The real state of the music industry...

In the last few days I've seen some disturbing signs that the music industry, especially related to rock music, is hitting the skids:
 
1. Members of Metallica are stating that they have to tour constantly to make up for lost royalties.
2. Most any rock band that can't sell normal concert tickets are being packaged into cruises, 2nd rate casinos, and festival third stages.
3. Geoff Tate has allegedly tried to murder his band in South America, and is confirmed to have told an Oklahoma crowd that they suck.  The other QR band members now have a new band, but are STILL booked as QR through 2012.
4. Eddie Kramer, the world famous producer/engineer of everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin is selling pictures and swag at the John Bonham birthday bash gig to earn a little extra cash.
5. My teenage daughter's favorite band is called One Direction and their biggest hit is a ripoff of an old Sheena Easton 80s hit with horrible lyrics and auto tuned vocals throughout. 
 
So, is it just me or is the whole rock and roll thing in the toilet at this point?  I guess since the income channels are drying up rock and metal will slowly become more like Jazz where people do it for the pure enjoyment of it.  Ok, now that's off my chest I can get back to my Stones and Beatles albums.

You forgot the death of Roadrunner Records.

skip63


You forgot the death of Roadrunner Records.

Oh you are right!!  That was a huge blow to the metal business.

IMO, there are a few bright lights in the tunnel.
 
An example: Rush is about to release a new album after almost 40 years together, and all signs point to its ass-kickage. They still sell out amphitheatres and arenas everywhere, and still put on one of the most impressive rock shows around.
 
To my knowledge, there's always been crises within the music industry and among rock bands. And there's always still great music out there. I don't think it's as bad as it appears to be.

esherman93


IMO, there are a few bright lights in the tunnel.

An example: Rush is about to release a new album after almost 40 years together, and all signs point to its ass-kickage. They still sell out amphitheatres and arenas everywhere, and still put on one of the most impressive rock shows around.

To my knowledge, there's always been crises within the music industry and among rock bands. And there's always still great music out there. I don't think it's as bad as it appears to be.

That's an interesting perspective.  I agree that rock carries on despite what is fashionable, and that is why I will always be a rock fan.  I can't help but wonder who will fill Rush's shoes when they are gone.  Or will the limelight just fade to black eventually, giving way to "superior cynics who dance to synthetic bands"?  Ok, that is by far the nerdiest thing I've ever posted.

Can I wish that you're right?  At least, I wish it were true of the music industry as a whole.  THE biggest problem with music today is the industry which promotes and sells it.  For all the facts and figures I've seen thrown around over the past few years, it was still when I read where Don McLean said something to the effect that he has no idea how anyone gets started in the business anymore that it really hit me how far off port the whole industry has gotten.  Personal opinion of course, but I feel the industry itself...the major labels...need to have a crash and a following depression-style era for things to course correct.
 
p.s.  I refuse to acknowledge Dedicated to Chaos as anything remotely approaching rock.

Goldenfoxx


Can I wish that you're right?  At least, I wish it were true of the music industry as a whole.  THE biggest problem with music today is the industry which promotes and sells it.  For all the facts and figures I've seen thrown around over the past few years, it was still when I read where Don McLean said something to the effect that he has no idea how anyone gets started in the business anymore that it really hit me how far off port the whole industry has gotten.  Personal opinion of course, but I feel the industry itself...the major labels...need to have a crash and a following depression-style era for things to course correct.

p.s.  I refuse to acknowledge Dedicated to Chaos as anything remotely approaching rock.

Another interesting point of view.  The major labels have all sucked lately, but they did cultivate and develop some of the world's best popular music back in the day.  Also, they still have enough weight to turn things around, but for some reason they think that manufactured tweenie bands and hip hop are where the money is at.  I think they have been proven totally wrong at this point.  That crap is like dope.  It gets you high for a moment, but then you are looking for the next thing.  I wonder if the label are having the same hard time pushing country albums.  That is a genre that just seems to keep on trucking no matter what's going on.     

A relevant quote:
 
"The concern of the musician is music. The concern of the professional musician is business." - Robert Fripp

SeventhSon
I wonder if the label are having the same hard time pushing country albums.  That is a genre that just seems to keep on trucking no matter what's going on.     

