The Music Biz in a Nutshell

One of our stories this week was my interview with producer/engineer/musician Greg Wells. In it he said something that I thought succinctly summed up the music business: “There are two different types of music...there's entertainment, and there's art. And there are always points in between.”

That may seem obvious, but I think it’s a useful framework for viewing the industry.

The real artists are the trailblazers, the ones that create something truly original, the ones that are driven by their own creative visions. Then there are those that follow behind, copying the trailblazers in the hopes of profiting from it. A lot of what they produce ends up being soulless drivel, because it’s not being made from the heart.

Of course, every musician is influenced by those who came before, it’s impossible not to be. The difference is that the real artists will take an existing style and creatively transform it in some way. Sadly, for the most part, we see the pattern repeat over and over where one artist breaks out thanks to an original sound, and is then followed by a host of copycats, trying to cash in.

I remember in the early 2000’s, after Pearl Jam had become really big, all of a sudden, bands started popping up all over the place with singers who sounded just like Eddie Vedder. Don’t get me wrong, I like Vedder’s voice, and I think he had a unique sound. But it was uncanny how many bands that followed had vocalists who sounded similar (Creed is a good example, or should I say a "bad" example). After a while, enough! Get your own sound!

The music business has always been like this, but one thing has changed — finding the true artists has become much easier, thanks to the web. While there’s no doubt that the internet has done massive damage to the music industry, it does give us unprecedented access to a huge range of artists and styles. Because of that, the gatekeeping role of the record labels and radio stations has been significantly reduced. Halleluja for that.