DJ Shadow’s Rant on Free Music & The Commerce of Artistry in 2010
DJ Shadow has just posted a message (rant) on the OkayPlayer boards regarding his stance on modern artists offering music for free & the commercial aspects of being an artist.
A Snippet from the rant:
Specifically, when it comes to the wallet, everyone’s suffering…of that there can be no doubt. And what of the financial prospects for musicians and recording artists in the years to come? Shaky, at best. Unless you’re one of the grotesque ‘Idol’-type pop disasters in the top 5, you’re looking at getting a day job or finding other sources of income. Conventional wisdom amongst my peers has been remarkably short-sided over the last decade: “Yeah, CD sales are down, but all the money is in licensing.” Not anymore. “Yeah, licensing money is down, but the video game industry is killing it.” Less so these days, according to recent data. “Well, the real money is in touring.” Really? When was the last time you saw a ‘new,’ post-record company artist headline a major music festival? At this rate, we’ll be stuck with Coldplay for decades (no offense intended).
Although the article is serious in nature, DJ Shadow lets us know he is aware of his status as an old-school cat & the effect it has on his perspecitve.. Shadow prefaces the article: “WARNING: RAMBLING TIRADE FROM A 37-YEAR OLD TECHNOPHOBE BELOW”
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Read more at the source :http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2298479&mesg_id=2298479&page=
NO…the real money is in publishing. Clearly, DJ Shadow has zero clue how the music business works and operates. There still is an incredible amount of money in touring (or “gigging”). DJ Shadow seems to be either seriously misinformed or has let a shitty manager leech off of him for too long.