As
a
complement
to
these
contributions,
I'd
like
to
offer
some
thoughts
not
so
much
on
trends
in
the
biz,
but
on
music
career
development
amid
these
trends.
I
will
try
to
open
up
some
of
these
trends
and
look
at
their
career
implications
and
applications.
I
hope
both
musicians
and
industry
careerists
will
gather
some
guidance
for
setting
their
sails
amidst
the
mercurial
waves
of
a
transforming
entertainment
business.
First,
some
noise
from
the
trenches:
- Of
the
27,000
albums
released
last
year
by
the
recording
industry,
less
than
5000
sold
over
1000
units.
- Since
1988
only
16
classical
albums
have
sold
more
than
a
million
copies
in
the
United
States;
five
of
them
were
put
out
by
Victoria's
Secret.
- The
source
of
most
music
listening
hours
is
neither
Cds
nor
radio;
it's
video
games.
- When
pop
star
Sting
needed
a
marketing
partner
for
his
2000
album
release
he
chose
Compaq
Computer.
- "Ten
years
ago,
rock
musicians
would
never
listen
to
dance
music
and
dance
musicians
would
never
listen
to
classical
music.
Now,
most
of
the
rock
- musicians
I
know
own
samplers
and
most
classical
composers
I
know
also
are
listening
to
dance
music."
--
Moby
- Worldwide
entertainment
and
media
spending
will
reach
$1.4
trillion
by
2006,
(PriceWaterhouseCoopers).
THE
NEW
MUSIC
ECONOMY
The
news
is
good
and
bad.
We're
seeing
nothing
less
than
a
global
restructuring
of
the
economy.
This
isn't
a
brief
shudder;
the
organizational
structures
of
the
last
century
are
being
torn
apart.
Business
worlds
are
deconstructing
and
reconstructing.
Everything
is
blurred,
fuzzy
and
vague.
And
the
meanings
of
'work'
,
'career'
and
'job'
are
being
re-written.
We're
also
witnessing
(and
feeling
the
effects
of)
the
end
and
beginning
of
the
music
business.
Like
humans,
industries
pass
through
developmental
stages:
birth,
youth,
maturity
and
death
(or
transformation).
Our
industry
grew
rapidly,
matured,
plateaued
and
is
now
in
the
throes
of
transformation.
How
successful
this
transformation
will
be
depends
on
how
creatively
the
musical
industrial
complex
can
dance
with
the
changes.
Unfortunately,
so
much
of
the
music
industry
is
beholden
to
corporate
owners
itchy
for
corporate-size
profits
and
driven
by
rigid
corporate
imperatives.
This
wrecks
havoc
with
"artist
development";
hell,
it
wrecks
havoc
with
business
development,
and
necessitates
high
turnover
of
both
artists
and
employees.
Complicating
industry
maturation
is
an
event
no
one
saw
coming:
a
new
distribution
channel
called
the
Internet.
The
big
labels
are
contracting
as
a
vast
Web
is
spinning
around
them.
The
Internet
is
both
threatening
to
take
the
rug
of
necessity
out
from
under
vast
sectors
of
the
traditional
music
business
AND
providing
musicians
and
songwriters
with
direct
access
to
global
audiences.
All
of
this
adds
up
to
a
picture
today
where
it
is
no
less
risky
to
"go
indie"
than
to
"get
signed",
signed,
that
is,
as
an
artist
or
as
an
employee.
Choosing
to
go
indie
is
exploding
across
all
industries
not
just
music.
We
need
only
think
of
indie
film
or
book
publishing.
Independence
is
a
mark
of
the
times
we're
living
in.
We
are
profoundly
on
our
own
in
this
milieu.
And
that's
the
rub.
We're
beginning
to
accept
that
we
will
never
return
to
the
more
static,
less
opportunity-rich
but
also
more
comforting
world
in
which
most
of
us
were
raised.
The
changes
we're
living
through
are
both
permanent
and
dynamic.
The
real
social
revolution
of
the
last
30
years
is
the
switch
from
a
life
that
is
largely
organized
for
us
to
a
world
in
which
we
are
all
forced
to
be
in
charge
of
our
own
destiny.
That's
the
scary
challenge.
And
also
the
exciting
opportunity.
Today
we
have
three
different
music
'industries'
developing
side
by
side:
- The
mainstream
pop/rock
business,
which
will
continue
to
market
established
stars
like
Celine
Dion
and
Whitney
Houston.
