How to Fix the Music Industry: Five Main Points

1. Constant flow of music motorization
2. Lower ticket prices
3. There is a role for the expert
4. Don’t call yourself a record company
5. Major labels found all the good stuff

In this video  two men that work in the music industry set out to find out how to fix the music industry. I personally don’t feel like the music industry is broke, rather it is struggling to find its new direction in this age of technology.  The idea that the music industry is broken comes from the ability of fans to download music for free and artists being able to record their own music, and as a result the record companies fear that they will lose money or become nonexistent.

As one point from the video states, there is a role for the expert. Yes artists can record on their own, but what they record can be made better by people who have the know how of more high end recording programs and equipment. So if the artist is good enough and promots them self well they will have a shot at getting picked up by a label. Which leads to another point that the video brought up and that is that major labels have found all the good stuff. Again, yes an artist can record their own music, but if they are not good and don’t have a strong following they are no threat to the record companies and will in no way bring about their end.

Another point from the video that will help the music industry find its way is for record companies to stop calling themselves record companies. What this means that to stay relevant record companies must not only produce records, but also promote their artists, run or sponsor their concerts, and anything else that can be used to make the company more dynamic. By promoting their artists the company will generate a better following which will boost record sales and downloads as well as attendance to live concerts. If the company starts to run or sponsor concerts they can collect a percentage of the profit made from ticket and merchandise sales. With more revenue coming in from these ventures this fear that the industry is dying will start to fade out.

A point that as an avid concert goer that I agree with strongly support is the lowering of ticket prices because this would mean I get the chance to see more of my favorite artists live. From a business aspect of this point though I would have to disagree because lowering ticket sales would, at a point, cause a loss of money. Although it is true more people would likely attend concerts if prices were lower, but the costs for putting on a concert are so high that ticket prices must be high in order to cover the expenses. In the end implementing this point could end up hurting the music industry and in the end could actually end up breaking it.