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Not that long ago it was far assumed that record labels would loose their power and the easy path to production and promotion would lead to a lot more independe

Not that long ago it was far assumed that record labels would loose their power and the easy path to production and promotion would lead to a lot more independent structures. What happned that we still have a similar superstar culture as we had 20 years ago?

Nav_Panel 9y ago
> What happned that we still have a similar duperstar culture than 20 years ago? Perhaps idols have network effects. Do most people actually want independent structures? They're available to use if you do (see: bandcamp). I assert most people would prefer a musical common knowledge (even if banal) over more interesting yet isolating music. In a sense, musical isolation outside the mainstream has gotten worse over time, as the internet has made it easier to follow your aesthetic judgments into deeper and more disparate rabbit holes. The idea of a subculture seemed a happy medium, but these have mostly become "atomized" out of existence. There does still exist an "indie" alternate-mainstream, along with a few others, but for the more engaged music fan it's somewhat of a lonely world. Hopefully the pendulum will soon begin to swing back toward shared experience and music creation as a means toward community-building (see: prayer), rather than as an end in itself.
goldmouth 9y ago
Check out hip hop. Many of the current stars started out posting videos to YouTube or tracks to SoundCloud. The diy hustle of making mix tapes and homemade videos is how the current stars of rap, Migos, blew up. SoundCloud rappers are a thing. It's a drug influenced, dreary subgenra that's launched dozens of stars, lil uzi vert or for example.
- 1337biz 9y ago
  But why do they almost all still end up at one of the big 3 labels? Or are there many soundclouders actually able to make a decent living from it?
JohnnyConatus 9y ago
The more competition that enters the market the more essential marketing and branding become to differentiate the product. Everyone who told us musicians that flattening the barriers to entry would lead to more income were either ignorant of economics or willfully ignoring it further their interests. Few bands make more money off of Bandcamp then they did flogging their CDs.

Nav_Panel 9y ago

> What happned that we still have a similar duperstar culture than 20 years ago? Perhaps idols have network effects. Do most people actually want independent structures? They're available to use if you do (see: bandcamp). I assert most people would prefer a musical common knowledge (even if banal) over more interesting yet isolating music. In a sense, musical isolation outside the mainstream has gotten worse over time, as the internet has made it easier to follow your aesthetic judgments into deeper and more disparate rabbit holes. The idea of a subculture seemed a happy medium, but these have mostly become "atomized" out of existence. There does still exist an "indie" alternate-mainstream, along with a few others, but for the more engaged music fan it's somewhat of a lonely world. Hopefully the pendulum will soon begin to swing back toward shared experience and music creation as a means toward community-building (see: prayer), rather than as an end in itself.

goldmouth 9y ago

Check out hip hop. Many of the current stars started out posting videos to YouTube or tracks to SoundCloud. The diy hustle of making mix tapes and homemade videos is how the current stars of rap, Migos, blew up. SoundCloud rappers are a thing. It's a drug influenced, dreary subgenra that's launched dozens of stars, lil uzi vert or for example.

1337biz 9y ago
But why do they almost all still end up at one of the big 3 labels? Or are there many soundclouders actually able to make a decent living from it?

JohnnyConatus 9y ago

The more competition that enters the market the more essential marketing and branding become to differentiate the product. Everyone who told us musicians that flattening the barriers to entry would lead to more income were either ignorant of economics or willfully ignoring it further their interests. Few bands make more money off of Bandcamp then they did flogging their CDs.