Boston's Career Expo suggests that there's still much to be optimistic about during the music industry's latest David against Goliath phase.
By Rob Hochschild
(March 24, 2000)
Philosopher Thomas Kuhn wrote that science is "a series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions." The same might be said of the world of music, which has provided an environment where renegade entrepreneurs frequently take on monolithic corporations, where artists are rejected moments before they are embraced, and, amidst such clashes and conversions, the industry as a whole lurches into new futures, each one filled with fresh sounds and baby-faced millionaires.
Or maybe that's just the way it appears right now.
Regardless of your point of view, if you attended the Music Career Expo and Job Fair 2000 last month, it was clear that the music industry is prospering even as it grapples with conflicting views about issues ranging from intellectual property to how to run a record label. And though no consensus was reached, the hundreds of musicians, business people, and students at the Expo kept hearing a similar theme: the industry is changing, sometimes in unwelcome forms, but there are still plenty of ways to make a living in music.
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Jamie Kitman (left), Don Rose (center), and Hugo Burnham paint a gloomy picture of the major label climate. |
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Photo by Bob Kramer |
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Keynote speaker and Recording Association of America (RIAA) President and CEO Hilary Rosen opened the Expo, which was co-presented by Berklee, New England Conservatory, and Boston Conservatory, with a mixture of encouragement and warning. "As long as we cherish and protect the music, we will all have jobs. If we don't, we will all be flipping burgers for a long time to come."
It wasn't hard to figure out that Rosen was referring to the RIAA's piracy lawsuits against MP3.com, Napster, and other Internet companies, an effort that has become the organization's calling card over the past two years. What is not clear, however, is exactly how and when the copyright controversy will end. Rosen talked about the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), an alliance of music and technology companies working to develop an open framework for digital music, and promised that SDMI-compatible portable players will go to market later this year.
In a round table discussion led by Rosen later in the day, Expo participants further debated the issue, one saying that piracy "can't be stamped out" while another argued that "pirating can stifle creativity." Rosen quoted a computer industry guru with an unusual opinion: "Esther Dyson says give all your music away and make your money touring. Don't sell your music, sell your underwear, you can't copy that."
Although the Internet piracy issue came up throughout the Expo, the day's sessions consisted primarily of practical advice and tales from the industry front lines. Panels and workshops included Guerrilla Marketing in the Music Industry; Alternative Careers in the Music Industry, featuring Berklee alumnus Alf Clausen, composer/arranger for "The Simpsons"; Managers and Agents, chaired by Berklee trustee and former Aerosmith manager Tim Collins; and Life on the Road, led by Dave Matthews Band tour manager Michael McDonald.
Some of the liveliest discussion unfolded during David vs. Goliath: Majors vs. Indies, a panel chaired by Berklee trustee and Rykodisc cofounder Don Rose. A blend of independent record label entrepreneurs and artist management professionals sat on the panel and took turns lamenting about what they said were diminishing opportunities at major labels for recording artists.
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| The Career Expo attracted more than 1,000 attendees. |
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| Photo by Bob Kramer |
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"Hundreds of bands have been dropped in the last two years," says Jamie Kitman, manager of They Might Be Giants and Violent Femmes. "The danger in getting into the music business is, you love music, and then you find out it's a business, and your enthusiasm diminishes. If you're a thin-skinned person, this is as bad a time to get in as ever."
The problem, according to Kitman and his fellow panelists, is that industry mergers have left only four major record companies to dominate the marketplace, and those companies are less willing to take risks on new artists.
There was no one representing a major label on the panel, but Rose reminded the crowd that, for some artists, major labels are the best route.
"A major label can be the right label for the job," he says. "If your talent and passion is in the mainstream pop business, I believe you have to go down the major label path because they control the media."
Musicians in niches such as folk, jazz, or reggae, he adds, should focus on independents that specialize in those genres.
Panelist Hugo Burnham, a Boston-based manager and the former drummer of British '80s post-punk group Gang of Four, imagines a future when there will be only one major record company, a condition that he says will create a better environment for independent labels.
Label and piracy controversies notwithstanding, there appears to be plenty of new opportunities for musicians and industry professionals. The Internet provides new channels to better develop one-on-one marketing efforts to music audiences, and the continuing expansion of the industry ($40 billion in sales worldwide in 1999, according to Rosen) bodes well for music careers in general.
The best news of all is that the demand for good music never goes away, as Burnham reminds everyone at his panel:
"If you can write, record, and sing a song that does to people what 'The Seeker' by the Who did to me when I was a kid, then you're golden."
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