My take on indie art and the spreading of it via the web
This post is written by the extremely talented Australian singer/songwriter, Jess McAvoy.
What a funny world we live in these days. As I get older and still have full memory of a time where there was no such thing as mobile phones or internet, it’s interesting to watch how everyone adjusts to these new methods of spreading music and art. There are varying opinions on what’s good and or bad about the way the music industry in particular is being impacted by digital media
I have heard many different sides. While I must admit it feels wrong to bear witness to people dumping entire libraries of songs onto their friend’s hard drives, I know for a fact that music is a more widely discussed topic than it has ever been. It seems that because people can find myspace pages, send songs to one another that they have just discovered, and most importantly have access to every type of music in the world at the touch of a button, we are no longer being told what to like.
On a whole, while the model of “Music industry” splutters and trips over itself to be refurbished, we as artists have more power over our art than ever before. This can only be a good thing.
We are also, every day gaining a stronger global community when it comes to just about everything, and in my experience of the music industry being family, it can only serve to bring people closer together, and to unite them in common goals.
It does become frustrating that most people don’t consider how much time, effort and money go into creating an album. I know that I am not the only melbourne artist who has worked in other jobs for years, only to spend most of our income on making an album, pressing copies, and buying posters, ads and merchandise to promote the release. In an ideal world, we will become much more concious consumers, and realise that we all have a part of spreading good news. Where we all do such things as tell everyone we know about music that we have found, as word of mouth really is the independent artist’s strongest tool.
And as long as more people keep going to live shows, keep buying merchandise and keep purchasing the physical record of the artists that they really love, we will continue to survive.
So while it is a very scary time for some people involved with the music industry ( no one likes not knowing what happens next, do they…), my faith in people and in what music does to people tells me that this really is the beginning of something wonderful.
I’m very interested to see what happens with the next bunch of songs that I put around the place. And while I sit and wait for my record to be pressed, I spend most of my time on this internet thing doing all of my work from a chair, where I sometimes trip over music I have never heard before.
Funny funny thing.
Jess’ new album “As The Sun Falls” is being released nationally and via iTunes on 2nd August. Jess can be found online at her website and on MySpace.
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July 8th, 2008 at 9:04 am
[...] here is your chance. The gorgeous Jess McAvoy who wrote yesterday’s fantastic guest post is going to take some time out of her busy pre-launch schedule to answer your [...]
August 16th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
[...] did a guest post on my other blog Dancing About Architecture about how technology affects the independent artist [...]
November 7th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Hello
I know for a fact that music is a more widely than it has ever been.send songs to one another that they have just discovered.people gave most important have access to every type of music in the world.
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