A New Tune for the Music Industry
In recent years, the music industry has seen a major drop in revenues as modern technology has shaped a media-downloading, file-sharing, CD-burning generation. For most young music lovers, the idea of driving to the local mall to grab the latest CD release from their favorite artist is a foreign idea. to the dismay of major music labels, this has meant a steep downward spike in record sales.
All hope is not lost. US figures from Neilsen SoundScan show that although CD sales dropped 19.3 percent during the first half of this year, digital music sales increased 50 percent during the same time frame. It all comes down to perspective and priorities. Several Canadian music entrepreneurs have shaped their view to the future and it shows.
Bruce Allen, a music manager from Vancouver knows that true job security for a musician today is in live performance. “Even a girl like Nelly Furtado, who has sold as many records as she has - until she has a live base that can really sell tickets, that is when she’ll really start making money.” Allen, who has worked with iconic Canadian acts like Anne Murray, Bryan Adams, and more recently, Michael Buble, knows that the album itself can be seen as the means to a national or global tour that can garner more money for the artist than the album itself.
Likewise, Toronto-based Runway Music owner, Daniel Cutler knows that sales from the CD itself can take up to a year to reach the hands of the artists, so his company has come up with an alternative focus. Licensing for commercials, soundtracks, film and TV shows, along with ringtones can bring more immediate funds, and if properly executed, a higher profit.
Toronto music label, Arts & Crafts, which launched in 2002, was created to be “unlike a music label”. Co-founders Jeffrey Remedios and Keven Drew set out to break ground, offering upfront deals with their artists on merchandising, touring, special licensing, and commercial writing. Remedios says, “Unlike big labels, we don’t talk about the number of records we sell. We judge success or failure based on all business units of the band”.
So as the music begins to fade on traditional record sales, those with a vision for the future know that it’s only the beginning of new records to be broken.
Tamara Daniels PR
