The Indie Digest Manifesto

Rocking Out

Photo Credit: william.n

There has long been speculation and discussion about what direction the music industry will take when the major model falls. For the first time in a dark unguided decade since the internet and file sharing took mainstream, I believe we are coming close to a definable model.

The day of the Big 4 major labels is over.

Though, I don’t think we could call it a model yet, as I believe every artist will have a slightly different one. Tailored to their music, their band and most importantly their fans.

This post is in a large part inspired by Andrew Dubber’s similar post on his blog New Music Strategies. I agree with a lot of that post, and originally wasn’t going to make my own. However, upon careful thinking of the topic, our opinions differ slightly.

So here I present my 9 key principles for everyone to remember. These are observations, common sense and the general consensus of the direction to which the industry is headed.

1. The Music Industry Is Changing, Embrace It!

We both agree on this. The game is undergoing changes like it has never seen before. Artists are being unshackled by their Major Labels. And the internet is taking center stage for artists around the globe.

I would go further to liken this changing to what I call the Modern Musical Renaissance. The industry is undergoing an enormous economic and cultural shift. Personally I couldn’t be happier.

We have so much music available at our finger tips, the pressure is enormous. If you become complacent and lazy, you will without doubt fall behind.

The Industry is changing, embrace the change, don’t reject it. Or, as proven time and time again in other industries, you will be left behind.

2. There is no music industry. There are many

This is another major one of Dubbers points. And I wholeheartedly agree. The day of the Big 4 major labels is over. The era of the long tail niche market has now began.

Niche markets have always existed, in a very small part. Now with the prevalence of the internet, and economics like The Long Tail theory these niche markets have an opportunity to thrive like never before.

The age of Major Labels is all but over (at least in its conventional sense). Their only purpose now is physical distribution and blanket promotion, which is also on its way out. New cheaper, and more accessible distribution methods are available to everyone.

3. Genres are arbitrary

Genres came about as a means to categorise music, which increased the ease to sell music. With plastic pop and reiterating rock these ‘genres’ worked well. Now, genres cause more hassle than they are worth. They work perhaps unintentionally to remove the uniqueness from music.

In an attempt to define their music, many bands get lost into obscurity. Genres should be nothing more than an arbitrary list of terms, tags if you will.

Too often bands are pigeon holed into a style by their publicist, a music journalist or another fan telling their mate. The range of music in traditional genres is so great, that this sets up unreliable expectations.

This is why its better to say a band is influenced by this band, that band and this band. As opposed to this is another garage rock band.

4. You should never hinder creativity

Dubbers fourth point is “It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission”. He means that in the sense of using copyrighted materiel it is better to use it and ask for forgiveness, than to seek permission. This makes sense as it can be almost impossible to gain permission.

He’s not wrong, but one again I want to take it further. Where possible, do no stifle creativity. Most companies are somewhat powerless now anyway with the power of the internet against them.

However with the recent extensions to copyrights in certain places of the world, this issue has come up again. So where possible, allow others to use parts of your works and use parts of theirs. Most of the time it ends up mutually beneficial.

And the fact that things like this can even happen is just disgusting.

5. Innovation requires open systems

This is actually Dubbers sixth point. I have always been a strong supporter of Open Source software and the Open Source movement, so I am in full agreement on this point.

A technologically open culture is almost here

A technologically open culture is almost here, with most DRM restrictions disappearing now. This is only a good thing. We need to keep music, and more importantly the ability to share and play it as open as possible.

Keeping things open where possible, fosters creativity and ingenuity. Look at the state of linux, just see how far it's come. And just think, where we would be if Shakespeare, Mozart and Beethoven where still under copyright.

This also require a major reform to copyright laws and a departure from archaic ideologies, globally.

6. Copyright is Important, but flawed

Our copyright laws, more so out opinions of copyright, are relatively unchanged since the era of CD’s and before. In some parts of the world they have moved slightly forward. However with the DMCA and the extenstion to copyright in the EU, much work still needs to be done in order to move forward.

Copyright is a good concept, and very beneficial to artists and the industry. However the current approach to it is not. The main problem is the length of copyright. Whilst I’m still unsure of the best length, some say 5 years other 70.

What I do know is there is a balance between being paid enough for your works, and preventing enrichment of public culture. When you have earned enough to continue making music you’ve plateaued. To continue rising, you need to give back to the public culture.

Releasing music into the Creative Commons, (generally) prevent people from earning money off your music directly. However it does all people to use parts of it in their own composition, which is typically mutually beneficial. Trent Reznor did this with The Slip, which has been remixed more times than one could count.

We need to rewrite the copyright laws to reflect the changing musical landscape. Perhaps we should go with a 5 year copyright length, it could probably work.

7. You should appreciate your fans. Don’t abuse them

The major players in the industry, and many small players too, are guilty of abusing their fans. Some abuse is not only abhorrent, but borderline inhumane and unethical.

I speak of attacking your fans, either with your fists, your tongue. Or more recently, regularly and reprehensibly, your lawyers. This must stop. No-one wins by suing their fans into poverty. The only thing to come from these cases is a prolonging of the inevitable.

Remember whilst its funs to jam in your bedroom with mates, if you ever want to take on bars and stadiums you need fans. In the age of the internet, news of genuine fan abuse can spread very quickly.

8. Your album is just another piece of merchandise

You may have put by far the most effort into it, but at the end of the day your album is now just another piece of merchandise. You could earn more by selling t-shirts than CDs. You need to understand, that it is no longer what you are trying to sell.

All you can gain is more fans.

In the old days, to be successful you had to sell a million albums. Now the focus has shifted back to the band, and the brand of the band. If people love you band so much that they want to tell all their mates about it. You shouldn’t stop them. Traditionally this was done with t-shirts and posters, but really there’s no reason it can’t be done with sharing music.

As Dubber said in his second last point, “What’s good for consumers, is good for business.” If your fans want to share your music, let them.

9. The most important relationship is with your fan

Shaun Groves really hits the nail on the head when he says, “The music business is about relationship.” There have always been relationships in the industry, however “now it’s the artist turn to have one.” Groves goes onto conclude the post with this insightful piece of wisdom, “The Man was afraid to tell us artists this before: it was never about our music...” I wholeheartedly agree with him when he says it’s about people.

When you break it down, music is about sharing stories and experiences. Comforting people in times of hardship, and celebrating success when it comes. This is a really human thing.

New technology and new websites like social networks can “foster relationships”. However don’t be fooled into creating a page and leaving it at that. Groves is right on when he says they require “a lot of personal investment and intentionality from an artist.”

Just remember one thing: the greater the investment, the greater the return.

All you can gain is more fans.