Well, as someone who lives in the heart of the South, I can tell you that Country, like Gospel and CCM, is more a state of mind than it is a genre of music these days.  People like the messages and images which prevail in the style, and very few of the die-hards I've met know anything about music theory or anything like that (that's a statement not meant to say "all country fans know nothing about music," but to speak simply to my experience).  And women, particularly, love guys like Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw based on their physicality alone.  So I imagine that, at least here in the South, labels have little to no problem moving out the Country recordings.  But before I put down the genre, there still exist guys like George Strait, whose music I do love, because it's 100% pure melody...something bands like Queensryche and even Metallica used to know something about.  
 
I definitely see your comparison, though.  The things which tend to move the Pop industry today tend to be the same things which move Country.  Except... someone still needs to explain Lady Gaga's popularity to me, because she defies even that.  
 
Although, I do feel the need to play Devil's Advocate for just a moment and suggest that maybe it's just us.  Even bands like the Beatles, who are so universally revered among musicians today, were not accepted by previous generations in their own.  I mean, I love guys like John Denver, who like many of today's pop artists, had been the target of plenty of jokes for his music and point of view.  Having said that, I think that there's a huge difference between someone like Denver and, say, Beiber...because when I listen to the former, at least I get the sense that whether someone agrees with his message or not, there's an important point of view being put out there; the latter, however, seems to have no point at all to me, and I mean NONE.  And that's the way of Pop music today as a whole, and why I have a problem with it.  It's ALL image as far as I can see.
 

Ugh. Come off it already. Music is doing better than ever, if you're willing to look and see what's out there for yourself. Metal in particular has evolved in truly incredible ways over the last 20 years. If you want live in the past, that's fine; but rock is not dead. It's changing. I am ecstatic at the demise of the record industry, "for every seed must die before it grows."

Lunchbox, then explain to me why bands like Cynic have a hard time sustaining themselves.

lunchbox
Ugh. Come off it already. Music is doing better than ever, if you're willing to look and see what's out there for yourself. Metal in particular has evolved in truly incredible ways over the last 20 years. If you want live in the past, that's fine; but rock is not dead. It's changing. I am ecstatic at the demise of the record industry, "for every seed must die before it grows."

It's changing, but it's changing into something that cannot possibly sustain a career, at least until the next time major labels start to form up again.  And that's no good, either.  

Smirnoff
 Lunchbox, then explain to me why bands like Cynic have a hard time sustaining themselves. 

 

Here's the way I see it anyway, Smirnoff.  Without labels, and under a "if you're willing to search it out for yourself" concept, everyone is on a level playing field.  You, at home with your computer and keyboard, have just as much a chance to make it as the next big pop icon as the garage band down the street.  The guys who just graduated from Juliard have no more chance to make it than your next-door neighboors who don't know common time from common era.  YouTube becomes the sole means of promotion beyond local record stores, since local record stores no longer exist anyway.  Radios may pick up and play what they find, but in the end anyone who makes it is flavor-of-the-day, at least until the next guys come along.  It's something you do as a hobby, not something you do for a career.  The solution is that some people start pouring more of their own money into getting the word out.  This, of course, is the very first step to reorganizing labels again, as it was back in "the day."  In this model, it becomes cyclical, and I suppose I'm fine with that if it means labels wind up having course-corrected.  In the meantime, though, we're all just screwed.  
 
Clearly, personal opinion.
 

SeventhSon

lunchbox


Ugh. Come off it already. Music is doing better than ever, if you're willing to look and see what's out there for yourself. Metal in particular has evolved in truly incredible ways over the last 20 years. If you want live in the past, that's fine; but rock is not dead. It's changing. I am ecstatic at the demise of the record industry, "for every seed must die before it grows."

Sorry.  Metal SUCKS now compared to the metal I grew up with.  I came of age during the Heaven and Hell, Number of The Beast, Shout at the Devil, Ride the Lightning, Abigail years.  NOTHING released in the last ten years even comes close to that old shit with the exception of a few albums released by the same old geezers that released those albums - oh and Nightwish.  Everything else is just a rehash of what has been done already.  I saw Pantera in a 250 person capacity club doing Cowboys From Hell.  I saw Black Sabbath several times with Dio, Ian Gillan, Tony Martin, and OZZY!!  I saw Randy Rhoads live three times.  I was at the long beach Powerslave show!!!  I've gotten pissed drunk with Lemmy!!!  Do you really think fucking Korn, Lamb of God or Mastodon does anything for my ears???  It's all a bunch of poser bullshit.  Go back to your limp bizkit fucking turntable and shut the fuck up.    

