"...it shouldn't be a surprise that some one who can get terms they favour with a contractor who can do that work for them for a price they are happy with take it."
This is a good analogy. One thing that surprised me in this article, however, was Reznor's assertion that his Columbia Records team was "lean and mean." The record labels have a serious PR problem created by many recent stories of artist exploitation and record label executive bloat at the top. So using the analogy of the contractor, one has to ask the question: 'Why would he sign with a contractor that has (at least in the past) proved itself to be exploitive?" It's like watching your neighbor's kitchen renovation contractor go over budget, ask for more more, and screw you over with crappy materials - and then hiring them and saying "Well, they are much changed and they really do have some good carpenters working for them."
You have to ask: Has the record label culture really changed? And why is the label not hiring some whiz bang PR people to make hay from this announcement, clarify the deal, and show the industry how progressive they now are (and how "lean and mean")? Spotify and Pandora have done a better job with their artist perception issues lately, but I see little coming from the labels on positive spin for how they are now the best place for artists to go.
When artists like Amanda Palmer and Macklemore can create large international fan bases and live performance tours through social media and successfully launch their CDs with a team of non-record-label business people helping them, it seems hard to explain why this cannot be done outside a label if you are an already established artist. This is just a business problem of distribution and diversification of audience that could (theoretically, at least) be addressed by hiring smart business people with music industry experience - who are not affiliated with tainted brands like record labels.
To me, the "how to grow and diversify" the customer base decision is easier for existing talent like Reznor - has more options, he has an existing revenue stream. His actions outrage other indie artists and confuse them because they don't know who to trust. They look to independent thinkers like Reznor as role modesl: should they be seeking a label deal or not? Are labels trustworthy actors or not? Are they contractors simply to be hired, or are they bad actors who want to lock artists into exploitive deals?
Maybe the labels are changing, maybe they are not. I think it probably is different when you work with someone you know and trust, as seems to have been the key for Reznor in his decision. I still think for the indie artist, it's very confusing to know what to work toward, and the answer right now is still: Do It Yourself (Or Do It With A Team You Build Yourself). And it's not easy, it takes time, and it takes time away from creating your music, but it's the only way to have a chance at making a living as a musician. And if a label wants to sign you as a relatively unknown artist, be careful, be very careful.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Solveig Whittle.
Re: Labels as enablers not gatekeepers
"...it shouldn't be a surprise that some one who can get terms they favour with a contractor who can do that work for them for a price they are happy with take it."
This is a good analogy. One thing that surprised me in this article, however, was Reznor's assertion that his Columbia Records team was "lean and mean." The record labels have a serious PR problem created by many recent stories of artist exploitation and record label executive bloat at the top. So using the analogy of the contractor, one has to ask the question: 'Why would he sign with a contractor that has (at least in the past) proved itself to be exploitive?" It's like watching your neighbor's kitchen renovation contractor go over budget, ask for more more, and screw you over with crappy materials - and then hiring them and saying "Well, they are much changed and they really do have some good carpenters working for them."
You have to ask: Has the record label culture really changed? And why is the label not hiring some whiz bang PR people to make hay from this announcement, clarify the deal, and show the industry how progressive they now are (and how "lean and mean")? Spotify and Pandora have done a better job with their artist perception issues lately, but I see little coming from the labels on positive spin for how they are now the best place for artists to go.
When artists like Amanda Palmer and Macklemore can create large international fan bases and live performance tours through social media and successfully launch their CDs with a team of non-record-label business people helping them, it seems hard to explain why this cannot be done outside a label if you are an already established artist. This is just a business problem of distribution and diversification of audience that could (theoretically, at least) be addressed by hiring smart business people with music industry experience - who are not affiliated with tainted brands like record labels.
To me, the "how to grow and diversify" the customer base decision is easier for existing talent like Reznor - has more options, he has an existing revenue stream. His actions outrage other indie artists and confuse them because they don't know who to trust. They look to independent thinkers like Reznor as role modesl: should they be seeking a label deal or not? Are labels trustworthy actors or not? Are they contractors simply to be hired, or are they bad actors who want to lock artists into exploitive deals?
Maybe the labels are changing, maybe they are not. I think it probably is different when you work with someone you know and trust, as seems to have been the key for Reznor in his decision. I still think for the indie artist, it's very confusing to know what to work toward, and the answer right now is still: Do It Yourself (Or Do It With A Team You Build Yourself). And it's not easy, it takes time, and it takes time away from creating your music, but it's the only way to have a chance at making a living as a musician. And if a label wants to sign you as a relatively unknown artist, be careful, be very careful.