THE WORLD WIDE WEB (Hypebot) — On Monday in the first part in a series called
The New Paradigm, I wrote about what I see as "The Rise Of The New Musical Middle Class" some learned Hypebot readers questioned my premise and a healthy debate
followed. Join the debate and tell us what you think.
Glenn @ Coolfer – "…I'd be more prone to call it a growing
lower-middle class. There is an absolute glut of music online…As
the audience becomes more fractured, each player's piece of the pie
shrinks… As for increased loyalty, that will depend on the band's
use of customer relationship tools. I believe success can be as
fleeting as ever – look no further than the manner in which bloggers
chew up and spit out bands at record rates…"
Bruce Houghton @ Hypebot – "In my own agency Skyline Music I see it
in the organic growth of bands like Hot Buttered Rum and
Toubab Krewe – neither of whom have never had real record
deals and who now sell out enough 500-100 seat venues to make a
decent living touring and selling music and merch direct to fans.
I also see it in former "label bands" like Over The Rhine.
They are a fabulous band with loyal fans – but musically they don't
fit anywhere neat in terms of radio or other media.
But by continuing to make quality music and using all the Music 2.0
tools, they can hold on to and grow their fans base and make a
living doing it…"
Mike @ Radio Nowhere – "The Rise of the Musical Middle Class has
been imminent for a few years now, but it's starting to seem like
it's going to be permanently just around the corner.
When people talk about bands that are opting out of the old major
label way of doing business and using this new-fangled internet to
chart their own course, these bands almost always seem to be acts
that I've already heard of…because they got some traction in the
old system before they opted out of it. Your mention of Over The
Rhine is a good example.
Don't get me wrong – I'd love it if 2008 were the year that the new
paradigm finally arrived (in fact, I'm staking my own musical career
on it), but just because the technology for Music 2.0 is here
doesn't necessarily mean that the economics of the situation have
changed. The theory makes sense, but in practice, the money and
attention that talented musicians need to break out of obscurity
still seems to be in short supply.
