It is a well known fact by now that the traditional music industry has lost its grip, both literally and figuratively. Literally, in the sense that no one in the high-rises of power has been able to come up with a viable business model for the 21st century. Figuratively, in the sense that they are going after the "common man" in a ridiculous manner, suing soccer moms for fabulous sums because they illegally downloaded one to many files off the internet. Not that I condone this behavior, I do not, but let's get real folks. Now the preceding statements are nothing new; they have been chewed, re-chewed and spit out like so many chicklets at a smokers anonymous meeting. What is not so well discussed among average music lovers is the industries' loss of power as gatekeepers and taste makers.
Until the advent of the internet we heard what we were told to by the powers that be, and the only artists to get heard were the ones lucky enough to squeeze through that tiny eye of the needle called a record contract. The A&R folks, the record company owners and disk jockeys literally held the keys to the kingdom. These pre-filters did the music lover a dubious service by sifting through a lot of crap and mediocre material to deliver the "good stuff" to the listeners. Ahhh, but here in lies the rub-by, by what standard is the "good-stuff" judged and who gets to make those decisions.
In these post-filter days where anyone with a home recording set-up and an internet connection can have instant global distribution the power has been delivered back into the hands of the people. In my little town of Santa Fe (pop. 70,000) alone there are, by my count, over 400 musical artists with a web presence. To find new music I like I do have to wade through a lot of stuff I do not like, but I get to make the decision what to listen to. That is a truly beautiful thing.
The traditional music industry has its head on the chopping block and I say, "off with their heads."
