DIY Labels and the Future of the Music Industry

Photography by Willow Greene feat. Isabel Mohr
Mad Sounds Issue 15 - The Future is Female

   

           The phrase “Rock and roll is dead” has been said by many a parent to many a child throughout the years. And yet, the loud rebellious music we all love doesn’t disappear; it merely changes and adapts to the times. The music industry as a whole is one that will stand the test of time, yet even now it is almost unrecognizable from when our parents were young.

            In an interview with the New York Times in 2002, David Bowie predicted the shift from album sales to streaming by saying, “Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity.” Bowie goes on to predict that record labels would become increasingly irrelevant, and that copyright would disappear altogether (not quite, but it is changing quite a bit).

            To make things more complicated, 2016 was also the worst year for record sales yet. With the shift away from actually buying albums and towards streaming, artists are forced to be creative in how they make money. Many are becoming increasingly reliant on touring and merchandise (more so than they already were). Artists are always free to refrain from putting their music up on streaming sites a la Taylor Swift, but very few possess the enormous fan base and raw influence over society to maintain a functioning career while restricting access to music the way she does (a local indie band may not be able to convince millions of teenage girls to buy their albums in lieu of streaming it- no matter how cute they are).

            Bowie was right in his assumptions about record labels as more and more artists are opting to do it themselves- creating their own labels and taking to Twitter and Soundcloud to spread their music. The DIY movement allows artists to have complete control in their sound, image and tours. It also frees musicians to “cut out the middleman” so-to-speak, and negotiate their own contracts with streaming services (Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, etc.), and not have to deal with the hefty royalties that lead to artists not being appropriately compensated for their music.

            The DIY music scene has only really become a viable option for musicians within the past decade or so- before then signing with a traditional label was the only way to go. The issue with a traditional record label is that-despite the fact that the artist writes and performs the songs by themselves- everyone else gets paid before they do. This includes the label itself; merchandise people, managers, venues, etc. Michael Jackson famously only made 11 cents for every time his song Thriller was bought. Not played- bought. The situation is only made worse when you consider that the music industry has always been referred to and seen as a “machine” that often strips musicians of their identities and molds them into something easily marketable- often at the cost of what made the label sign the artist in the first place.

            The only real downside to DIYing a music career is that, while the barrier to entry has lowered substantially (every teenage boy can call themselves a rapper or a rock star), it is that much harder for artists to get noticed by fans and press and other people who could help their career skyrocket. It’s not enough to have a YouTube page, a couple of decent demos and an okay haircut anymore, musicians have to do all of the dirty work themselves without a paid team of suits to book and organize things for you. Even so, the payoff is well worth it.

            Ignoring the fact that every teenage boy with an Internet connection can now call himself a rock star or a rapper, some of the most promising acts in music have (very successfully) been running their careers almost entirely via social media. Rather than risk being locked into a contract with a company who doesn’t support them (think Kesha), and being forced to make music they aren’t passionate about (Zayn Malik), artists are rebelling and taking their lives and music into their own hands. This writer believes with everything she has that this movement in music is the future of the entire industry.