Like any musical group that is trying to make the big time, my rock band's biggest dream would be to get noticed by a record executive, get signed to a label, and then proceed to make a hit album that sweeps the country. However, our exploration of the five gatekeepers of the music industry introducd a way that access, if not promotion can at least be afforded to any musical group that wants to be available to a wide market.
One firm that is making this possible is a company called Tunecore.com. They charge a set amount per song posted to Itunes, plus an annual storage and mainatainance fee. In return, the group gets all the profits from the online sales and posting of their albums on Itunes. In this way, groups can bypass the traditional band-label relationship and operate as an independent entity.
Many bands have made good on this way of operating, however, it is still hard for a relatively unknown band to break out with all the promotion on itunes from traditional music companies. Hopefully this "5th Gatekeeper" can continue to change and make the people's accesss to music more democratic.
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2 comments:
Reid, i didn't know you were in a band!! but yeah thats really interesting i have never heard of that site before but will definitely check it out!
I'll definitely look into the site as well.
I think it's going to be a little hard to take off, though, like you said. As much as it'd help to go through a program like that, eventually things like that just become another overrun outlet.
Kudos on letting the bands make a ton of the profit, though. I'm all for that.
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