Really, man? That's uncalled for. Like I said, if you want to live in the past - go ahead. If it makes you feel better to call me names and denigrate my generation - go ahead. 
 
I, however, will continue to love and cherish my Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, Rush, and Pantera records along with Mastodon, Isis, and Tool.

Goldenfoxx

Smirnoff
 Lunchbox, then explain to me why bands like Cynic have a hard time sustaining themselves. 

 

Here's the way I see it anyway, Smirnoff.  Without labels, and under a "if you're willing to search it out for yourself" concept, everyone is on a level playing field.  You, at home with your computer and keyboard, have just as much a chance to make it as the next big pop icon as the garage band down the street.  The guys who just graduated from Juliard have no more chance to make it than your next-door neighboors who don't know common time from common era.  YouTube becomes the sole means of promotion beyond local record stores, since local record stores no longer exist anyway.  Radios may pick up and play what they find, but in the end anyone who makes it is flavor-of-the-day, at least until the next guys come along.  It's something you do as a hobby, not something you do for a career.  The solution is that some people start pouring more of their own money into getting the word out.  This, of course, is the very first step to reorganizing labels again, as it was back in "the day."  In this model, it becomes cyclical, and I suppose I'm fine with that if it means labels wind up having course-corrected.  In the meantime, though, we're all just screwed.  

Clearly, personal opinion.

 
This is more along the lines of what I meant. It's obvious that's it's only getting harder to make a career out of being in a band; but now the major labels no longer have the monopoly on the resources to record and publish music like they did in the past. I think we will be better off because of this in the long run.

lunchbox

SeventhSon

lunchbox


Ugh. Come off it already. Music is doing better than ever, if you're willing to look and see what's out there for yourself. Metal in particular has evolved in truly incredible ways over the last 20 years. If you want live in the past, that's fine; but rock is not dead. It's changing. I am ecstatic at the demise of the record industry, "for every seed must die before it grows."

Sorry.  Metal SUCKS now compared to the metal I grew up with.  I came of age during the Heaven and Hell, Number of The Beast, Shout at the Devil, Ride the Lightning, Abigail years.  NOTHING released in the last ten years even comes close to that old shit with the exception of a few albums released by the same old geezers that released those albums - oh and Nightwish.  Everything else is just a rehash of what has been done already.  I saw Pantera in a 250 person capacity club doing Cowboys From Hell.  I saw Black Sabbath several times with Dio, Ian Gillan, Tony Martin, and OZZY!!  I saw Randy Rhoads live three times.  I was at the long beach Powerslave show!!!  I've gotten pissed drunk with Lemmy!!!  Do you really think fucking Korn, Lamb of God or Mastodon does anything for my ears???  It's all a bunch of poser bullshit.  Go back to your limp bizkit fucking turntable and shut the fuck up.    

Really, man? That's uncalled for. Like I said, if you want to live in the past - go ahead. If it makes you feel better to call me names and denigrate my generation - go ahead. 

I, however, will continue to love and cherish my Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, Rush, and Pantera records along with Mastodon, Isis, and Tool.

Sorry I got carried away.  If Mastodon, Isis and Tool make you happy then go for it.  I'm not old and crusty enough to begrudge the new school.  Awe man, I'm in the South so I can't argue with an Allman Brother's fan!! 

There are always better and less better bands on every festival. The Metal Cruises are nothing but another form of a metal festival.
Don't know if you didn't read well enough but... come on:
 
2011 - Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, Rage, Nevermore, Uli Jon Roth, Saxon, Iced Earth... thats everything but a bad line-up.
2012 - Children of Bodom, In Extremo, Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Nightwish
 
I can't find anything bad about it. To my ears even better than a Wacken Open Air or similar.

Smirnoff


Lunchbox, then explain to me why bands like Cynic have a hard time sustaining themselves.

This. Bands now have to tour CONSTANTLY to even try to break even. However, people aren't attending more shows than before, so the live market is simply saturated.
 
Because of this, huge bands are forced to play smaller venues, slightly smaller bands are playing clubs, and small bands have nowhere to go at all. We've seen some pretty famous acts come through here and play bars and small clubs. These places were once great places to see niche artists and local bands, but since they're now booking big international artists instead, even the local bands have a much harder time finding anywhere to play in their own city.
 
