I do think the ease of distribution via internet is doing music a favor. Everything's available, but nothing's massively profitable. Which is not good of course for those aspiring to old-school superstardom, but great news for regular working musicians, who've been almost completely cut out of the picture for decades now. If you just want to be able to make music, reach an audience, and maybe get a modest income from it... all the doors are open now. You don't have to hand over your soul to the guy at the gate for a chance to roll the dice. You don't even need a studio anymore. Much the same thing has been going on in genre fiction-- the giant profits are draining out of it, but market access has broadened immensely, so that anybody can self-publish, which means the market is flooded with garbage (sigh) but at the same time, a decent author can go it alone and make a modest income with a modest following because he's not turning over 80% or more to the publisher.
Ultimately, I think the internet is temporary, but this is an intermediary step to get us from "Rockstar Records Owns Everything" back down to "Musicians are skilled workers who live in your neighborhood and you can hire them for your wedding/barn dance/event".
In semi-related news, I recently worked my very first paid singing gig :)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2024-02-21 02:56 pm (UTC)Ultimately, I think the internet is temporary, but this is an intermediary step to get us from "Rockstar Records Owns Everything" back down to "Musicians are skilled workers who live in your neighborhood and you can hire them for your wedding/barn dance/event".
In semi-related news, I recently worked my very first paid singing gig :)