived under this current state of the industry.

But look at the casualties (and thesea re ones that just popped into my head) – Hundred Reasons and InMe are both without labels. So are The Futureheads. As are Mercury Award nominees The Zutons, despite the fact their track “Valerie” was one of the most annoyingly popular tracks last year. Even Mercury winners The Klaxons had their album thrown back at them by their label for being “too experimental”. Even popstars aren't immune, as Leon Jackson and Ray Quinn have both been dropped quietly after their X Factor fanfare broke down. Rumour even has it was that what finally ended Velvet Revolver wasn't Scott Weiland re-entering crazy-world, it was the fact that their second album made such a small impact they were dropped. Same goes for Audioslave.

Basically, my point is this – with the invent of technology, the music industry is suffering on many fronts. Each time they sort one problem, or think that they have, seven more turn up. What they really need to worry about, though, isn't how to maximise file copy protection whilst minimizing the impact to the end user. The need to concentrate on the bands. Sure, there will always be one hit wonders, flash in the pan bands, but the industry needs to think long term. What it needs is to get scouts back out into local scenes. What it needs is to sign hot bands to A&R contracts instead of looking for finished products only. I don't mean monetary contracts either. I mean just simple bits of papers that give said label first refusal on a recording deal and entitle the band to two industry showcases in the space of 18 months. I know through experience that when rumours emerge that an A&R scout is doing a stint in a town, the whole scene goes nuts. It is a fantastic shot in the arm for local music.

Every industry is suffering. All of them, with the possible exception of debt councillors and bailiffs. What the music industry needs to do is swap their current tendency for flash in the pan acts, who will be out the door 6 months down the line, and start re-investing in grass roots music. The people change the musical world aren't ones who have friends in high places. They aren't the ones who simply make the most noise (Razorlight were signed before even playing a gig...). And they deffinately scene kids, who hang around and brown nose whoever is popular in the local scene at that time trying to pick up some success by osmosis.

The people who change the musical world are the ones who sit at home on Friday nights playing guitar while looking at posters of their heroes. They spend summers in the studio, writing and rehearsing for one gig. They play for free and act as a roadie too just to get onto a good bill. The people who play every gig like they are headlining Glastonbury. What labels need to do is start investing in them, and stop throwing money at glorified karaoke and one hit wonders. They are being their own worst enemy.