The Golden Age That Never Was

[AngelCityOutlaw]

So I was reading about the recent "Century Media sues fucking everybody" fiasco, arrests of Pirate Bay crew, Gene Simmons' constant whining, independent artists like Nox Arcana blaming downloads and stuff for their obscurity and failures, and just last week, an article of Yngwie Malmsteen talking about how things were just so much better for musicians back in the day.

Which lead me to discover this article.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/the-realities-of-making-a-living-with-music-in-2011.html

It is a year old, but I thought it makes some great points. The comment section also has some good arguments.

What do you people think about the article? Do you agree or disagree? Was there ever a "golden age" where musicians prospered financially? Etc....

[Garpocalypse]

So much whining about the present. Several thousand years of it is too long.

Yes music is becoming a commodity. Looking at my collection of stuff that i have now would have taken several life times to acquire if everything stayed the way it was 15-20 years ago. Record Stores? Only being exposed to what's available? Glad that crap is over.

Now people can do music in their living room watching youtube videos and playing with their daws. Just so long as no one loses appreciation for good art i don't see what the problem is.

This is really just about people who can't adapt to changing times complaining about not being able to make money. You don't have to be paid for your music to mean something these days. Something i've had to come to terms with myself over the last few years, which is why i'm going back for another degree. I'm bummed i couldn't make a life out of music but as long as i have time and resources to work on the things i like to do then i'm happy.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

I agree with the article. The music business has never been easy to get into, and it was pretty damn hard to make it back in the "golden age" as well. Nowadays if you have the talent and passion, it's MUCH easier to yourself out there through the right channels than it ever was.

[lazygecko]

At the peak of the record industry throughout the 80's and 90's, it really shouldn't have been as practical for most signed musicians to make ends meet. Most just barely covered their losses, or even operated at a loss, while the labels counted on their handful of mega superstars to rake in the real money. This strategy was never going to be sustainable in the long term.

[Garian]

we now live in the golden age of mass media economics. it's just a shame that the only people who have figured that out have no musical talent. The fact is that obscurity and failure of bands now is either because A) they suck; or they suck at publicity. Good luck with that!

[zircon]

I think it's interesting that basically three things happened at once, all affecting the music industry drastically.

1. Computers got a lot faster, to the point where you could easily record and edit music on any home computer. Previously, you needed something very expensive to get the job done, such as Pro Tools hardware (which has its own set of processors).

2. Good gear got a lot cheaper. Microphones, audio interfaces, everything. Starting in the 90s but especially over the last decade, very high-quality equipment has become commonplace and affordable. Prior to this, you needed very expensive studio hardware. If you had home equipment, like an 8-track, the quality was inferior.

3. Editing software became cheaper, more powerful and more accessible. Autotuning, easy take comping, unlimited track playback/editing, better compressors, better EQs, better reverbs, the list goes on.

So even if we set aside the impact of the internet, and specifically file-sharing, I think these things all have made a huge difference. People often overlook it and see music piracy as the turning point, but I don't think it would have had the same effect without all those other things happening (enabling the average person to produce great music).