Yes, the business needs to adapt to the changing colture and opportunities, but until they do it's the artists that are taking the biggest hit. I guarantee that people would be extremely surprised if they knew how many famous musicians and bands that are completely unable to make a living playing music. All that keeps these guys going is the love they have for playing, but it's an exhausting and expensive and most people simply can't do it for long.

SeventhSon

lunchbox


Ugh. Come off it already. Music is doing better than ever, if you're willing to look and see what's out there for yourself. Metal in particular has evolved in truly incredible ways over the last 20 years. If you want live in the past, that's fine; but rock is not dead. It's changing. I am ecstatic at the demise of the record industry, "for every seed must die before it grows."

Sorry.  Metal SUCKS now compared to the metal I grew up with.  I came of age during the Heaven and Hell, Number of The Beast, Shout at the Devil, Ride the Lightning, Abigail years.  NOTHING released in the last ten years even comes close to that old shit with the exception of a few albums released by the same old geezers that released those albums - oh and Nightwish.  Everything else is just a rehash of what has been done already.  I saw Pantera in a 250 person capacity club doing Cowboys From Hell.  I saw Black Sabbath several times with Dio, Ian Gillan, Tony Martin, and OZZY!!  I saw Randy Rhoads live three times.  I was at the long beach Powerslave show!!!  I've gotten pissed drunk with Lemmy!!!  Do you really think fucking Korn, Lamb of God or Mastodon does anything for my ears???  It's all a bunch of poser bullshit.  Go back to your limp bizkit fucking turntable and shut the fuck up.  Metal hasn't evolved AT ALL in the last 20 years.  As a matter of fact, apart from a few select bands it has taken a huge piss on where it came from.     

 
Ok, I want to quote this just to express, based on your opinion, what could be the cause of the decline of rock/metal music business. IT GOES NOWHERE CAUSE IT SUCKS.
 
If you say most of the hard genres of music lack creativity or originality, that could easily explain why bands are having a hard time, then it's not a fault nor an evolution of the genres, it's all because the musicians are doing the same when they shouldn;t. Bands aren't trying hard.

Smirnoff


Lunchbox, then explain to me why bands like Cynic have a hard time sustaining themselves.

I don't think this is a fair example. Cynic is not exactly the most accessible artist.
... Metallica having to tour constantly, or they'll go broke however...

Everyone who has an opinion or experience with this topic needs to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJSp-yRMrsY
 
An excellent documentary from a struggling band and the rivers of shit they have to wade through. I don't intend this to be an answer or direct reply to the stuff raised in this thread, but it really is a must-watch for anyone who has the least bit of experience trying to get their music out there.
 
Includes interviews with Lamb of God, Gojira and Richard Christy, among others.

^ nice. going to watch that now!

The phrase "getting signed" doesnt mean the same thing as it did 20 years ago (or even 10 years ago for that matter).  The big labels picked talented bands and then fronted the cash to record, distribute, and promote them.  Next they financed tours and ads to get the act out there.  This model is pretty much dead today on a large scale for most metal bands.  Bands are now recording themselves and looking to small labels to distribute and help organize small tours.
I hung out with my 19 year old nephew the other day who is in a metal band and listens to lots of bands.  Ive been a lifelong metalhead and Ive never heard of most of what he listens to.  He and his friends travel to new york and other cities in a van to see bands in clubs and small venues.  Metal seems to be alive and well with his age group no matter what control the big labels have. 
The only difference now is that bands will only stay in the game a few years or an album or two because they cant make a living.  Im mean, how long can you play small clubs, travel is a crowded van, and sell cds from the trunk before it gets old fast?  My nephew mentioned that he knows some of the guys in these bands and they frequently change members and lose momentum because they all have to keep their day jobs.
I think the quality of the music is as good as it ever was.  Only now, being a full time professional/self sustaining band is nearly impossible without some money behind you.
Labels need bands and bands need labels.  I think the two will find common ground eventually and share in the profits.  Its gotta happen right?

Okay.  Let's take these one by one.
 

SeventhSon

1. Members of Metallica are stating that they have to tour constantly to make up for lost royalties.

 
We really don't even know what this means.  I'm not a Metallica fan, but is it possible that their last few albums really aren't up to snuff and that they're fallen off of the "auto-buy list" for many of their fans?  This, in addition to the general decline in record sales could help explain their issue.  In other words, if they were to produce one of the most kick-ass records of their career, would they need to be selling their priceless works of art?
 

SeventhSon
2. Most any rock band that can't sell normal concert tickets are being packaged into cruises, 2nd rate casinos, and festival third stages.

