The Insider: The Stone Roses & The Resurrection Blues →
Another fantastic piece from DiS’ man on the inside of the music biz. A few concerned thoughts/reactions:
I’ve recently been pondering whether the record biz no longer investing as much in developing an artist - especially with regard to tour support, where labels helped to make up the shortfall for touring, especially when sending a band out to open for an act, and start to find a fanbase - has been an issue. I now very rarely hear tales of the record or live industry doing their bit to help develop and market an act…least not in the ways that labels once did.
There also seems to have been a shift toward fans buying tickets to see ‘buzz bands’ play at all-you-can-eat festivals, where the bands haven’t really had a soundcheck (which makes a huge difference, as does having their own lighting, etc), and seeing an act rarely feels like a main event. I wonder how many fans at these events are ticking off boxes that they would once have done by specifically going to see the band at their own show. And then there’s the fact a lot of bands play every show going, do every youtubed video session or even every corporate paying-gig that tickets are given away for, ensuring they don’t miss their moment but inevitably end up either showing people they’ve not really developed into a truly great live band (yet!) or suffer from over-exposure.
So there’s an economic problem (acts only getting £50-100 rather than £500+ to headline a gig; promoters struggling to sell as many individual gig tickets) but also an issue with a constant rush of discovery in the air, where the cycle of trends is churning over so fast that it seems people don’t always have the same relationships with acts, which would see them and their fanbase grow, to the point where we have future festival headliners, who will be guaranteed crowd draws and ticket sellers. And the bigger problem is that reformations seem to be burying this or at least distracting from people acknowledging it or looking for a solution to ‘the problem’ (although I have no idea if it is as bad as it seems).
