Members Poker99 Posted March 8, 2011 Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 In January, the California rock band Cake unveiled its sixth album, Showroom of Compassion. Released on the band's own independent label, Upbeat Records, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. However, it did so after selling just 44,000 copies — the lowest No. 1 in the 20-year history of calculating record sales.That revelation reflects a music industry deeply changed since Cake's last new release about seven years ago. As lead singer John McCrea tells All Things Considered host Melissa Block, he knew the band needed to proceed with caution."We had to sort of re-evaluate our whole business model," says McCrea. "We knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to be on a big label right now — but we also thought that we could be crushed like a bug releasing an album on our own label. Thankfully we were wrong, but we didn't have high hopes."Though he's happy the new album is doing well by today's standards, McCrea says he's skeptical about the future of music as a vocation. "I see music as a really great hobby for most people in five or 10 years," he says. "I see everybody I know, some of them really important artists, studying how to do other jobs." http://www.npr.org/2011/03/03/134233768/cake-tk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliftonb Posted March 8, 2011 Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 There always has been a lot of Charles Ives Alexander Borodin type people out there. I guess there's going to be more in the future. We could use another Geinoh Yamashirogumi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dancebass Posted March 8, 2011 Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 I've never been anti-innovation in all of this mess. I've never thought that trying to protect old models of business made much sense, but as silly as it sounds, I've started to see things differently recently. I walked past my local Block Buster Movie place that's going out of business and I couldn't help but think about how some businesses are just getting crushed right now. I know that Blockbuster got caught flat footed and Netflix cleaned their clock, so it's not totally about the internet being the bad guy. The thing is, I realized that Netflix's time is limited too. Soon the same service they provide will be available for free. Then Netflix will be the "dinosaur". The ISP's are making good money. They have been for years, and it's turning into a situation where they're making money providing a service that is used to steal ALL intellectual property in the world. The people being stolen from are going to come for their money sooner or later and the ISP's customers can't continue to think they're going to pay $30 a month to download everyone else's products for free for life. It simply won't work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AVisme Posted March 8, 2011 Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 Well, their last record "Pressure Chief" sold 46,000 the day it was released. That's not too big a drop in sales, especially after a 7-year dry spell, and most of the money is going to them this time. I'd really like to see how the numbers are coming out so far. While the state of music overall is in decline, I get the feeling things are working out okay for them right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matximus Posted March 8, 2011 Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 What's happening in music is the same thing happening in film, and journalism, and the culture in general: people are being squeezed out of the middle. It's easier for a big film studio to justify making a $100 million sequal than it is to justify making a $30 milllion adult drama. Their boutique divisions can buy a small, independently financed film that shows promise. Great midsize newspapers in cities like Denver, Seattle & Trenton are headed toward extinction - all journalism will have eventually is the Wall Street Journal, digital version of the NY Times, blogging conglomerates and a bunch of high-end, tiny business trades and low-end small town news operations. In music you're going to have Lady Gaga, U2, the touring dinosaur acts like DAve Matthews and Pearl Jam... and weekend bar bands.. Legacy mid-tier bands like Cake - a group with two platinum albums - won't be able to sustain themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 It's pretty much just a hobby now, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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