“In an interview for a new high school textbook called The Rax Active Citizen Toolkit… Yorke claims the music industry is on the verge of a major crisis and could collapse completely within ‘months,'” WENN reports.
WENN reports, “He says, ‘It will be only a matter of time – months rather than years – before the music business establishment completely folds. (It will be) no great loss to the world.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If so, the greedy music cartels brought it upon themselves.
Die Music business fat cats!!!
Oh well…….shit happens!
RIAA DIE= ROFL
The music industry started with bands of minstrels entertaining for their supper. Now it will return to its roots.
Maybe they will remember they are in the ENTERTAINMENT industry, not the glamour industry, and produce more and better songs and keep most of the profits…
So, you can record music and distribute it with Apple and a Mac cutting out the middle man. I hear Apple has a way for inspiring writers to sell their book on line now.
What market does Apple want next!
Radiohead’s view on this issue may well be skewed by their past dealings with EMI, which is pretty much on its death bed. Younger artists fled the label when a bunch of venture capitalists took it over. Since then they are mostly trading on their back catalogue and putting minimal resources into A&R;. As a result their share of global record sales has tanked.
Other majors, for instance Sony, are doing much better.
There isn’t much more in the full article. I went over to check and make sure it is clear what he meant. It seems that his comments refer to the music industry in its present form of major labels that control marketing distribution and all other aspects. In that case, he is exactly right — there is no loss to anyone but MiddleBronfmans of this world.
There are a few independent labels that are actually good for the artist. But in general, for labels, this is a no-risk business. When they sign a new artist, they NEVER pay them until they recoup ALL the money they invested: recording studio/production costs/printing costs/advertising costs… Everything. Only after that will the artist begin to receive monies, and even then, it will only be share of the profits (not gross revenue; labels again take off the top to cover their expenses). Unless you are a mega artist (Lady Gaga, Shanaia Twain, etc), you are slave labour for the label.
Let us all hope that this fellow York is correct and that major labels truly collapse in the near future. Somehow, I believe artists will continue to exist, they will continue to entertain us, we will continue to pay for their work, and the only losers will be bean counters in suits that know nothing about our desire for entertainment, nor artists’ desire to entertain us, but only see and understand dollar signs.
Perhaps they could all get jobs as Wall Street analysts; apparently, you don’t need much brain to do that…
I hope Ticketmaster is next
Like M$, there is probably enough momentum to carry on the music business for years. But watch for Ticket Master to completely take over concert music.
MDN SPELLCHECK: IT’S YORKE.
It might be a good chance for Apple to purchase a large music portfolio to anchor iTunes. Then, going forward, iTunes can continue to promote music distribution from individuals and indies. I believe the the music industry will actually benefit as a whole from the renewed creativity and vitality.
It’s been a long time coming, but the music industry has been more about the industry than the music, and are paying the price now.
He may be right about EMI but I doubt the others will fold that quickly.
The only reason it hasn’t yet is because of the amount of money they can’t dangle in front of folks who are young and eager for cash. I hope he’s right. But you can guarantee they’ll hold on to those old catalogs to squeeze the last dime out of them.
Color me skeptical. Their business may change, but I don’t think they’re going away. Especially not within months.
yeah right, and Top Of The Pops will be axed … oh, wait ….
Ironically, the direct artist-to-consumer concept was exactly what the Beatles envisioned for Apple Corps..perhaps the iTunes ecosystem will allow that concept to finally come to fruition for both musicians and authors.
Apple: get someone to buy out EMI please.
OK Computer = Best album ever. Radiohead = Best band ever.
iTMS was the harbinger of death for the industry. Artists can now produce and distribute worldwide without any help or interference from the non-artists. Promotion is viral on the internets. So good riddance to the most corrupt biz on the planet. Tour management is in need of a new business model, and that’s where most bands make their money (that and T-shirt sales.)
Definitely no big loss to the world. The music business has turned into Las Vegas on wheels, and today’s pop music is completely devoid of meaningful content. Let it burn.
@trex67
Indeed. And I’m not talking about just about iTMS…
apple could buy out emi and get all the licenses to the music they own
The music label industry as we know it died when they no longer controlled the primary revenue source for artists today, concert revenue.
Labels aren’t going away. What we will see is a new type of label that is built around their control of concert venues while the music itself becomes tertiary income behind concert tickets and souvenir items.
All of my Apple gear have Radiohead album or song references for names. I was gonna use The Beatles. But, Rh seems to fit better.
Wouldnt it be great if Apple had direct dealings with the artists and gave them the same deal as developers. 60% for musicians would be a huge raise.