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EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

bbc.co.uk

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Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#21

Post by jwallaceparker »

ortatherox wrote: post #6
AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

The question is, is this recession-based consolidation, or is it part of an inevitable decline of the music industry as the idea of "major labels" goes away?

I'd be more worried in the idea that there is no competition in label's market at the largest scale. Supposedly label contracts aren't exactly very artist friendly already, and I can't imagine as an upcoming artist it's going to get any better. On the otherhand, there are now a million indie labels, and lots of success stories from people using the internet.

>> On the otherhand, there are now a million indie labels, and lots of success stories from people using the internet.

Exactly. As long as there is free competition among labels (i.e. music producers) there will be continually lower prices (i.e. better contracts) for musicians.

And the "million indie labels" have brought much more competition.

I would say overall it is a great time to be a recording artist.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#22

Post by billpatrianakos »

ortatherox wrote: post #6
AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

The question is, is this recession-based consolidation, or is it part of an inevitable decline of the music industry as the idea of "major labels" goes away?

I'd be more worried in the idea that there is no competition in label's market at the largest scale. Supposedly label contracts aren't exactly very artist friendly already, and I can't imagine as an upcoming artist it's going to get any better. On the otherhand, there are now a million indie labels, and lots of success stories from people using the internet.

Competition is good and the web is also great but I think too many indie labels pollutes the market with crap and eventually indie labels will be known for selling crap records, gimmicky records, or weird artists not because they're good but just for the sake of weirdness and novelty.

I also think the Internet is overhyped in terms of letting indie artists get heard. It makes a great news story but it's still incredibly rare, possibly even rarer than getting major label contract.

I'd say more competition at high levels is good, there's too much at the smaller level, and the web makes it easy for any schmuck to release music no one cares about. There has to be a better way!

When I was younger I used to be one of the schmucks releasing music no one cared about online so I'm allowed to say that haha.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#23

Post by billpatrianakos »

jwallaceparker wrote: post #21
ortatherox wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be more worried in the idea that there is no competition in label's market at the largest scale. Supposedly label contracts aren't exactly very artist friendly already, and I can't imagine as an upcoming artist it's going to get any better. On the otherhand, there are now a million indie labels, and lots of success stories from people using the internet.

>> On the otherhand, there are now a million indie labels, and lots of success stories from people using the internet. Exactly. As long as there is free competition among labels (i.e. music producers) there will be continually lower prices (i.e. better contracts) for musicians. And the "million indie labels" have brought much more competition. I would say overall it is a great time to be a recording artist.

As you can see by my previous reply, I'm kind of cynical on this. I agree with what you just said, jwallaceparker, but I'm looking at the other side of the same coin.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#26

Post by stfu »

billpatrianakos wrote: post #16

Micro-labels are cool and online services like Rdio and Spotify are great but is there anyone out there doing anything in this space besides these players? It seems like this industry is prime for disruption and I'm not talking about the kind of disruption the current startups are doing. I see a ton of startups focusing on getting music to the consumer but what about startups that focus on grooming new talent for the…

I think you have some interesting ideas there. Majors see themselves nowadays only as some vehicle to bring local success towards a global stage. There is still A&R'ing going on, but it is far less long-term oriented. What the record industry should take as an example is in my view other brand-centric business, such as sportswear or luxury goods companies. But the main problem is going to be there is that the industry is too much fixed within their pricing strategies. The main problem started in my opinion already by selling all (CD) Albums for roughly the same amount of money. They try to break through this now by different premium strategies, but when prices are fixed by and large the market has very little dynamic and potential to change.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#27

Post by brandall10 »

billpatrianakos wrote: post #16

Micro-labels are cool and online services like Rdio and Spotify are great but is there anyone out there doing anything in this space besides these players? It seems like this industry is prime for disruption and I'm not talking about the kind of disruption the current startups are doing. I see a ton of startups focusing on getting music to the consumer but what about startups that focus on grooming new talent for the…

Earbits seems to be doing something along these lines, at least as far as putting radio promotion more into the artists hands.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#28

Post by dylangs1030 »

mwsherman wrote: post #20

The traditional idea of a “label” is going away. The existence of that particular line of business is an accident of history. Not a bad thing, but dependent of a set of circumstances (including medium and distribution) that existed for, say, 50 years. There will still be a role for managing and promoting talent, but it will look more like marketing and less like distribution. It will have less dependence on intellect…

Right, this is the music industry adjusting to the freedom of information, one massive merger at a time. If they keep focusing on distribution, they'll keep losing money with piracy. I doubt music will ever be totally free, but they should at least focus more on shifting the market to branding and merchandise rather than fight an idealist war where no one commits piracy despite the ease.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#29

Post by ethank »

tptacek wrote: post #18

Apologies in advance for glibness, but, who cares? Record labels are irrelevant. The capital costs of producing and (more importantly) distributing popular music have fallen through the floor. The heavily-promoted music products people think of when they think of EMI or Warner are in large part contrivances that exist primarily to perpetuate EMI and Warner. The future barely even belongs to independent labels like Ma…

This is a common argument among those that have never worked at or with a label.

Matador for instance is distributed by ADA, who, guess what, is owned by Warner Music Group.

The music business is much, much more complicated and convoluted than any glib comments like "who cares?" can summarize.

Re: EMI music is sold to Universal. We're down to three major labels.

#30

Post by statictype »

michael_dorfman wrote: post #15
tejaswiy wrote: post #9

Does this mean we finally get Pink Floyd and the Beatles on Spotify?

Not Pink Floyd; the obstacle there isn't the label but the band-members, who want their works to be sold as whole albums and not individual tracks.

Since most of their work tends to tilt towards the 'concept album' area, this request could be purely artistic and not monetary.
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