As a follow-up to last weeks post on the Music Industry, I reached out to some local musicians to get their take on the state of the Industry today and what it means to small bands. Most notably, of who responded, Ian Byrne of the Elders remarked about the Ticketmaster/LiveNation merger:
“This merger will give them more control over the musicians and the consumers. Control is power. With that combination, it is probable that we will lose!”
So how does one go about fixing an industry that is thriving in spite of the fact that many in the industry (i.e. the bands themselves) are threatened by the future?
Being a musician is expensive. It’s costly for equipment but also on relationships and family. Musicians need to spend time on the business side of things making sure they have dates lined up to play. They also need to spend time on the music side of things . . . practicing with bandmates, learning new songs. It’s a heavy time commitment that many aren’t aware of. And the best way to justify all this time spent is if you can make money as a musician.
As I mentioned, it’s a great time, because of the Internet, to become known and distribute music. The barrier has never been lower. It’s still difficult to play live and make money though.
I got interested in this topic because I am a music fan. I love live music and have been known to travel just to see music I love.
I’m not worried about live music, per se, but I am worried about the ability of bands that I care about throwing in the towel because they can’t afford to make music. There are applications like KickStarter and Pledgemusic that facilitate music promotion and connecting with fans.
My friend, Peter Thomas, has also created an application that addresses these concerns. Pete has created ShowIgniter. It connects bands to fans and shows to venues. It puts the power in the hands of those who have a passion for live music. I’m committing some resources of my own to move ShowIgniter forward.
ShowIgniter will be sponsoring some live music next Tuesday at 7pm at the LightThread offices in downtown Kansas City. I’ll have some information for you tomorrow on how you can get involved.
