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Rolling Stone: The Record Industry's Decline

Rolling Stone
The Record Industry's Decline
Record sales are tanking, and there's no hope in sight: How it all went wrong

By Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick
Posted Jun 19, 2007 2:29 PM

This is the first part of a two-part series on the decline of the record industry. Today we're including Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick's report on where the music business went wrong, from the current issue of Rolling Stone, as well as an interactive graphic illustrating the industry's slide. Tomorrow, check back with RollingStone.com for interviews with industry leaders on the future of the music business.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/st...strys_decline/1

quote:

"A lot of people say, 'The labels were dinosaurs and idiots, and what was the matter with them?' But they had retailers telling them, 'You better not sell anything online cheaper than in a store,' and they had artists saying, 'Don't screw up my Wal-Mart sales.' " Adds Jim Guerinot, who manages Nine Inch Nails and Gwen Stefani, "Innovation meant cannibalizing their core business."

that's a good point.

Re: Rolling Stone: The Record Industry's Decline

When they say the "record" industry they are speaking of CDs right? When I think of record I think of the 12inch but that was gone a long time ago from the mainstream music industry. I'm confused

quote:

Originally posted by SuperJimbo Rolling Stone The Record Industry's Decline Record sales are tanking, and there's no hope in sight: How it all went wrong By Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick Posted Jun 19, 2007 2:29 PM This is the first part of a two-part series on the decline of the record industry. Today we're including Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick's report on where the music business went wrong, from the current issue of Rolling Stone, as well as an interactive graphic illustrating the industry's slide. Tomorrow, check back with RollingStone.com for interviews with industry leaders on the future of the music business. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/st...strys_decline/1

by "record" industry, they're referring to general music sales... and obviously not 12" records, because as u mentioned its been out of the mainstream for ages.

its basic deducive reasoning.

Which is why they shouldn't call it the record industry

...and...I'm confused as to why I should care about CD sales *stab at mainstream culture*

hee hee

interesting read. It's no surprise really. The MP3 and Napster destroyed the music industry.

quote:

Originally posted by LittlePoonzgirl ...and...I'm confused as to why I should care about CD sales *stab at mainstream culture* hee hee

actually its a stab at underground culture. The lesser known groups are feeling the fianacial pinch the most. Its harder for them to sign and get distribution and it's almost impossible for them to make a living in music.

The blockbusters essentially used to subsidize the upstarts. Such is not the case anymore.

And I dont buy the idea of "the internet helps these bands out by exposing them more". They may be more exposed but that doesnt help when most of the new fans go out and steal their music anyways.

Bottom line... people need to start BUYING music again whether its online, CDs or records. I would prefer to see people buy physical hard copies as this adds much more intrinsic value to music than a deletable invisable MP3 file ever could. However, even paying $1-2 a song online will help tremendously.

I can already tell you that a lot of electronic music has NOT been made because it has been economically unviable. Either labels have rejected the idea, or the artists themselves have retired due to lack of monetary resources and incentive whereas in the past they would have made a comfortable living at it.

PS: personally i miss compilations. It was always cool to have your pick of literally 20 new comps released that same week. Its sad to see so many record stores closing. They used to be the gathering point for music culture no matter the genre.

quote:

Originally posted by LittlePoonzgirl Which is why they shouldn't call it the record industry

recorded music ---> record industry.

I suppose I wasn't thinking about bands, it would suck for them no doubt. But, most DJs I know either buy the record or the mp3 (usually the record). The only way a decline of CDs has caused a problem for them is selling their own mixes...but that pretty much stopped a long while ago. Most (if not all) lesser known local DJs in the underground scene will give out their mixes for free now. So for them I suppose this is old news. As for the producers, releases are on either vinyl or mp3 and I'm not sure if they released many singles on CD before.

It's always been hard to make a living in underground music (unless you hit it lucky with timing and trends). That's why most people don't do it. Shame.

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 actually its a stab at underground culture. The lesser known groups are feeling the fianacial pinch the most. Its harder for them to sign and get distribution and it's almost impossible for them to make a living in music. The blockbusters essentially used to subsidize the upstarts. Such is not the case anymore. And I dont buy the idea of "the internet helps these bands out by exposing them more". They may be more exposed but that doesnt help when most of the new fans go out and steal their music anyways. Bottom line... people need to start BUYING music again whether its online, CDs or records. I would prefer to see people buy physical hard copies as this adds much more intrinsic value to music than a deletable invisable MP3 file ever could. However, even paying $1-2 a song online will help tremendously. I can already tell you that a lot of electronic music has NOT been made because it has been economically unviable. Either labels have rejected the idea, or the artists themselves have retired due to lack of monetary resources and incentive whereas in the past they would have made a comfortable living at it.

quote:

Originally posted by LittlePoonzgirl But, most DJs I know either buy the record or the mp3 (usually the record). The only way a decline of CDs has caused a problem for them is selling their own mixes...

djs play music made by producers.
people steal the music.
producers don't make money, and thus can't afford to or is not beneficial to make more music.
that is bad.

less new music = less music to spin = less need for djs.


EDIT: and yea, most djs buy their music. but i think what Jay is saying is that more people need to buy music, and support the producers. Only djs purchasing + supporting underground music is not enough.

quote:

Originally posted by m2j djs play music made by producers. people steal the music. producers don't make money, and thus can't afford to or is not beneficial to make more music. that is bad. less new music = less music to spin = less need for djs.