 
Is this a sign of decline, or a new marketing paradigm?  Throughout rock, bands have come and gone.  Now, some of the "hangers-on" have a way to continue to make money while playing for their fans.  Package tours have been around forever.
 
 

SeventhSon
3. Geoff Tate has allegedly tried to murder his band in South America, and is confirmed to have told an Oklahoma crowd that they suck.  The other QR band members now have a new band, but are STILL booked as QR through 2012.

 
I don't see how this is relevant to the discussion at all.
 

SeventhSon
4. Eddie Kramer, the world famous producer/engineer of everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin is selling pictures and swag at the John Bonham birthday bash gig to earn a little extra cash.

 
Again, I don't know enough about Mr. Kramer, but has he kept up with the times?  Is he still as relevant and fresh as he was when he was working with Hendrix and Zeppelin?  I mean, that was 35 years ago, at least.
 

SeventhSon
5. My teenage daughter's favorite band is called One Direction and their biggest hit is a ripoff of an old Sheena Easton 80s hit with horrible lyrics and auto tuned vocals throughout. 

 
Oh no!  Your teenage daughter likes music that is created to appeal to....teenage daughters?!!!!  The horror!
 

SeventhSon
So, is it just me or is the whole rock and roll thing in the toilet at this point? 

 
If it's not obvious by now, my answer is no.  Like the entire music industry, it's just changing - it's in a state of flux.  And if you really feel this way, the examples given in the original post don't make a strong argument.  Technology has drastically changed how music is created, produced, marketed, distributed, and listened to.  Those who can keep up with the changes will survive, the rest will take cruises with their fans.

The economy sucks. Everything takes a hit. Well, everything except for booze and fastfood

First, SeventhSon, you need to relax. You're discussing music and throwing out personal attacks in doing so? What the fuck? It's music. No one is threatening your life. Chill the fuck out.
 
It's obvious from your other thread that you think the metal cruises are a joke. Just because you think that does not mean they point to the demise of metal music. It's your opinion, no more than that.
 
The music "you grew up with" is always going to be considered just about your favorite music for the rest of your life. That's not just you, but rather everyone. I'm pretty sure I've read actual research about the topic and it found that the music people listen to in their teens (approximately) is going to have the biggest impact on them and that will be what they like the most for most of their life. Of course, there's going to be exceptions, but I know that's true for virtually everyone I know. So the fact that you grew up with "classic metal" means that's what you're going to like more.

I have a hard time thinking that Lamb of God as posers...I think they are waving the American metal flag quite well.

Bruins


I have a hard time thinking that Lamb of God as posers...I think they are waving the American metal flag quite well.

This. 

To be fair with regards to the whole 'rock and roll is dead' thing, I've come to realize I absolutely cannot stand the whole sentiment of "YEAH ROCK & ROLL!!" thanks to years of being forced to listen to classic rock radio at work.  If I have to hear one more song about how AWESOME it is to ROCK I'm going to scream bloody gore
 
*shrug* Just my two cents, I hate the mentality that rock/metal music >>>>> everything else

So, you're not a Manowar fan?

You are correct, sir!  Not one bit!
 
(Take my statement as you wish, because I listen to bands like Rhapsody for crying out loud )

The biggest problem with the music industry are the mega-conglomerates that control various aspects of the industry. 
 
You have TicketMaster/LiveNation which hold a virtual monopoly on the live music side of things
Then you have WEG, Sony and a couple other labels which control a vast majority of the recorded music industry. 
 
Back in the day there were dozens of local promoters working directly with the various venues to get live acts in. Now TM/LN control all the major venues and bands. 
Record companies used to sign bands all over the place to see if they could make it. Now with the downsizing of the labels they only invest in "sure things". 
 
It's a sad state of affairs. However, the good news is the internet is here and at least for independent bands they CAN possibly make a name for themselves if they are good enough AND figure out a way to get their names out in the world on their own. 

Bails

SeventhSon
So, is it just me or is the whole rock and roll thing in the toilet at this point? 

If it's not obvious by now, my answer is no.  Like the entire music industry, it's just changing - it's in a state of flux.  And if you really feel this way, the examples given in the original post don't make a strong argument.  Technology has drastically changed how music is created, produced, marketed, distributed, and listened to.  Those who can keep up with the changes will survive, the rest will take cruises with their fans.

