4 ms·

This advice applies mostly to pop music that involves outside songwriters, marketing, and publishing music, etc. and I agree, the music industry has a tight gr

This advice applies mostly to pop music that involves outside songwriters, marketing, and publishing music, etc. and I agree, the music industry has a tight grip on that sort of “music”. But there is plenty of room for niche products for bands that actually write their own music (ya know, real musicians not dancing, lip syncing performers). Any band can find a producer to work with without a record label and there are plenty of examples of highly successful bands releasing their own albums.

wayoutthere 5y ago
This is less about bands and more about startups building listening platforms. The article is basically saying that data about what people are listening to has almost no value past the present moment. There are already too many places to get that data and it’s basically already stale by the time you aggregate it. Even with “indie” artists (many of whom are ironically mega-millionaires in their own right), there’s a workflow aspect to the promotion side of things. You can do it yourself, but there’s no money in streaming (artists in 2021 are influencers first and foremost who look at streaming as a way to acquire new listeners) so you gotta go through concert promoters, which usually means means hiring a manager to rep you. The money is in the live shows these days — which is why the pandemic hit musicians so hard. But the fundamental problem is still getting people to listen to your stuff, same as it ever was.
meremortals 5y ago
What sorts of niche products? Things like DistroKid?