Worrying About Monetising Your Music is Holding You Back

Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by Rich Huxley.

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Art For Art’s Sake
The constant talk of the need to monetise music is somewhat confusing to me. Just because you make art, doesn’t mean that you deserve to make money out of it.
art –noun
1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. [...]

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Music is Not Our Currency

Posted on 19. May, 2010 by Rich Huxley.

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The new music industries work in a very different way than the record business of the ’60’s. The precious 7 inch of plastic discs of that decade (when music demand far outstripped supply) were rare; clamoured for. Music lovers saved their pennies and tens of them would gather round a single radio to hear the [...]

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The Lower Class Musician

Posted on 16. Feb, 2010 by refe.

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For some music is a hobby and that is okay. However, if you plan on feeding your children by touring the Chitlin’ circuit, that’s another thing entirely. When I realized that writing songs for Columbia Records and recording demos with The Fugees wasn’t going to sustain me forever, I had to get adjust my expectations. These gigs were few and far in between and often times didn’t pay half as much as you would expect them to.

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Why Innovation Is Not Enough to Build a Brand (Or a Band)

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by refe.

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Innovation is important. It elevates a product beyond simple retail and causes it to become a catalyst for change in the marketplace and culture. Innovation is also notoriously elusive. Today’s stroke of genius could be tomorrow’s old news. Worse, that first-to-market concept you’ve been hustling to get out the door could be short-circuited by the [...]

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Mother of All Music and Tech Recaps – December 2009 Edition

Posted on 17. Jan, 2010 by Gabriel Nijmeh.

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Another year has passed and we can only hope – and more importantly work – towards making the new year and new decade in the music business less tumultuous and one where the the disruptive forces of change are embraced for the sake of the artists and fans. Because it’s about the music, isn’t?
Now more [...]

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New Forrester Report Presents ‘Music Product Manifesto’

Posted on 04. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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The latest music business report from the Forrester Research Group hasn’t produced the kind of buzz that the last one did. That’s likely because while the previous report did have some solid ideas, it wasn’t the answer people were looking for.
The report is called Music Product Manifesto: The Product Features That Will Save Recorded Music. [...]

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Head of Australian Recording Industry on the New Music Business

Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by refe.

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The new music industry could be effectively broken down into two different camps, with the traditional recording industry on one side and the proponents of the emerging independent DIY models on the other. The two camps rarely see eye to eye, but in many ways the debate between them is quite balanced. The traditional recording industry has all of the [...]

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Deconstructing the Week in Music 8.10-8.16

Posted on 16. Aug, 2009 by refe.

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Here’s a recap of what went on in the music industry this week. Make sure to check out anything you might have missed and leave your comments. Know something we don’t? Submit a story.

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Imogen Heap Shows Us That DIY Pays Off – And Takes a Lot Of Work

Posted on 13. Aug, 2009 by refe.

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Spend enough time online and you might begin to suspect that some media folks want you to think that the DIY approach will somehow be less work than then a traditional career in music. Strange, given that the term itself implies the opposite. ‘DIY’ does, after all, stand for ‘Do It Yourself.’ More rewarding? Less [...]