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I remember complaining to friends back in the '90s that Nirvana had killed music. The Seattle-based grunge band itself wasn't to blame, but music labels looking for the next top-ten hit had learned that good music lurked in the average American garage. Unfortunately, in their race to reproduce the success of Nirvana, they didn't look anywhere but in the garage.
The result was a lot of bad music, most of it now forgotten. While I don't follow music now as closely as I did 15 years ago, the same thing is going on today. It's not an artiste that is driving the demise of talent but digital music. While labels focus on how to make money on MP3 sales, everyone seems to have forgotten to put money into making good music.
If you want proof, just look at American Idol, or any music-based reality show you prefer. The formula is simple: take a bunch of nobodies in the hope that some of them can sing and sell their music in the hope that people will buy it. The result is the same as 15 years ago. The music is rubbish. Back in the '90s, the record labels could put out any rubbish they wanted, and listeners would still be forced to buy it - if they wanted anything to listen to at all, that is.
Now we have the MP3, and everything, new and old, is available. It can be copied, transferred, uploaded, and downloaded endlessly without ever having to pay for it, which is something I'll never complain about. I'm still angry about paying for the MP3 versions of songs I already have on vinyl and cassette.
But the music labels are furious, too. Music sales have dropped like a rock, and no one seems to know how to stop the free fall.
In a panic
Media reports about recent industry deals just show that music labels are in a panic. Universal announced last week it's trying to team up with Apple to sell its music prepackaged on an Apple device. Even if you buy the device and the music, you'll still have to pay a subscription fee if you want to keep listening.
The industry's current lack of talent even showed up in the media reports about the deal. Journalists, trying to show the depth of Universal's catalogue listed such massively popular but older groups such as U2. In an effort to show the currently lineup, groups such as the Killers and Amy Winehouse get listed. OK, I like the Killers, but they're not in the same league as U2, and Winehouse's career is in doubt long before it's fully established. If that's all Universal can pony up as an example of the current catalogue, it faces bigger problems.
The deal also shows the frustration at the industry's shortcomings, and even their lack of understanding of the current market. Universal, and most of the other major labels, are now looking to get a share of the sales of MP3 players, such as the iPod and Zune. The labels are positing the argument that consumers don't want the players, they want the music on the players. Therefore the label should get a slice of the revenues.
That's just stupid. I like my iPod, and if the labels were actually putting out quality music, then there might be more new music on it.
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