11-3-11 Blog on Class Videos

Moby Video

In this video Moby discusses his observations and predictions on the changing music industry as well as his opinions.

1. His first point that he mentions is that the record companies are falling apart and that he doesn’t think they will be around in five years. As a result he believes that musicians are becoming more self reliant. While I agree with the statement that musicians are becoming more self reliant, I don’t think that record companies will be gone in five years. The increase in technology has given musicians with a real passion for music the opportunity to produce their own music for a fraction of the cost, and some work ethic. Also, with Itunes, they are able to spread their music around the world. However, the individual will not have access to the same kind of resources, materials, and knowledge in the foreseeable furture that a standard producer or record label does. Because of that, I can’t see record companies going away any time soon.
2. Moby’s second point is in result to the first point. The fact that the musicians have become more self reliant means that there is an increase in the quality of music. Because musicians have the capability to do it themselves, the music that is getting made is being made simply because they enjoy it so the quality of what is coming out will be inherently better. While I can understand where he is coming from, that those who are making music are the ones who really want to, I don’t know if that translates to quality. I think that a better way to put it would be that the music being made is made with better intentions. No matter, how much you love music and no matter how badly you want to make it, it doesn’t mean that the music will be well made. Determination and perseverance doesn’t provide better recording equipment or software knowledge.
3. Moby’s third and final point of the video was that the failing of the record companies was their own demise. He claims that they began charging more per album for absolutely no reason and purposely choosing bands that only had a shelf life of six months to make the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time. While I agree with him that these kind of actions contributed to their demise, I don’t agree that is was the only thing, and therefore not all their fault. I think that Moby isn’t giving enough credit to the role that the internet and peer to peer sharing has had in the music industry. These kind of innovations have made CD’s just about obsolete. Also, when it comes to peer to peer networks, there is no money being made by anyone, let along the record labels. The only real reason that anyone buys a CD anymore is if they have a strong connection to the band.

How to Fix the Music Industry (Documentary?)

In this documentary, they went around Europe and California and talked to both professionals in the business as well as individuals on the street about what they believed was needed to be done to fix the music industry.

1. One main point that was mentioned in the documentary was that there need to be a freedom from choice. It was purposed that individuals have too much choice when it comes to selecting their music if they do not have any kind of filter at all. When everyone is able to make their own music then no one signs with a record label, and no one knows who is the best of the best. Consumers are left with sorting through the thousands upon thousands of bands looking for the music they are interested in. I can’t agree with this. I agree that there needs to be some kind of filter, but it doesn’t have to be the record labels like this individual is proposing. As stated in the Moby video, a lot of record companies are signing bands with a really small shelf life in order to make a bunch of money. So record labels aren’t always picking out the best of the best. I agree there needs to be a filter, but I think something like Spotify, Last.fm, or Pandora is the way to go. These services are free, and it requires knowing a single band you like and these services provide similar bands.
2. Another point was that record companies need to stop calling themselves record companies. What he means by that is they need to offer more than just recording. This is something that I can completely agree with. With all of the new technology that has become available to consumers, many artists are able to record their own product. It is other aspects of being a band that they need assistance with, such as promoting and touring. Before long the bands will be able to do this themselves as well. Record companies need to be able to provide more than just recording to make them seem appealing to artists.
3. Another point similar to point 1, but coming from another direction is that more artists need to use record producers. This argument states that you can only gain so much experience from making a music career yourself, you gain a lot more experience from using a record producer. While I believe there are more factors to take into effect when it comes to choosing to produce your music yourself and using a record producer, this particular statement is valid. There is a lot more to the process than what one can do by themselves. If you work with a seasoned individual in the industry, you can gain all kinds of insight that only a person in that position would know. Someone who has never been in that industry, can’t possible know what a music producer does.
4. The point that I probably most agree with is this: the music industry isn’t broken, it is just going in an unforeseen direction. Obviously music is still being made and is still as popular as ever, the music industry can’t be broken. Obviously there are elements that are unfair, and the record labels are the ones who are being screwed instead of the music makers, but it is just evolving. Music is going away from physical media like tapes and CD’s, and going towards pure digital media. There are more and more online providers of legal music like Amazon, Walmart, and Apple to name a few. Music is still being made, and a lot of times at a higher quality. Not only that, but music is cheaper to the consumer and the actual artists are making more money than every through this new model. So you see, its not a broken music industry, just broken for the record labels.
5.  The final important point that was mentioned as a suggestion to fix the music industry was the concept that people want demand, they want product quickly. I don’t really think that this a very realistic solution as music is about as instant and on demand that it is ever going to be. I mean I can go to Amazon or Itunes and buy and album and be listening to it within 10 minutes. And if you want to listen to music even faster than that, you can look up the songs off the album that you want to listen to, and look them up on Youtube and be listening in less than 2 minutes. So if the solution to solve the music industry is to get product on demand and get it quickly, then the music industry should be fixed. However, according to them, it is not. So it is obviously not a valid solution.