Don Marti
Sun 17 Apr 2005 08:33:51 PM PDT
And we need record companies...why, again?
Rip Rowan explores how the new Rush record got mangled, and comes to a surprising conclusion. , "But before you think I'm accusing the mastering engineer of incompetence, remember my earlier discussion. I doubt very seriously if any engineer actually wanted to do this to the music. No, only the decision of a record label executive could destroy music like this."
A good home studio or low-budget digital studio project can now sound much better than the overcompressed-for-car-radio major label product. Listen to Atticus Scout, the Neptunes, the Cadillac Angels, or the Moss Piglets if you don't believe me.
Yes, digital technology presents a threat to record companies. But it's not how you think.
Cheap hard disk recorders make garage studios and studio time affordable.
Efficient CD pressing firms make sellable product available to any 4-person band whose members can put up $400 each. Just do a web search on "1000 CDs only"
Web sites and mailing lists make promotion free, except for your time.
Bands only need record companies for access to pay-for-play radio. Everything else, you can do yourself -- or get a fan with a web server to do, as I'm doing for The Moss Piglets, whose CD sounds better than major-label stuff, by the way.
If the "music business" weren't corrupt, it wouldn't need to exist.