T.M.I. (The Music Industry)

I pose a quick question to my BG colleagues, have you ever been to Finders on Main St.?

For most of you, the answer is no.  It happens to be the local record store.

Periodically, I go there to buy my albums to satisfy my thirst for funk whenever I need a boost of inspiration. Call me old fashioned but I still buy Compact Discs.  You know, CD's?  For some odd reason when I buy things, I like to physically own it.  MP3 technology is convenient in the sense that it doesn't get scratched up, but its intangibility is kind of weird if you ask me.

With the technological boom in recent years we've seen the traditional model of the music industry change drastically.  The monopoly over creative capital once held by record labels has been decentralized due to the phenomenon of file-sharing.  The nature and functionality of the traditional music industry model is in stark contrast to the information age that we live in.  In this industry where falsetto vocals and guitar licks are goods and concerts are services, technology serves as a gift and a curse for recording artists of the 21st century. 

Essentially music artists are small business owners capitalizing off of their aesthetic talents.  Sean Carter said it best, "I'm not a business man.  I'm a business, man!"  Each artist has been forced to adapt in a market that is complicated by spoiled fans who would rather pirate than purchase.

Most recording artists have found themselves at cross roads very similar to journalists, trying to find a way to be compensated for their work in this technologically sophisticated world.  Even prior to this technological renaissance period, many artists still struggled to break even due to equivocal contracts drafted by esquires, that upon signing will have them (the artists) in debt to the record label.

I guess this is my public service announcement:  Support the artists and Local Businesses (more so than Best Buy and Wal-Mart).  I do.