The Music Biz
In a comment to my last post, Julie Toye wrote
...release of Hard Rain's last CD and your next CD increases the likelihood that one day music historians will just marvel over the high quality of music made and/or distributed by tiny labels Moondog and Bone Yard Records that most Pittsburgh area commercial radio sadly kicks to the curb rather than support and play. I love Pittsburgh music and never will accept that your cds sit on radio station's shelves collecting dust except maybe for some airplay on public radio's WYEP. You and some other artists here record and produce albums/cds that make us proud as fans to send these pieces of art to far away friends with pride, and to rub it in that this type of excellence in a band is just around the corner at a local venue around Pittsburgh and not in their towns.
I'm grateful for the support of people like Julie and am always happy to have outrage expressed on my behalf, but...I dunno. My CDs aren't sitting on the shelves of any radio stations that don't play them, because I don't bother sending CDs to stations that aren't going to play them. There was a time when artists like me had no choice but to rely on radio stations and record stores because the music biz controlled the means of distribution, sales, and promotion, and there was no way to reach audiences otherwise. The idea was to get a friendly local station to play your stuff, then get them to report to tip sheets that they were playing your stuff so that stations in other areas would consider playing your stuff, then going to all the record stores in areas where your stuff was being played and informing them about which stations were playing your stuff so that they would stock your stuff on the shelves, then reporting back to the radio stations about how well your stuff was selling in the stores so they would keep playing your stuff or put it in heavier rotation, and so on.
Although there were the occasional exceptions--Hanky Panky by Tommy James & the Shondells comes to mind--this was virtually impossible for an independent artist to do successfully without the help of a record company. It was the equivalent to Kafka's character K. trying to make his way into the Castle, but that didn't stop many of us from trying to curry favor with the fleas on the dog of the gardener who maintained the shrubbery outside the 13th courtyard.
Fortunately, those days are long past. Because we have the internet and digital distribution today, niche artists like me can find their audiences without having to rely on the kindness of strangers. I sent a message out to my mailing list yesterday, and since then I've received encouragement from people in the U.K., Belgium, Des Moines, Houston, New York City, West Virginia, North Carolina, California, Philly, and Maryland as well as Pittsburgh.
So tell me again why I need KISS-FM?
For more in this vein, see Courtney Love's rant on the music business, a great read.
To add a comment, click the "Comments" link below.
...release of Hard Rain's last CD and your next CD increases the likelihood that one day music historians will just marvel over the high quality of music made and/or distributed by tiny labels Moondog and Bone Yard Records that most Pittsburgh area commercial radio sadly kicks to the curb rather than support and play. I love Pittsburgh music and never will accept that your cds sit on radio station's shelves collecting dust except maybe for some airplay on public radio's WYEP. You and some other artists here record and produce albums/cds that make us proud as fans to send these pieces of art to far away friends with pride, and to rub it in that this type of excellence in a band is just around the corner at a local venue around Pittsburgh and not in their towns.
I'm grateful for the support of people like Julie and am always happy to have outrage expressed on my behalf, but...I dunno. My CDs aren't sitting on the shelves of any radio stations that don't play them, because I don't bother sending CDs to stations that aren't going to play them. There was a time when artists like me had no choice but to rely on radio stations and record stores because the music biz controlled the means of distribution, sales, and promotion, and there was no way to reach audiences otherwise. The idea was to get a friendly local station to play your stuff, then get them to report to tip sheets that they were playing your stuff so that stations in other areas would consider playing your stuff, then going to all the record stores in areas where your stuff was being played and informing them about which stations were playing your stuff so that they would stock your stuff on the shelves, then reporting back to the radio stations about how well your stuff was selling in the stores so they would keep playing your stuff or put it in heavier rotation, and so on.
Although there were the occasional exceptions--Hanky Panky by Tommy James & the Shondells comes to mind--this was virtually impossible for an independent artist to do successfully without the help of a record company. It was the equivalent to Kafka's character K. trying to make his way into the Castle, but that didn't stop many of us from trying to curry favor with the fleas on the dog of the gardener who maintained the shrubbery outside the 13th courtyard.
Fortunately, those days are long past. Because we have the internet and digital distribution today, niche artists like me can find their audiences without having to rely on the kindness of strangers. I sent a message out to my mailing list yesterday, and since then I've received encouragement from people in the U.K., Belgium, Des Moines, Houston, New York City, West Virginia, North Carolina, California, Philly, and Maryland as well as Pittsburgh.
So tell me again why I need KISS-FM?
For more in this vein, see Courtney Love's rant on the music business, a great read.
To add a comment, click the "Comments" link below.
2 Comments:
You're right on about this. I think it's great that radio and MTV no longer have the music market in a stranglehold. My friend Emily is in an all-female a capella group called the MetropoliTONES (www.metropolitones.com), and they are selling their music on iTunes! We are finally getting some control over our entertainment.
what I meant is that Pittsburgh radio should embrace and support the huge talent base here. I do not listen much to commercial radio but would if I could tune in and hear Bobby Wayne, Billy Price, etc. The Gathering Field got a record deal - in their own words - because the big FM station in town chose to play and help sell out their first small label cd. Ron Esser told me in an interview that when that same big station played a Glenn Pavone tune on a weekday and mentioned he was playing that night, the venue was packed. I criticize radio because the music here is SO good, too many venues have closed and bands wouldn't have such an economical struggle with just a little support from local radio. Just a little support from radio could sell a lot of recordings for many Boneyard and Moondog artists and bring in more at the doors at live shows.
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