 
I think you are right about it changing.  I guess my concern is that the change sucks.  My bullet points above weren't supposed to be solid evidence of anything, just observations.  Roadrunner selling out is another huge indicator that the business is changing as you say.

Yea I hate how it is too.  But look at it this way: One Direction won't be making music 40 years later like Rush is!  Rush is real music with true fans, One Direction is a "product" of a record company with fans that will move on to the next big thing.

One Direction is this year's Monkees, DeFranco Family, Bay City Rollers, New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, etc.
 
Getting upset about their existence is about as pointless as yelling at the sky.

Goldenfoxx


Although, I do feel the need to play Devil's Advocate for just a moment and suggest that maybe it's just us.  Even bands like the Beatles, who are so universally revered among musicians today, were not accepted by previous generations in their own.  I mean, I love guys like John Denver, who like many of today's pop artists, had been the target of plenty of jokes for his music and point of view.  Having said that, I think that there's a huge difference between someone like Denver and, say, Beiber...because when I listen to the former, at least I get the sense that whether someone agrees with his message or not, there's an important point of view being put out there; the latter, however, seems to have no point at all to me, and I mean NONE.  And that's the way of Pop music today as a whole, and why I have a problem with it.  It's ALL image as far as I can see.

With respect (because it applies to me too, so isn't personal) it is absolutely you.  PEOPLE CHANGE.  I don't wear the same pants I did when I was 16, I don't wear my hair the same, why should i necessarily listen to the same music?  I'm 44, and last night (seriously) I put on Rock'n'Roll Over, Unmasked, and Paul Stanley's 78 solo album right in a row.  I found myself staring off into space at one point because I was transformed back to being a 13, 14 year old kid.  I can remember even who I was talking to on the phone at the time.   We're all like that to some degree.  So in a real sense, the record labels aren't selling to us anymore, but they are still the same record label, still the same way of going about bsiness, but to a different customer base.  This is Business 101. 
 
I respectfully think some of the "signs of the apocalypse" are actually harbingers of good things:  the cruises, which for some reason SeventhSon has a bug up his ass about, is actually a good thing. The more ways a band like Cinderella (let's be honest was is and always will be a mid-tier act) can make bank, the more likely you will see them still kicking it.  Metallica with the touring; was a time when bands DIDN'T tour because they COULDN'T make money on it, and instead went the repackaging/compilation route.  Now that shit is out because people aren't paying for stuff they already have on four formats.  It's the evolution of the business, not the end (though it may be the end of one aspect of the business).
 
Cell phones were the end of home landlines, not the end of phones in general.  Cable was the end of having a huge antenna on your house, it wasn't the end of broadcast television.
 
I think in these conversations, you have to ignore the talent itself.  No one thought there'd be another Beatles (and maybe there wasn't) but then Zeppelin came along.  No one though there'd be another Zeppelin (and maybe there wasn't) but then U2 came along... someone will come along, they always do.  We've been making music as humans for hundreds of years (that's a joke; we've been making music for as long as recorded human history). 
 
Just need a little perspective.

Oh, and I said this almost two years ago.  Year and a half, maybe, but I predict iTunes (or someone like them) will be the "new" record label.  15 years from now we'll talk about Atlantic, Apple (the first one), Casablanca, Roadrunner, and iTunes (or whatever it will be called).

With Spotify, youtube, Pandora ect, being legal and allowing you the same access to save stuff while being legal and torrents being what they are how are the artists going to make any money? I can see how the corporate aspect will be able to generate some modest money from back catalogs. but I don't see how they can invest in bringing in new talent and making a buck for everyone else. Brave new world I say.
 
 

The bug up my arse is that something just doesn't feel right about things like cruise ship packages, euro summer festivals, rocklahoma, wine and hot sauce, etc.  I have a feeling that the artists are desperate and the fans are being milked.  I'd wager that many bands on these bills don't get paid or even have to pay to be on the bill in the first place.  I suppose that is nothing new, but without album sales it leave the artists in a pickle between going broke and self-branding swag to peddle to nostalgic fans.  I really feel it reduces the artist to a brand, which Gene Simmons would probably applaud, I simply question it.  An artist or band is SO much more than their brand.  Who would want to see Metallica with all new members but the same trademarked logo on the concert t-shirt?  How about we just display holograms of Cliff Burton instead of having Robert actually play the bass?  Sure, holograms and hot sauce are "cool" at first glance, but in the long run I think they are signs of a dying era.  That's ok, things come and go I guess.