Pin It

Tweet

Ipo has a good point
January 31, 2009 | 08:26 AM

Ipo talking about how people didn't show up for Ozo...

They are an awesome band. It's sad that many people are attracted to bands because of how famous they are. This is a battle many bands have to deal with. Talent and showmanship unfortunately don't mean as much as having a video on MTV or TMZ. There is hope tho....The festival scene is where its at. Thousands of people show up for these gigs with dozens of bands, mostly unknown, for the vibe. For now, the record companies, MTV etc. are not interested because most of those bands are indie or self sufficient and can't make their corporation money.

Bands these days would be wise to steer clear of that 'record contract' dream and get out and make it for yourself. There was a time in the late 60's when many artists were feeling that same way. Radio was saturated with bubble-gum pop and then Woodstock happened, the first real festival show. The event was so huge that the corporations couldn't resist the numbers. To paraphrase Neil Young, "They flew over in their helicopters, looked down and said, Wow! Look at that market" Someday soon one of two things will happen... The festival/indie bands like Ozo will get their due, or as I hope, the record industry collapses upon its own greed and marketing practices. Major Label record companies think we're sheep-people and will just go out and spend money on who has the most press, and in some ways their right.

I personally encourage everyone to get hip to downloading music via torrents for free and say Fuck You to the industry. You are ripping off the companies way more than the artist. What the companies don't want you to know is that you can record music at home on your computer and sell in on CDBaby without a record deal and keep nearly all of the profits. A record company normally takes 50% off the top.

As long as the industry is going to dumb down the public with the Jonas Brothers, Britney, Maria Carey etc we shouldn't reward them by purchasing music from signed bands. You should however purchase music from indie and local bands, they are actually receiving the money.

Once the industry realizes they can't make selling CD's, the quality of popular music will improve. Imagine how many lame bands we wouldn't have to deal with if they couldn't make money off them unless they learned how to put on a good show.

I think it's safe to say Dave Matthews/Grateful Dead made more money touring than selling records. It's also safe to say that Lil'Wayne has made more money selling CD's than touring (does he even tour?). There's the problem, and the solution is to learn how to download music for free and put those crappy cookie cutter pop bands and their companies out of business and give the profits back those that put on a great show like Ozo.

Your first guess was right