December 19, 2012 The Secrets To Money and Merchandise in The Digital Age
The music industry is a mere shell of what it once was. The sudden influx of technology has altered the way the music industry itself and those associated with it conduct business. The old business model had artists chomping at the bit to get signed by a label. The downside for the artist was that once they signed that piece of paper they belonged to the label. It was up to the label to market, promote and most importantly fund the album. Funding the album entailed them paying for the studio time, hiring on extra musicians and hand picking the top engineers and producers for the project. This process wasn’t about flaunting money, it was about making money. The goal for all involved was to have the first product do well. The success or in some cases the failure would decide whether the artist and their label could continue their relationship and work on future projects.