3 ms·

I wouldn't be betting on the company making deals with the horse company right after the combustion engine got invented. People are already getting paid enough

I wouldn't be betting on the company making deals with the horse company right after the combustion engine got invented. People are already getting paid enough by their youtube channel to work on it full time. All it will take is one or two big success stories, of a new celebrity that gets superstar famous purely from youtube -- and we actually already passed that point a while ago, it's just a matter of them figuring out how to monetize properly -- if new stars no longer feel like they need the exploitative record companies, and start launching new music purely through youtube and similar record-company-free cloud mediums, Sony and EMI will go the same way as palm and nokia.

Jgrubb 15y ago
There have already been dozens of these superstar from YouTube/MySpace/wherever success stories. I don't know of any that haven't converted their overnight fame into some sort of label deal. It is my firm belief that the only way to properly monetize a music career that can't be pirated and without record label "help" is to build a devoted live audience, which takes years if not decades. Any sort of fame that's caught on the internet is as fleeting as the next famous act on the internet, so while a huge YouTube video or car commercial may guarantee big crowds for one show, they very well may not be there for the next one. And define "paid enough". On the other hand, you will always have plenty of young, attention hungry people for whom the lure of a record deal and instant riches and fame will be plenty to sign away everything for the chance at it. The point of the whole Justin Bieber marketing machine isn't just to sell his product, it's to fill the labels' funnels with the next round of wanna-bes. And to be fair, the internet wasn't just invented. Napster was over a decade ago but labels, the RIAA and all their purchased goons in the govt. have been very effectively suppressing innovation through legal action for that entire time, and I don't see that trend abating. If anything it seems like it's getting worse. It's a bummer, but record labels aren't going anywhere for a while.

Jgrubb 15y ago

There have already been dozens of these superstar from YouTube/MySpace/wherever success stories. I don't know of any that haven't converted their overnight fame into some sort of label deal. It is my firm belief that the only way to properly monetize a music career that can't be pirated and without record label "help" is to build a devoted live audience, which takes years if not decades. Any sort of fame that's caught on the internet is as fleeting as the next famous act on the internet, so while a huge YouTube video or car commercial may guarantee big crowds for one show, they very well may not be there for the next one. And define "paid enough". On the other hand, you will always have plenty of young, attention hungry people for whom the lure of a record deal and instant riches and fame will be plenty to sign away everything for the chance at it. The point of the whole Justin Bieber marketing machine isn't just to sell his product, it's to fill the labels' funnels with the next round of wanna-bes. And to be fair, the internet wasn't just invented. Napster was over a decade ago but labels, the RIAA and all their purchased goons in the govt. have been very effectively suppressing innovation through legal action for that entire time, and I don't see that trend abating. If anything it seems like it's getting worse. It's a bummer, but record labels aren't going anywhere for a while.