In re-examining Radiohead's independent selling of its 2007 album, "In Rainbows," by reading this NY Times article, I have to wonder why more well-known bands have not similarly sidestepped recording companies since.
Maybe they are afraid to take the risk. Because despite having already garnered the fame, capital and fan base to be equally successful as Radiohead in the independent endeavor, bands like Dave Matthews Band and Red Hot Chili Peppers, for example, may prefer to rely on a system they already know makes them millions.
But I predict that in the very near future, the recording industry will become virtually obsolete. Jon Pareles' offers the idea that maybe big independent bands can directly help new ones get their start by linking to them online or taking them on as opening acts — versus the indirect way established bands currently support green ones, through the cut the recording companies receive and use in part toward funding the "flops."
I have faith enough in musicians — and those 1,000 true fans — that this model will become the future standard. Sure, too many so-called "artists" with no talent are scooped up by an industry that treats music as a product for profit, not as art. But the real artists are out there, and so are the real fans. And they can break the status quo.
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