Well, I don't know many underground producers that have released much on CD in the past few years. And most underground DJs still buy the vinyl unless they are spinning a genre that doesn't get pressed, like psy.

I'm not sure most undergound music producers would ever make much money, although it would be nice if they did. There are always the exceptions. Besides, they can still sell the mp3s and that can be done completely independant of a record label. I think your "undergound" and my "underground" may be two differnent undergrounds.

^^^
i don't get what you're debating here...
its basic ethics that stealing is wrong.

and stealing music is specifically bad for electronic music/'underground' music, because they have so little to begin with.

ALL MUSIC should be bought and NEVER stolen.

Even when you rip off major labels and artists like snoop dog or kelly clarkson you are still ripping off your own scene. Why? because in the past the revenues from those artists subisdized lesser known artists many of which you have come to know and love.

I love how people try to justify stealing music. It never ceases to amuse me.

Just stop your argument next time and substitute almost any product for the word music to see how ridiculous you really sound.

My only real worry is that they will stop producing actual CDs, and the industry will go backwards.

People have proved they do not care about sound quality.

PS: one thing that is astounding is how we tend to think that people owe it to us to provide us with free/dirt cheap entertainment.

Whether it's someone justifying ripping off music on the net or crying about how cover was way too much and "the club owner made way too much money."

Who ultimately pays for this cheapness? Certainly not the label owner or club owner. It ALWAYS falls back on the artist, DJ, band, etc. You can rest assured that if the owners are making less, the talent is making WAY less which in turn eventually offers less incentive for the artist to even exist in the first place.

This is what is starting to happen in a big way. Its not as apparently yet to the outsider but many artists are retiring prematurly due to lack of sales.

quote:

Originally posted by Orko My only real worry is that they will stop producing actual CDs, and the industry will go backwards. People have proved they do not care about sound quality.

Agreed. Its amazing the difference between an MP3 burnt CD and a store bought one.

No comparison. The store bought wins everytime

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 Just stop your argument next time and substitute almost any product for the word music to see how ridiculous you really sound.

how about this, I can return any product I don't like except music.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur how about this, I can return any product I don't like except music.

Or video games..

You used to be able to return music until it was easy to copy it. Now you can usually hear the album before you buy so no excuses there.

quote:

Originally posted by LittlePoonzgirl Besides, they can still sell the mp3s and that can be done completely independant of a record label. I think your "undergound" and my "underground" may be two differnent undergrounds.

How??

Every artist is going to set up an internet merchant account, design his own website and spend tonnes of money promoting himself online? It takes label influence to get on sites like itunes and beatport just as it does to get on the shelves at HMV. The labels arent as useless as most people tend to think.

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 How?? Every artist is going to set up an internet merchant account, design his own website and spend tonnes of money promoting himself online? It takes label influence to get on sites like itunes and beatport just as it does to get on the shelves at HMV. The labels arent as useless as most people tend to think.

Because record labels, especially the big ones, have connections to other forms of media which allows them easy access to promotion of their artists. They have the money to "market" the artists since the artists themselves usually do not, or are not even capable of marketing.

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 Now you can usually hear the album before you buy so no excuses there.

I can get the complete version of Tiesto's Elements Of Life within minutes, instead of listening to a 30-sec clip of each song on Amazon. It's actually more convenient to illegally download to preview the album than it is to do so legally, which is obviously backwards, but we'll just ignore that and settle on the simple, "listening to samples SUCKS".

Anyway, I'm not going to bother argiung this any further, especially after reading

quote:

Even worse, the record companies waited almost two years after Napster's July 2nd, 2001, shutdown before licensing a user-friendly legal alternative to unauthorized file-sharing services: Apple's iTunes Music Store, which launched in the spring of 2003. Before that, labels started their own subscription services: PressPlay, which initially offered only Sony, Universal and EMI music, and MusicNet, which had only EMI, Warner and BMG music. The services failed. They were expensive, allowed little or no CD burning and didn't work with many MP3 players then on the market.

The record companies failed to address a HUGE paradigm shift, and that's what ruined them. It can and will happen in any business where you try to resist these shifts. The environment they existed in changed, they didn't adapt, pushed away their very own customers, and now they're wondering why no one's responding to their cries of pity?

I personally could care less if all the record companies collapsed. Music existed before them, and music will continue to exist after them.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur The record companies failed to address a HUGE paradigm shift

After reading that blip about the retail market holding a gun to their head I have a bit more pity for the unfortunate situation that record execs are in.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Music existed before them

barely

quote:

Originally posted by jon jon After reading that blip about the retail market holding a gun to their head I have a bit more pity for the unfortunate situation that record execs are in. barely

meh. They can shift the blame around all they want. Music listening was going up, but record sales were going down. Their business model was clearly sinking, and they just hoped it would go away.

Yes, barely, but there's no way I'm going to believe that record companies will close down, billions of ipods will be put away, and we'll all go back to listening to the sounds of the subway. Music will persevere, maybe there'll be no more Britneys making millions, but that's not much of a loss. With the state of Internet where it is right now, I'm confident that I'll be able to find the music I like long after EMI no longer exists.

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